Q&A with Zoe Tsai: AEI, Health Politics & more 📃

Hi all! My name is Zoe Tsai and my pronouns are she/her. I graduated from McMaster Bachelor of Health Sciences program this year, and I’m currently a first-year medical student at the University of Ottawa!

My path to medicine definitely wasn’t a “Eureka!” moment, and for many years I went through a series of questioning my future and career. I was interested in everything and anything and often worried that if I only entered one field I’d have to give up on all my other passions. In high school and university, I spent my time pursuing my passions in politics, business, physics, you name it. 

Regardless of the modality, at the very centre of my passions was wanting to make a difference, whether it meant creating a product to alleviate some aspect of our lifestyles directly, or navigating the politics of policies that eventually lead to trickle down effects. Ultimately, this is also what led me to the field of medicine. I gradually realized that none of these fields are mutually exclusive, and medicine was one of the ways that I would be able to integrate all my passions. Looking forward to the future, though ambitious, I hope to further gain adequate knowledge and skills to make a visible impact on society and become a leader that further inspires others.

Outside of school, I’m involved in a few advocacy projects focused on health inequalities and current issues such as the increasing homeless population and opioid epidemic. I also love to reconnect with my Taiwanese culture through the community and teaching Mandarin to children. My hobbies also include travelling (when weather and airports permit), exploring new foods, meeting new people, and going home to see my family!

For this newsletter, I’ll be highlighting my experience as a student participant at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) Summer Honors Academy. AEI is one of America’s largest and preeminent policy think-tanks located in Washington, DC. The Summer Honors Program is an intensive, fully-funded educational and professional development opportunity at AEI for undergraduate students.

“The program gathers students from diverse ideological backgrounds for substantive dialogue and debate about the most pressing issues facing the country and world. The core feature of the program is a series of discussion-based seminars that offer participants forums to delve deeply into policy areas of their choice. Outside of the seminars, students participate in briefings with distinguished guests, high-level networking opportunities, and site visits in Washington, DC.”

The program runs throughout June and applicants can select which week/seminar they would like to be a part of (usually classes have 12-18 students). It’s a fully-funded program and participants receive reimbursement for travel to DC, housing, a $250 USD stipend, and lunch and dinner on most class days. 

Each day typically begins with your small group seminar in one of the conference rooms or the AEI building. After lunch (usually provided), there are a range of different events that students may attend (e.g., career panels, speaker events, policy briefing, site visits, staff-led reading sessions) and some evenings may include receptions. There’s an abundant amount of free time that allows students to explore DC through the transit system (it’s huge!).

I came across this opportunity in my first year of university when I spoke with someone about pursuing a career in politics. They introduced me to a variety of international opportunities and encouraged me to apply to AEI especially. Although AEI was only a week long, it was truly an experience that allowed me to step out of my comfort zone (and out of the country) and expand my horizons indefinitely.

You can also apply to their month-long program (Summer Honors Academy), where you essentially stay in DC for the entire month and take part in a different seminar each week (it’s like doing 4 weeks of what I did).

My AEI seminar was titled “Healthcare in America: Balancing, Coverage, Quality, and affordability” hosted by James Capretta. Sitting in a class of 14 where each of us came from different backgrounds, identities, and countries, it was an enlightening experience to see the different perspectives to the table that everyone brought, especially when there were no right or wrong answers to the issues posed. I distinctly remember discussing the question that my undergraduate courses loved to ask - “can healthcare be purely private or public?” I realized that even if there may be an “ideal answer” (which we never found), the realities of budgets, politics, population differences, and other caveats prevent us from even considering the possibilities of those ideals. Furthermore, as our facilitator Mr. Capretta was an associate director at the White House’s Office of Management and Budget from 2001 to 2004 and continues to serve important positions in DC, he was able to provide past experiences and present-day issues that we’d have to consider if we pursued any of the proposals/solution we’d suggested. We all know that learning and sitting in a classroom can only provide and prepare us so much for the real world, but this experience was one where I truly realized that getting a multiple-choice question right is VERY different from solving an issue outside the classroom.

People often say “you never know unless you try”, and I think that phrase exactly describes my experience at AEI. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to pursue a career in advocacy and policy work, but going to AEI allowed me to gain insight and experience into that kind of work – it allowed me to try. 

Another one of the notable highlights are the guest speakers that they bring in. For instance, we had Michael Pratt, the chief communications officer for Operation Warp Speed for COVID-19, Dr. Sally Satel, a psychiatrist specializing in addiction and a known figure in health policy, and other political figures to talk about the midterms and more. We were able to sit at the same table as them, ask questions, and have discussions with these figures providing their thoughts and experiences to our ideas and concerns. Whilst most of the things being discussed were American policies, myself and other international students found that there were many key takeaways that we could bring back and apply to our own countries and communities as well. Furthermore, some of them also had insight into Canadian policies, as the two countries are often intertwined (one of them even knew a professor from my undergraduate university that I’d taken a course with!).

Lastly, the people. The people I met and friendships I made were truly like no other. Aside from the agenda and scheduled programming, the program gives you lots of free time to spend with friends. For instance, we were able to explore the National Mall, which includes the Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, The Capitol, White House, the Library of Congress, and one of our site visits took us to the US Senate Committee on Finance. We made many memorable memories with wonderful pictures to look back on. I’ll never forget getting absolutely drenched in the rain at the National Mall!

Even though the program was only one week, it allows you to make memories and build friendships that you take beyond DC. You make connections that span across America and the globe. Someday, you might even see your friends from AEI making the news as leading figures in politics (very likely)! It was an unforgettable experience and I’m extremely thankful that I was able to attend.

I wouldn’t say this experience directly drove me to pursue something, but after coming back, I found myself applying the skills and knowledge to my previous work and new opportunities that also transformed those roles. For instance, in the advocacy work I’m working on, I find myself often reflecting on my experiences in AEI and applying things that I learned. Furthermore, the networks and connections you make can take you very far (e.g., looking for domestic or international opportunities)!

AEI website: aei.org/summer-honors-program/ 

AEI Instagram: instagram.com/aei

Zoe’s LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/zoe-tsai/ 

Applications for the 2023 program are open until March 1st, 2023 but they’re evaluated on a rolling basis so I recommend applying as soon as you can! The application is submitted via the website (linked above)

Ultimately, there are so many different ways to get involved and there’s no right answer to solving our healthcare issues. My best advice is get involved and ask. It can be daunting and intimidating, but sometimes a simple question can take you miles. As the population is diverse and constantly evolving, I highly recommend consistently reflecting on your experiences and perspectives, staying updated with the news, talking to more people, and of course, listening.