February 22, 2021 | Erin Bluvas, bluvase@sc.edu
Haley Kirby set her sights on a health career during her last year of high school in rural Alabama. As a dually enrolled community college student during her senior year, she completed an emergency medical transport course to become an EMT, and the experience opened her eyes.
“The severity and spread of disease shocked me,” Kirby says. “Many patients had issues that were preventable, but they had little access to healthcare and even less to healthcare education. They did not know what to look for or how to improve their health.”
Being recognized for my efforts and passion for rural communities reminds me that I am where I am meant to be, doing what I’m meant to do.
-Haley Kirby, Master of Health Administration student
While studying biology as an undergraduate student at Auburn University, Kirby explored various healthcare roles and settings. But it was her experience volunteering at a medical clinic in Costa Rica that sparked her passion for improving health services and education for underserved populations.
“Once again, the difficulties these patients had in finding and receiving care shocked me,” Kirby says. “Taking this trip changed my perspective on healthcare tremendously and helped me realize I can make a difference in the lives of patients and healthcare professionals by improving their clinical environments.”
In the fall of 2020, she enrolled in the Arnold School’s Master of Health Administration program, which is housed in the Department of Health Services Policy and Management (HSPM). Fittingly, she serves as a graduate assistant for the Patient Engagement Studio – a UofSC School of Medicine Greenville-based entity that provides structure opportunities for health system innovation through the collaboration of patients, community stakeholders, physicians and academic researchers.
My driving goal is to help create a voice for those patients living in rural communities.
-Haley Kirby, Master of Health Administration student
Kirby quickly found mentors in her supervisors at the Patient Engagement Studio as well as in HSPM faculty Bankole Olatosi, Nabil Natafgi and Kolby Redd. Only one semester into her program, Kirby was notified that she had been selected as one of just two students nationwide to receive the Tim Campbell Scholarship from the Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Management Education. Designed to support students who demonstrate a commitment to service and volunteerism, this award includes a $3,000 scholarship and will be presented virtually to Kirby at the organization’s annual Congress in March.
“Being recognized for my efforts and passion for rural communities reminds me that I am where I am meant to be, doing what I’m meant to do,” Kirby says. “Once I obtain my master’s degree, I will use my knowledge and experiences to improve health policies and the healthcare system. My driving goal is to help create a voice for those patients living in rural communities.”
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