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My HORIZON Experience

by Ting-yu Wu

Upon my graduation from Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) this June, I tried hard to find a suitable organization for my practical training in the field of Public Health for the next year. The reason for me to do this is because I want to use the knowledge and skills that I learnt from HSPH where I concentrated on studies of health care management and health policy.

Fortunately, I found HORIZON among many organizations that exactly fit my need. The Chairman and President of HORIZON, Janine Selendy, kindly accepted me as Research Director, Health and Population to serve in the headquarters at Yale University. This internship gives me great opportunities to learn how to work with a wide variety of other organizations and individuals. These organizations include UNDP, UNICEF, the Center for International Development at Harvard University, the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health of Yale Medical School, and many other organization and universities all over the world.

I want to use the health care managerial skills I have acquired to help strengthen this organization. I will establish connections and cooperation with universities and medical schools in Taiwan and work with them to find successful initiatives from Taiwan that could be helpful to the rest of the world and especially helpful to China where there are similar cultures and religions. Also, I want to help the President, other interns and Associates to establish our Plan of Action for 21 Century that will lead the direction of this organization for the next decades. In order to carry out our missions, fund raising is another important task necessary for HORIZON to achieve its meaningful goals and its commitment to this world. I will put more effort into grant proposal preparation during my internship and hopefully it can result in substantial help for HORIZON.

As a physician, a practicing neurologist, I worked hard in the past to help sick people overcome their illness. Some of them are getting better and healthier after my treatment and follow-up. However, most of my patients are deteriorating and some of them are dead although all types of treatments were given. Sometimes I felt depressed as a clinician while fighting illness with my patients. Now, I find a better way to help more people. The experience working for HORIZON will help me a lot in this way. I encourage any one of you to join us if you have the vision and the commitment for the health and development of this wonderful world.

Ting-yu Wu, M.D., MPH, is a HORIZON Intern and Research Director Health and Population

(c) HORIZON INTERNATIONAL 2001