From 2C to D.C.: College of Idaho grad moves to Washington, D.C., to work in health policy

Aliza Monique Auces earned her B.S. in Health Sciences and Spanish with minors in Psychology and Health Professions Studies at The College of Idaho in 2016. During her undergraduate studies, Ms. Auces was accepted into the nationally competitive Summer Medical and Dental Program (SMDEP) at the University of Washington School of Medicine and since has served as an active ambassador for the program. Committed to improving the healthcare of Caldwell and Nampa residents, she created a new internship and became the first Latino Health Intern at the Center for Community and Justice in Idaho. During her last year as a full-time undergraduate student, Aliza presented her research project in developing a Novel Cell Motility Assay for Glioblastoma Multiforme cells under the guidance of Dr. Luke Daniels at the annual Student Research Conference at the College of Idaho. She also worked as an emergency department medical scribe throughout the Treasure Valley with Idaho Emergency Physicians, where she gained meaningful first-hand experiences of how current health policies affect emergency medicine and other fields of medicine. Aliza is the first Latina from Idaho accepted to the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (CHCI) Public Policy Fellowship Program. Eager to gain the skills that would allow her to become a better advocate for the development of health policies that promote health equality for the Latino community and other underserved communities, she completed her placements at the Association of American Medical Colleges and the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee under Ranking Member Senator Patty Murray.

She is a 2017-2018 participant in AICGS’ "Transatlantic Exchange Program for Young Minorities,” sponsored by the Transatlantic Program of the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany through Funds of the European Recovery Program (ERP) of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy.