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PhD Student Spotlight: Jessica Schwartz

PhD Program '21

Ultimately, the pandemic has reinforced to me that nurses have been historically undervalued in society. The pandemic has reignited my passion for changing that and elevating the way that nurses are perceived because we are changemakers, thought leaders, and essential to our communities.

Jessica Schwartz is pursuing a career that blends her passions for social good, technology, and informatics. After graduating from Columbia Nursing, her next stop is Columbia University’s Department of Biomedical Informatics, where she will be a National Library of Medicine postdoctoral fellow. She received the American Medical Informatics Association Distinguished Poster Award for her poster on “Clinician Involvement in Research on Machine-Learning-Based Clinical Decision Support for the Hospital Setting: A Scoping Review.”

 

Please tell us a little bit about yourself—where are you originally from, and what do you like to do in your spare time? 

I grew up in Houston, Texas, and Annapolis, Maryland, and I moved to New York five years ago. I love living in the city and in my spare time I like to run along the Hudson River, take my dog on long walks, go out to eat, or read a book that has nothing to do with my schoolwork. 

 

Why did you decide to pursue nursing and why did you choose Columbia Nursing?

I pursued nursing because my mom is a nurse. She did all kinds of nursing and ended up in a very specialized role as first assist in cardiac surgery. I saw that she was able to balance work and family while also loving her job. However, I realized pretty quickly that bedside nursing was not going to be where I spent my career, so I pursued my interest in technology and found that work in nursing informatics is where I am happiest. I chose Columbia Nursing because it has the best nursing informatics researchers in the country, and I could continue to live in New York City!

 

How has the pandemic shaped your feelings about becoming a nurse?

The pandemic has definitely made me further appreciate being a nurse. Because I don’t currently practice at the bedside, I felt really guilty during the height of hospitalizations in the city last spring. I wanted to be more helpful. I volunteered for surge staffing but ultimately wasn’t called in. Now, I’ve been administering COVID vaccines, which has been incredibly rewarding. 

Ultimately, the pandemic has reinforced to me that nurses have been historically undervalued in society. The pandemic has reignited my passion for changing that and elevating the way that nurses are perceived because we are changemakers, thought leaders, and essential to our communities.

 

How has your Columbia Nursing education and experience prepared you to deal with the pandemic?

Studying nursing research at Columbia has opened my eyes to the endless number of questions nurse scientists are prepared to answer and goals nurse leaders are capable of achieving. To me, some of the most important questions and policy goals–-around achieving health equity–-can and should be pursued by nurses. The pandemic has highlighted just how important this is. My time at Columbia has involved working with intelligent, energized, hard-working people who dedicate so much of themselves to meeting the challenges we face in achieving health equity. They’ve inspired me to be all the more dedicated to using my power and privilege as a nurse scientist to do whatever I can to make our profession and our communities more equitable. 

 

What are you passionate about, and how has being a student at Columbia Nursing allowed you to follow that passion?

I’m passionate about technology and informatics–-the focus of my research–-but probably more so, I’m passionate about feminism and social justice. While that’s not the focus of my dissertation, my time at Columbia Nursing has allowed me to keep those passions central in my life. I have been surrounded by smart, passionate women; I work with the best advisor who shares my ideals and is what I consider to be a role model for male leadership; and I’ve gotten involved in projects and discussions that are aimed at achieving social justice. For example, through volunteering with the Columbia Human Rights Initiative Asylum Clinic, organizing with the Graduate Workers of Columbia, and taking a summer seminar course on race and health, I’ve been able to foster this important driver in my life at Columbia.

 

What’s your next step after you graduate? 

After I graduate, I will begin a National Library of Medicine Postdoctoral Fellowship at Columbia’s Department of Biomedical Informatics. I’m looking forward to developing stronger informatics computational methods and pursuing a career that involves smartly and ethically leveraging patient data and technology to improve patient outcomes and the health of our communities. 

 

Do you have a favorite memory of your time at Columbia Nursing?

I don’t think I could nail down a single favorite memory. The best times at Columbia, for me, always involve talking with my peers about the things we’re passionate about, what we’re learning, what we’re frustrated by, or our different experiences as nurses–-always supporting each other, always laughing even through stressful times. Those conversations and friendships energize me, and I feel so fortunate that I’ve made lifelong friends here. 

 

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