LPDP interview

Introduce yourself
-medical doctor graduated from universitas sriwijaya
-currently working at a hospital in Jakarta as an ED and ICU doctor & hospital assessor
had experienced working in several Puskesmas in South Sumatra & health technology company in Jakarta
I am applying for LPDP scholarship to pursue epidemiology master’s degree in Columbia University. My interest is mainly
in chronic disease especially cardiovascular epidemiology and I am interested in applying health technology for chronic
disease management and prevention in Indonesia. Therefore I hope I could further my study in Columbia University through
LPDP scholarship.

Why Columbia university. Harvard and JHU has good medicine rankings and research?
I believe choosing schools is not about rankings or prestigious names. Chronic disease epidemiology in Columbia University
is one of the leading research unit in the world.

It has innovative collaborative research and training programs, one of its best is THE MULTI-ETHNIC STUDY OF
ATHEROSCLEROSIS (MESA). It is a multi ethnic cohort sponsored by the National Institutes of Health. In fact, I have
seen the curriculum from Johns Hopkins Chronic Disease Epidemiology, and In the second year the students will be working
on a research project at a leading role cardiovascular studies which one of it is MESA.
The

Columbia also has a specialized research core about Decision Analysis for Chronic Disease Prevention, funded by NIH as
well, it applies data and methods from epidemiology to answer practical clinical and public health questions, such as: based
on risk, benefit, and economic value, which patients should receive screening or diagnostic testing?
What is the optimal scope, intensity, and duration of population-wide, public health interventions for chronic disease
prevention?
How common, severe, and treatable must a genetic disease be to justify widespread screening in childhood?

I also want to learn and collaborate with one of the Professor Epidemiology, the principal investigator in MESA, Dr.
Steven Shea's scope of research which focuses on epidemiology of cardiovascular disease and the application of
information systems technology to improving the quality of care and access to high quality care among medically
underserved populations.

Why epidemiology?

Epidemiology is an important core of public health. By identifying the cause of disease, I could effectively deliver strategies
to most effectively prevent and treat desease, and the scope of impact is very broad. Take for example, the role of
epidemiologists was prominent in tackling and controlling covid 19 pandemic and possibly other future infectious disease
threats.

And my interest is in chronic disease epi. And I consider handling this as an urgency matter in Indonesia.
- The trend of morbidity and mortality caused by chronic disease no longer dominates elderlies, but has
shifted to young people in their productive ages. This will have major impact on human resources and
economy in the future, in 2030-2040 Indonesia will face bonus demography in which the productive age is much
higher than the non productive age group. However if the trend of chronic disease in young people arises, our
mission to create a healthy generation and intelligent nation towards advanced Indonesia will be difficult to
achieve
-

U r a doctor why pursue epid?

I wish to improve health for more than one patient at one time, I aim to have greater impact possible in preventing disease.
Actually research is like a mother in medicine, it breeds new developments and approaches.
While in other countries it is very common for doctors to also be epidemiologists or researchers in other fields, sadly in
Indonesia it is not really common. So by pursuing this path, I hope in the future there will be more Indonesian doctors
that want to become epidemiologists or researchers to always keep updated in the dynamic world of health.

Explain your curriculum and study plan.

My program consists of two years, in the first year I will learn introductory epidemiology and biostatistics courses in which
we will be separated into small groups with a faculty member, in the second year I will be taking methods sequence courses
consisting of applied epi analysis. Beyond that I will have to take two substantive courses, and I plan to take epidemiology of
cardiovascular diseases and clinical epidemiology. In the beginning of the second year I will also start my Master’s Thesis,
and I plan to investigate the prevalence, correlates, and progression of subclinical cardiovascular disease.

(MESA baseline measurements: coronary calcium using CT, ventricular mass and function using cardiad MRI, flow
mediated brachial artery endothelial vasodilation, vessel thickness, ECG, sociodemographic factors, life habita, psychosocial
factors.
Results: identification oand characterization of CVD events, including acute myocardial infarction and other coronary
disease, stroke, chf, therapeutic intervention for CVD, and mortality

What do you plan to research about?

As I mentioned I am interested in chronic disease epidemiology and the role of technology to address health disparities in its
prevention & management. One of the projects of my interest right now, is investigating the prevalence, correlates, and
progression of subclinical cardiovascular. Because recent studies show that subclinical baselines hold promise for
furthering the capacity to predict and prevent CVD.

What effort have you done for your planned research?

I actually have not contacted any supervisors yet, but I already looked up for several professors whose research align with
my interest. I have contacted my program director,

How do you plan to contribute to Indonesia

Jangka pendek
For my short term plan, I plan to become an epidemiologist working in GO or NGO exploring the priority areas that needs to
be taken for chronic disease management, especially through utilizing health technology.

For the longer run, I plan to be a researcher in one of medical school institution in Indonesia, I hope to pursue medical
residency in internal medicine to support my mission in chronic disease management. After graduation, I hope to continue
becoming a researcher and academic physician and teach at one of medical schools in Indonesia.

What challenges will you face in your contribution plan?

Several challenges, the first is
Research funding : build collaborative research. I know that Columbia university especially the MESA project often needs
samples from many areas across the globe, in fact Columbia has made collaborative research with Indonesia about Malaria.
And research about the use of technology for chronic disease management in Indonesia is still underrepresented so I believe
I could bring interesting research proposal that will benefit Indonesia and international health.

The datasets that are not integrated – this will greatly influenced by policy, and collaboration between the healthcare field
and information technology – so I intend to join PPI dunia to widen my connection with other fields as well as the
government & other ministries to leverage to spread awareness about that.

I also hope to spread awareness through writing and publishing my opinions in Indonesian medias.

While I see challenges, I preserve

Problem in applying health technology for chronic disease management in Indonesia

What is the lowest point in your life?

The series of daunting moments after my grandfather had a stroke attack.

At that time I was sorrowful, I got mad at how naïve I was. but that was my biggest reason of why I wanted to become a
doctor, to help a family just like my won. It also gave me a lesson, to always read, find reasonings for the things I do to
people.

How did you deal with that difficulty back then?

Support system
resilient

What challenges will you find during your study?

I understand that I will face many challenges studying abroad, I feel I am confident in facing “being away from home”
because thruout medical schools we were placed in different cities, and after graduation I’ve also been living all alone. I
acknowledge it’ll be even more challenging when I study abroad, but I plan to overcome it by keeping close contact with my
family as well as Indonesian students in Columbia, joining social activities from the university. I believe the feeling of
missing home is undeniable but it will not interfere with my study plan and academic growth.

What are your strong and weak points?

I’d say some of the qualities I am most proud of is I am resilient, adaptive, and reflective. It’s all because I aim to be a
person who has self-awareness, so in terms of facing difficulties, I tend to not dwell to deep in resentment and find wisdom
and lessons to bounce back.

Some of the qualities im not very proud of is I have trouble delegating tasks, and I try to do everything myself. this
sometimes led to me feeling overwhelmed because I cannot handle it with my time management . so I learned to manage my
time better, and respect that people have their own roles, and to be able to succeed it takes team work.
Are you confident that you can graduate on time and can keep up with the level of study there?
I am confident that I can excel academically in Columbia and graduate on time. I have enrolled in several courses from
Columbia univ available online in coursera and so far I have no trouble following the lectures even when it is presented in
English. However I acknowledge that I will have to work really hard nd I am commited to put all my efforts so that I can
finish my study on time and with good scores because I want to come back to Indonesia bringing changes through my newly
acquired knowledge

What differs you from other candidates?

Background: Undergraduate degree & activity during college

A member of AMSA, one of the highlights organizational work:
HEALTH education: basic life saving resus for common people, announcer breast cancer di radio

Charity work
free cataract surgery

Why you’re applying to LPDP scholarship?

- Because LPDP is a scholarship funding regulated and given by Indonesian government, so I hope in the future, if i
want to create a positive impact on Indonesian healthcare system, I will have more opportunities to discuss it from
people who are closely linked to policy making and changing
- I want to be a part of Mata Garuda, the alumnae network of LPDP awardee. I hope being in a place with like-
minded people who want to contribute in the development of Indonesia will open new doors of collaboration for
the greater good of our country
- There is also an opportunity to receive research funding from LPDP which will benefit me as I am going to take a
research degree

Networking opportunity
Mata garuda: alumnae

What program r u applying and what uni

In my application I chose public health program from Columbia, Pennsylvania, and Boston. But actually I have received the
LOA from Columbia and had just had an interview from Pennsylvania on June 7.

Why r u applying to those programs?

Throughout my journey as a medical doctor, I got to see patients from various backgrounds, the low socioeconomic class to
high ones, the ones with limited access to quality education to the ones who r highly educated. All those differences have
shifted my perspectives towards health and illness. I no longer see a patient as merely being sick or healthy, but I started to
realize whether one’s well being and health condition is greatly influenced by a large number of factors, the social
determinants of health. Now that I see it, I realize to make my country Indonesia a healthy nation, I have to address all those
factors that will be deeply learned through master’s degree in pubic health.

Is the program related to ur academic background

We see there are better programs, if not better, than urs. Why u choose urs?

8. Why abroad?
Has a specialized research unit in chronic disease and the department of epid has a worldwide research network spanning
over 60 countries
pioneer clinical trials to test new treatment and diagnostic options during covid 19 -> innovative
has a large datasets taken from international data to practice data processing esp in epidemiology
had also found a teacher whose research falls on my interest : Steven Shea
Opportunity to build international network will equip me with international perspective on health

9. Why that specific country? Why not other country?

I choose to study in the USA because USA serves as the center and leading research field in cardiovascular. As in
medicine, we always follow the guidelines released by American Heart Association. And the AHA epidemiological study is
linked with MESA or multi ethnic study of atherosclerosis of whose the principal investigator will be one of my mentors in
Columbia university.

America is also in the greater use of health care technology, while as informed by health minister, Indonesia is just
starting to foster the use of it. So I hope studying in the USA will equip me with new innovations that can be implemented in
Indonesia.

What you will specifically learn in your program?

Tell us about the curriculum

Why abroad not in local unis?

Have you prepared about your thesis/capstone project

Do you know who you will work with? The professor?

Steven shea

Study plan: what extracuricullar u imagine u’ll join thruout ur study?

There are two organizations that caught my interest.
Future Heathcare Leaders exists to provide students with a forum for the exchange of knowledge and ideas to help them
become more effective healthcare leaders.
FHL’s events and activities promote its mission via the following five objectives:

Bring speakers to our campus that will be role-models and will serve as mentors on our paths to becoming leaders.
Promote co-curricular and extra-curricular activities that serve to establish means of communication between Mailman
School students, faculty, administrators, and alumni.
Host regular General Body meetings to provide open forums for dialogue among students, faculty, and the administration,
Advocate for the needs and concerns expressed by FHL membership.
Actively collaborate with other groups within and outside of Columbia University to achieve our mission.

Healthcare Data Analytics (HDA)

MISSION
Healthcare Data Analytic's mission is to elevate everyone's analytical skill set so as to make more data-driven
healthcare decisions in our future careers. All experience levels are welcome!

Kontribusi:
Apa rencana stelah lulus&kembali ke indo
Bgmn rencana tsb bisa memberi kontribusi positif u indonesia?

Msh blm yakin ni. Apakah relevan dg kondisi indo? Sebenernya apa masalah yg ingin anda pecahkan?

Kalau ad tawaran kerja dr luar. Bgmn akan merespon hal tsb?

Have no intention to live and build family there
Because living life is not only about career oriented, but purpose oriented
My purpose is to tackle the problem I’ve been seing for the past years as a med doc
Jd tinggal di indo akan membuat saya lebih immerse dgn masalah di sini
Seeing the eyes of my patients, knowing the healthcare system and feeling it directly in Indonesia will produce different
emotion and callings

Knapa? Bukankah kerja di luar jg bs kontribusi untuk indonesia?

Tantangan yg dpt muncul ktika mau berkontribusi nanti?

Saat menjadi mahasw apakah mau berkontribusi? Sbg mhsw bgmn cara anda berkontribusi?
Saya ingin aktif menjadi pembicara webinar, baik itu berbagi pengalaman saya untuk menginspirasi teman teman di
Indonesia untuk punya mindset membangun negeri, dalam bidang kesehatan, dan saya terbuka untuk “mentorship”
program bagi teman-teman yang ingin lanjut sekolah lagi

Saya juga ingin menjadi bagian dari organisasi mahasiswa Indonesia, misalnya di PPI Indonesia dan Permias, yang nantinya
mengadakan acara2 untuk teman2 di Indonesia, contohnya edu fair.

Pengalaman terberat yang pernah saya alami selama hidup saya

Felt guilty, lesson: to be forgiving to myself, to accept myself for my flaws but grow from it.. so I took a lesson to
become a more critical thinker

BAHAN BACAAN CHRONIC DISEASE

Key transformative directions that the field of cardiovascular epidemiology will undergo over
the next decade. The specific areas we highlight in our review include the changing
framework of population health and disease, including a greater integration of individual
and community approaches, and the combination of health promotion strategies with
traditional disease prevention/treatment goals (cHealth); recognition of the social
determinants of health and their incorporation into the biomedical model of CVD
(sHealth); better characterization of the exposome, including the built environment and
via the “quantified” self, fueled aptly by the digital data age revolution (mHealth); the
integration of electronic medical records (EMRs; eHealth) resources into the
monitoring and maintenance of the health of individuals and populations; and harnessing
of the power of the genomic revolution toward better precision cardiovascular medicine
delivery (gHealth);. We also address related challenges that require reconfiguration of
traditional cardiovascular epidemiology training and the development of the public health
workforce of this century.

Individual & community approach

most cardiovascular guidelines and position papers have emphasized targeting of individuals
for screening and management of CVD risk factors. More recently, there has been increased
recognition that it is critical both to target individual-level behaviors and to treat the
associated levels of measured biochemical risk factors for CVD for preventing CVD
successfully.

Community: including dietary salt restriction, limits on food portion size, tobacco laws
(including taxes) to promote smoking cessation and to mitigate secondhand tobacco
exposure, and changes to the built environment to enhance physical activity.

Recognition of the Social Determinants of Cardiovascular Health and Disease:

sHealth

Linguistic differences and cultural beliefs and practices have been demonstrated to influence
the behavior of individuals, including their health-seeking behaviors, their access to care, and
their compliance with preventive treatments. However, major contributors to disparities are
socioeconomic deprivation, implicit bias, and racial stereotypes, which affect both
cardiovascular health promotion and disease prevention and exacerbate disparities in the
access to and delivery of cardiovascular care.18

Recent work has also thrown the spotlight on social networks and their impact on the
clustering and development of behaviors (eg, smoking,21 alcohol,22 and physical activity23) and
their association with spread of obesity through the community.

Future cardiovascular epidemiological studies will evaluate the key role of culturally
appropriate educational and other interventions aimed at improving cardiovascular health
care.

Mhealth

The ability to gather health data via smartphones on virtually everyone worldwide poses a
mind-boggling opportunity and a challenge and undoubtedly will influence the field of
cardiovascular epidemiology over the next decade. Issues of data harmonization, data
security, data integration, and individual privacy concerns will require substantial investment
of efforts, followed by the incorporation of streams of real-life continuous data on select traits
into the research portfolios of scientists.

However, using information on the “quantified self” for research purposes is a relatively new
occurrence and will likely require implementation of machine learning tools (support vector
machines, random forests, etc) that have traditionally been used in industry for commercial
purposes.

eHealth (EMR)
 The widespread use of EMRs introduces challenges related to the interoperability of
different platforms and a relative lack of standardization of various data elements across
systems. There was also a federal mandate to invest in large data infrastructure projects 

However, the EMR captures the exposome imperfectly because a substantial proportion of
exposures (eg, behavioral, socioeconomic, environmental factors) are not captured within the
current EMR systems

We also anticipate greater integration of EMRs with genomic data (epigenome-wide

association studies noted above),33 paralleled with evolution of the quality of EMR data,
including enhanced interoperability of the various platforms. EMR data will also likely see
greater use for recruitment of patients into pragmatic trials and for the development of
community-based research networks. It is also likely that healthcare data will become
accessible via standardized open software interfaces (apps) to researchers (and patients) with
a focus on “efficacy, accuracy, utility, safety, privacy and security” features.

Genomic and Biomarker Revolution and Impact on Cardiovascular

Epidemiology (gHealth, bHealth)

Understanding genomics is now a critical element in cardiovascular epidemiology because of

our enhanced ability to identify common and rare genetic variants, to use genomic markers in
adaptive clinical trial designs, and to evaluate circulating molecules originating in the gut
microflora that influence cardiometabolic and vascular risk.

00

The focus of risk prediction will veer more and more toward prevention over the life course,
with a consideration of both a short-term (the traditional 10-year time window) and a much
longer time (20- to 30-year time window) horizon

Therefore, the biomarker revolution (b-health) will herald the measurement of different
panels of biomarkers at various ages that capture the complexity and evolution of risk factors
themselves and reflect more accurately the antecedents of these risk factors (eg, better
nutritional and adiposity biomarkers), as well as indicators of subclinical disease measures
over the entire life course. Targeted interventions will be based on both an individual’s
genotype and the exposome as reflected by biomarker profiles and will likely be highly
individualized.

--
Another specific advance that will gain firm ground is the integration of cardiovascular
epidemiology with chronic disease epidemiology, with the emerging refrain of a shared
commonality of risk factors across several forms of noncommunicable diseases, including
cancer and pulmonary disease. Thus, the prevention of CVD will be integrated within the
broader framework of prevention of noncommunicable diseases in the upcoming decades.

00

Transformative Vision for Epidemiology in This Century: Extension of Big

Data Into Cardiovascular Epidemiology

Khoury et al46 proposed a transformative vision for epidemiology in this century with 8

overarching thematic recommendations:

(1) extend research beyond traditional domains of discovery and etiologic research to
include multilevel analysis, interventions, implementation, and outcomes research; (2)
greater access to and sharing of protocols, metadata, and biosamples, fostering
collaboration, ensuring replication, and accelerating translation; (3) expand cohort studies
to collect diverse exposures across the life course to examine multiple health-related
endpoints; (4) develop and validate reliable methods and technologies to quantify
exposures/outcomes on a massive scale; (5) integrate ‘big data’ science; (6) use knowledge
to drive research, policy, and practice; (7) transform training of 21st century epidemiologists
to address interdisciplinary and translational research; and (8) optimize resources and
infrastructure for epidemiological studies.