Those who can do… also teach

McCourt School alum Bobby Clark (MPP’06) has joined George Washington University’s Milken Institute School of Public Health as a part-time faculty member. His introductory graduate course on health policy within the school’s Department of Health Policy and Management will continue through the end of this month. Clark, who had first participated as a guest lecturer at GWU, joins a growing number of McCourt School Master of Public Policy program alumni pursuing professional opportunities in academia .

“When the opportunity presented itself to teach an entire course on health policy, I decided it would be something I would like to do that is both fun and meaningful,” said Clark. 

Since graduating from McCourt, Clark has served as a health policy advisor in the U.S. House of Representatives and as a counselor to the secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) during the Obama Administration. Clark also worked at PwC’s Health Research Institute, where he led the Institute’s analysis of regulatory and policy initiatives impacting the pharmaceutical and life sciences industries.

Clark, who specialized in health care policy as a McCourt student, is currently a principal at Pyxis Partners, a DC-based health care advocacy firm working to improve health coverage, drug pricing and reproductive health care. 

“I’m able to pull from my professional experience to further illuminate some of the key concepts and programs that we cover in my course,” said Clark. 

He is also folding some of the lessons he learned at the McCourt School into his course curriculum. “My experience at McCourt gave me the skills needed to understand complicated policy issues, but also the levers needed to bring about change,” said Clark. 

“One thing I keep emphasizing about public policy, especially health policy, is that it’s not static,” he said. “It is constantly shifting, which can be both frustrating and exciting. Having patience and a problem-solving mindset is important if you intend to remain in this field for the long-haul.”