Sangeeta R. Iyer, MD, MPH

Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health - General Preventive Medicine

As a primary care physician with greater than 10 years of experience in various health systems, I recognized the importance of proactive health care especially at the population health level to shift the needle on managing health risk. Preventive medicine gave me a unique opportunity to combine my experience in clinical medicine with public health principles to address health behavior at a systems level. My decision to select AHRQ was a strategic one to understand how evidence based practice influences health care quality and policy at the federal level. 

During my 8-week rotation at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), I engaged in several impactful projects, gaining invaluable insights into the development and review of evidence-based guidelines that shape clinical practice and policy. Working closely with several medical officers and staff at AHRQ, I assisted in crafting recommendations with the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF). Prior to this rotation, I viewed the USPSTF recommendations as final products without fully appreciating the rigorous analytical framework and systematic evidence review involved. Being part of this process, particularly during the March Taskforce meeting and various Wednesday subcommittee meetings, allowed me to witness firsthand the careful deliberation and communication skills required to develop and relay these guidelines to the public. One significant project I was able to participate in was the review of public comments for a pending recommendation statement which gave me a rare glimpse into how the public shapes guidelines, highlighting gaps in research thus providing critical insights for where funding should go from other federal arms like NIH or HRSA. 

My professional journey will next take me to an addiction medicine fellowship, where the lessons in thoughtful review and communication of evidence based practice will be critical not only in the exam room but also the boardroom as I help develop and implement programs to improve a population health.

Cara Dooley, MD

University of Maryland School of Medicine

In navigating my education and career options, I have always been driven, to some degree, by the idea of prevention. Preventive Medicine offered me the opportunity to follow that passion and balance clinical care with public health. I eagerly wanted to learn skills in epidemiology, health policy, communication, and quality improvement, and to gain public health experience.

The AHRQ residency rotation with the USPSTF is an exciting opportunity to see how primary and secondary prevention efforts are designed for evidence-based population health. At AHRQ I reviewed draft recommendations on prevention topics and their supporting evidence for consistency and accuracy, reviewed public comments about draft recommendations, and prepared communication tools such as practice bulletins and presentations for clinician audiences related to prevention recommendations. The key preventive medicine concepts I learned were how to analyze evidence regarding the performance of proposed clinical preventive services, how to incorporate considerations of risk-benefit analysis in population-based care, and how to communicate effectively with the public, physicians, other health care professionals and health-related agencies.

Learn more about the APTR-AHRQ Preventive Medicine Residency Program.