Health Care Management & Policy Senior Plans Service-Focused Medical Career

December 13, 2021 – Matthew Fisher (NHS’22) grew up in southern New Jersey – in a small community located about midway between Philadelphia and Atlantic City. 

The senior health care management & policy major discovered Georgetown while researching a joint engineering-focused baccalaureate program it offers along with Columbia University. 

“I immediately fell in love with DC when I visited for GAAP weekend,” Fisher recently recalled, referring to the Georgetown Admissions Ambassador Program, which operates admitted student weekends. 

‘Biggest Role Models’

Fisher said his desire to enter the health care field has been inspired by his mother and his sister.

“My mom and sister are both nurses and both also happen to be the biggest role models in my life,” he said. “My mom has worked at the same psychiatric hospital for something like 35 years now.” Fisher noted that his mother, who began her career as a unit nurse, now leads infection control at the institution.

“I remember asking why she loved her job so much, and her answer really stuck with me, ‘I love working with the groups that have been historically ignored by society. It’s where I believe I can make the biggest impact,’” he remembered.

Service-Oriented Education

At Georgetown, Fisher has participated in the chapter of Alpha Phi Omega – an experience he called “the single most meaningful thing I am involved with on campus.”

He said he has valued gaining leadership experience, “forming lifelong friends,” and giving back to the local community through service opportunities.

“It has really added an important human perspective to the HCMP classes I’ve taken – being able to interact firsthand with populations experiencing homelessness or substance abuse disorders,” he said. “APO has helped me really align my love for service and my passion for medicine.”

Strong Relationships

Fisher has enjoyed the school’s “collaborative environment” and said studying health care management & policy is “the best decision I have ever made.”

“I really have surrounded myself with passionate students with the same goal of becoming the leaders in health care,” he noted. “I have learned so much from my HCMP courses, which has helped me in medical school interviews and to really set myself apart as not just a future physician, but a physician-leader.” 

Fisher added, “I have also loved the relationships I have been able to form with my professors and deans.”

Future Plans

With graduation on the horizon, Fisher – who has already been accepted to medical school – plans to finalize where he will attend and to focus on making the most of his spring semester at Georgetown. 

“I am currently interested in pursuing family medicine with an obstetrics fellowship, but I am so excited to find out how my aspirations will change in the years to come,” Fisher said.

By Bill Cessato