Nicole Patterson, a member of Elon Law's Class of 2010, has been accepted into the Presidential Management Fellowship (PMF) program. Through her fellowship, Patterson will be working in the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), an agency of the Department of Health and Human Services.
More specifically, Patterson will be working in HRSA’s Shortage Designation Branch, which develops and uses criteria to determine whether a particular area or population is medically underserved or has a shortage of health professionals.
Patterson, who will formally begin her fellowship on September 13, will be assisting a special committee, recently appointed by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, to update the criteria used to define medically underserved areas and health professional shortage areas. The project was called for in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, and must be completed by July 2011.
The committee must follow a negotiated rulemaking process. Patterson will advise the committee on its procedural structure and on the development of new criteria to remain consistent with requirements of law and regulation.
Patterson said she felt privileged to have been accepted into the Presidential Management Fellowship program.
“My career endeavor has always been to work in the public sector and the PMF program will allow me to do that,” Patterson said. “Working with HRSA, especially on this particular project, will provide me with the opportunity to serve the communities that have given so much to me throughout my life. In addition, I hope that working with HRSA will allow me to show the DC, Maryland, Virginia area how well Elon Law has prepared me to be a lawyer and leader.”
More than 5,000 people apply for Presidential Management Fellowships each year on average. Approximately six percent of applicants obtain appointments as fellows.