UCLA Fielding graduate student Maite Medina, RN, awarded scholarship

Maite Medina, a registered nurse and UCLA Fielding School graduate student, has received the 2026 Levin-Gordon Executive MPH Scholarship.

A second-year student in the Executive MPH (EMPH) program and a district public health nurse with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, Medina was selected for this honor based on her exceptional academic achievement, leadership, and professional demeanor throughout her first year in the program.

“Being selected for the Levin-Gordon Scholarship was completely unexpected but meaningful,” Medina said. “I am really grateful for the generosity and feel truly honored to be selected.”

The Levin-Gordon Executive MPH Scholarship provides a scholarship in the amount of $2,500 towards tuition for a promising second year student in the EMPH Program based on academic achievement. Awardees are selected in consultation with program faculty for exceptional work, leadership, and demeanor during their first year in the program.

“Maite exemplifies the connection between scholarship and practice,” said Dr. Isomi Miake-Lye, assistant professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management and director of the EMPH program. “She is engaged and thoughtful, and her experience as a nurse and public health professional enriches class discussion, elevating the learning experience for all. Maite demonstrates a mature understanding of the responsibilities that accompany academic excellence and future leadership in health care."

For many clinical professionals, the transition to health policy and management involves a significant shift in perspective. For Medina, a bilingual registered nurse and certified infection control practitioner, the EMPH program provided a “lightbulb moment” regarding the mechanics of the healthcare system.

“As a nurse, I was trained to focus on the patient in front of me. Coming into this program, I carried that lens,” Medina said. “I thought of finance and business operations as secondary to the real work of improving health outcomes. This program completely flipped that assumption. I’ve come to understand that it is crucial to speak the language of finance and truly grasp how systems are funded, how resources are allocated, and where incentives are aligned or misaligned. These decisions shape health outcomes at a population level far more than any single clinical intervention. If you don’t understand the business of health, you can’t change it.”

Medina notes that understanding how systems are funded and where incentives are aligned is what truly shapes health outcomes at a population level - often more than any single clinical intervention.

Since beginning the program in 2024, Medina’s career goals have crystallized. While she remains deeply committed to her roots in health equity and serving immigrant communities, she is now looking toward nurse leadership to drive systemic healthcare transformation.

“Every class in this program has made me a stronger nurse, and I’m leaving with a genuine interest in exploring a path in nurse leadership,” Medina said. “I’m not sure exactly what that path looks like yet, but I’m excited to find out. I remain committed to health equity, which is one of the main reasons I became a nurse and pursued this degree. The EMPH program has strengthened my confidence as a leader and equipped me with a whole new set of skills to help me better serve the communities that need it most.”