Ph.D. Candidate, M.A. in History (California State University, Sacramento) and B.A. in History (Metropolitan State University, Denver)
I'm studying the history of the largest and only fully-nationalized healthcare system in the United States: the Veterans Health Administration. Roughly established in 1921, the VA has evolved into one of the most successful healthcare systems by practically any measure--health outcomes, patient satisfaction, cost of care delivery, and so on. It is also fundamental to the success of medical training and research. Yet, in some ways, it is a fundamentally broken system, with its tiered access and a bureaucracy that prioritizes economic efficiency over patients' health.