Brian Waterman, MPH

After graduating in May of 1997, I obtained a full-time employment as a performance measurement researcher/statistician with the corporate division of a large, local hospital system. In my work, I used the analytical and programming skills I acquired in my MPH studies and previous work to consult internally on a wide variety of projects related to health care quality measurement and improvement. I found the work both interesting and challenging, as it involved a combination both analyzing data and interacting with co-workers, management and external vendors to turn analytical findings into information that was practically useful to hospital leadership trying to make things better for patients and employees.

Two and a half years later, I decided to take another position with the customer research strategy division of a large national insurance company. After just a few months on the job, the company unexpectedly decided to close its local doors, and I was faced with the option of moving to another state or finding new work here. You would think that this was bad news, but in a matter of days, I found several promising opportunities both locally and nationally, including some opportunities to consult locally. I am now working full-time as an independent consultant and plan to do so as long as I can.

On the whole, I have to say that I couldn't be more happy about how things have turned out in my career since graduation. My employment prospects have exceeded my expectations, and I look to the future with genuine excitement. I feel that my MPH training gave me a strong foundation both in the application of biostatistics to real-world research and an understanding of how a healthy society is truly a product of many disciplines working together.