About the Harvard Health Caucus at HMS: Mission and Organization

The Harvard Health Caucus at the Harvard Medical School was a student organization that aimed to include students from all of Harvard's graduate schools in a multi-disciplinary discourse concerning issues in health policy. The Caucus is was student "think-tank." The goals of the organization were as follows:

  • Provide a forum for the discussion of issues in health policy with input from a variety of disciplines (i.e. medicine, public health, government, law, business, etc.);
  • Provide students from the various Harvard schools the opportunity to interact with each other and eminent thinkers in the field of health policy;
  • Publish a working paper series that will encourage students to put their ideas into words, and work together to devise multidisciplinary approaches to challenges in health policy.

This organization drew on the vast resources (students and faculty) at Harvard to address issues in health policy in an integrated fashion. The Caucus was created in 1999 by Erica Seiguer, an MD-PhD (health policy) student at Harvard University.

NEW: In 2004, the caucus ceased to be a student organization at HMS


Organization of the Caucus

The Steering Committee
Sub-Committees
     Policy Roundtable Sub-Committee
     Advisory Council Sub-Committee
     Organization and Budget Sub-Committee
     Outreach and Communications and Website Development Sub-Committee
Advisory Council of the Caucus
General Membership of the Caucus


The Steering Committee of the Harvard Health Caucus at HMS

The Steering Committee, with representation of students from the various graduate schools, will be responsible for:

  • Overseeing the development of the policy roundtable series by the sub-committees;
  • Overseeing the development of the Journal of the Harvard Health Caucus;
  • Addressing interests and concerns of broader membership of the organization;
  • Developing a long-term agenda for the organization; and
  • Interacting with the organization's Advisory Council.

Sub-Committees

In April 2000, the Steering Committee set up 5 subcommittees to organize and plan for the 2000-2001 academic year. Recently, the Website Sub-Committee and Outreach and Communications Sub-Committee were combined. The sub-committees and their responsibilities are as follows:

Policy Roundtable Sub-Committee

  • Develop discussion series, format, speakers;
  • Begin to develop database of student interests in health policy, database of potential topics and speakers;
  • Coordinate with Organization and Budget sub-committee to mitigate scheduling conflicts and develop discussion series budget; and
  • Coordinate with Outreach and Communication sub-committee to develop advertising strategy for discussion series and coordinate discussions series with information/education on the website.

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Advisory Council Sub-Committee

  • Develop the Advisory Council proposal and selection process;
  • Work with the Organization and Budget Sub-Committee to develop by-laws governing the Advisory Council member roles and responsibilities, term lengths, chair ships, etc;
  • Propose a list of potential advisors to full Steering Committee, and invite those selected according to the HHC by-laws, and;
  • Communicate regularly with the Advisory Council, soliciting guidance about the current year's agenda and the long-term growth and development of the organization.

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Organization and Budget Sub-Committee

  • Develop by-laws, incl. general organization, steering committee, advisory council, broad membership. Include relationships with other organizations and endorsement guidelines and guidelines on funding;
  • Work with representatives from each school to develop financial strategy;
  • Develop combined academic calendars of all grad schools; and
  • Have responsibility for planning Steering Committee meetings and working with Advisory Council sub-committee to set up AC meetings.

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Outreach and Communication and Website Development Sub-Committee

  • Have responsibility for communicating HHC message to students, faculty, alumni and others;
  • Work with Discussion Series organizers to publicize Policy Roundtables;
  • Develop and publish the Journal of the Harvard Health Caucus at HMS
  • Develop concept for website;
  • Develop strategy for maintenance of website
  • Work with Discussion Series sub-committee to assess needs, and develop content; and
  • Implement website.

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Advisory Council to the Caucus

General Membership of the Caucus

Students and faculty at Harvard University and MIT are invited to attend Policy Roundtables sponsored by the Caucus.

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