Brandon Hotham '12

I loved UNE. I still love UNE. I had an amazing experience as an undergraduate and graduate student. The best things about being an undergraduate in the Psychology department were the classes and the faculty. The faculty, to me, was the perfect size. It felt large enough where I was offered the courses I wanted, but also small enough (including student class size) where I felt entirely comfortable approaching all faculty on a one-on-one basis. This made my experience as a student so rich. I was able to do research with a psychology faculty member as an undergraduate, and this was the experience that ultimately led to my decision about what graduate program I would pursue.

I recently completed my Master of Public Health (MPH) degree from UNE, and before I completed the degree I was hired by a regional health improvement collaborative here in Maine called the Maine Health Management Coalition (MHMC). The MHMC is an independent 501c3 nonprofit that has a goal of advancing the triple aim of healthcare in the state of Maine. Upon completing my degree, I was recently promoted to an Operations Manager for the Pathways to Excellence (PTE) program. This program, as a part of the MHMC, conducts public reporting of healthcare providers and hospitals all across the state of Maine on a consumer facing website called GetBetterMaine.org.

The major and the classes absolutely prepared me for my professional life. I use so much of the knowledge I gained from classes in my every day work life. I also appreciated the strong core in basic psychological principles that I was taught, while also having the freedom to pursue psychology electives that allowed me to dive deeper into the fields of psychology that I found to be the most interesting. Plus, the opportunity for independent study and research with faculty was incredibly useful to me in my continuing professional/academic career.