Health Care Management & Policy Major Focuses on Intersection of Health and Advocacy

July 19, 2021 – During her first year as a Georgetown student, Melody Emenyonu (NHS’24) worked to immerse herself in a sense of community virtually given the COVID-19 pandemic.  

Emenyonu, a health care management & policy major at the School of Nursing & Health Studies, has taken part in the African Society of Georgetown, the Black Student Alliance, the Georgetown Scholars Program, the Georgetown University Minority Association of Pre-Health Students, and Students Helping Aspiring Physicians Excel.

“Georgetown overall has a lot of opportunities,” she said. “Even despite the circumstances of my first year, I was able to find community and make friends.” 

Learning about Georgetown

Emenyonu first learned of Georgetown when it was mentioned during a television series. “I was born and raised in Aurora, Colorado by my Nigerian parents,” she explained. “How did I end up roughly 1,500 miles from my mom and my sisters for school?” 

“Well, it all started with a slight mention of Georgetown on ‘Criminal Minds,’ she added. “Sure, I understood that Georgetown is a big deal university, but it all felt so far away – and not just literally. I already knew I wanted to leave Colorado, but I didn’t know where that would mean.”

She said that “fell in love with Georgetown’s campus” while visiting DC and that her admissions interview “solidified my desire to be on campus.”

Health Care Management & Policy

“I was enticed by this major because it is the perfect intersection of my passions of advocacy and health and health care,” Emenyonu said, particularly given she “has seen the effects of both untreated physical and mental illness.”

John Kraemer, associate professor of health systems administration, invited admitted students to attend a Zoom call on the impact of COVID-19, one that also included current students.  

“These students were also HCMP majors who gave me insight into Georgetown and gave me the in-person feel I desperately desired,” she remembered. “They raved and talked about classes like ‘Healthcare in America’ and how it’s so eye-opening to the health care disparity in insurance and care.” 

Looking Ahead

Emenyonu had been thinking about becoming an emergency medicine physician, but has refocused on advocacy work and plans to spend time volunteering and possibly launching a not-for-profit. 

She is also interested in the Education, Inquiry, and Justice minor in Georgetown College and, later, perhaps pursuing a PhD.

“I’m not 100 percent solid in what I want to do career-wise, but I know I have options, and they are all just as equally exciting,” Emenyonu said.

By Bill Cessato