Elizabeth Côté

Master in Public Policy candidate
John F. Kennedy School of Government

Prior Education

Harvard Medical School, M.D. candidate
Wellesley College, B.A., magna cum laude

Professional Experience

Department of Defense, Coalition Provisional Authority:Special Assistant, Iraqi Ministry of Health
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development: Project Manager, Health Care Quality Indicator Project
Harvard School of Public Health, Department of Health Policy and Management: Project Manager
Health Care for All: Americorps Promise Fellow
Joint Civilian Service Achievement Award

Biography

My sense of community was sown by the affirmation and acceptance of my family, structured by the social justice teachings of our faith and modeled by church and civic organizations whose support afforded our family opportunities beyond our modest means. With little imagination, I presumed early in life that my job would be to serve these same communities, emulating the adults who had fostered my own growth. When I was an adolescent and my little sister fell from a swing and was more terrorized by the prospect of a hospital co-pay than the bone protruding from her arm, I realized what form my service should takes—health advocacy for underprivileged children.

Being a “good big sister” by helping marginalized groups access high-quality health care has taken me many places. As an Americorps Fellow, I started a program that connects children enrolled in school lunch programs with state health coverage. At the Harvard School of Public Health and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, I compared the quality of health care received by different populations. Working with the Iraqi Ministry of Health, I tried to help rebuild a health care infrastructure devastated by war. Because I want to provide, as well as advocate for, the top medical care that impoverished children deserve, I am pursuing concurrent degrees at Harvard Medical School and the Kennedy School of Government. I plan a career as a pediatrician and health policy maker.