In This Section:
Medical mission Rituparna Pati '04, M.P.H., M.D.
Student grinds in the America's Cup Brian Sharp '04 (ENG)

Where policy and practice intersect

In her free time, Rituparna Pati '04, M.P.H., M.D., enjoys salsa dancing. An admitted novice, she has taken some lessons and occasionally ventures into Manhattan to strut her stuff. But the demanding schedule of a third-year student in UConn's School of Medicine renders these excursions few and far between.

Perhaps it is only natural that Pati would be drawn to salsa, a rich blend of Afro-Cuban and Puerto-Rican rock and jazz that bridges cultures and peoples. With an interest in developing health programs and policies abroad, she plans to work for an international organization whose cross-cultural aims will improve medical practice throughout the world.

It is a calling that enticed Pati to enroll in a UConn dual degree program leading to advanced degrees in public health and medicine. A Simsbury, Conn., native, she feels fortunate to have found her program of choice here in Connecticut.

"UConn was clearly the best decision," Pati says. "It offered everything I was looking for - a distinctive program, progressive curriculum, and a faculty that takes a real interest in its students."

Few students attempt such an ambitious combination. In seeking to become both a medical practitioner and policymaker, Pati will draw upon her varied experiences that have touched on both fields. With an undergraduate degree in anthropology, she spent more than six months in Singapore as a public relations executive for the National Kidney Foundation. What followed were stints as an investigator for the Civilian Complaint Review Board of New York and as a news desk assistant for ABC News.

"I'm really enjoying the patient contact, and I haven't yet decided on my specific field of focus," she admits. "What I do know is that I'm passionate about writing and working internationa lly. UConn's program will provide me with an opportunity to be a hands-on practitioner and help shape medical policy."

Pati's concern for the lives of those overseas is, however, not exclusive to medical care of people. For the last three years, she's been the proud parent of a bouncing, baby elephant. Habsatue, an African pachyderm, was adopted for her as a birthday present.

"Some people prefer dogs. I've always had a soft spot in my heart for elephants," she says.

Pati hopes her travels will one day unite her with Habsatue, but in the meantime, she can follow her movements online within the African game preserve that Habsatue calls home.

"I'd love to see her in person. Maybe that's my incentive to practice in Africa after graduation," she jokes.
-- John B. Williams

Back on course after a detour for a unique opportunity

Brian Sharp's flight connections were horrid. It took him 37 hours to get from the warm New Zealand summer to the chill of a cold New England winter. After arriving in Storrs this past January, he had a day to register for classes, rent an apartment, find some furniture, and square away his finances. And get a little sleep.

But Sharp was not complaining. A mechanical engineering major from Norwalk, Conn., he had just completed a year doing "the best job I can imagine," crewing for Oracle BMW Racing in the America's Cup, the world's premier sailboat race. His team won eight sets of trials before falling to the eventual winner, the Swiss boat, Alinghi.

At 6'5", Sharp presents an imposing figure, as befits his job as a "grinder," one of the four crew members who may be standing still only to suddenly burst into action, cranking their wheel like madmen to pull the boat's huge sails up, to catch the wind.

Rituparna Pati seeks a career as both a medical practitioner and policymaker.

Brian Sharp '04 (ENG) served as member of the Oracle BMW crew during the America's Cup.

Sharp began sailing with his father and grandfather when he was about 6 years old. While he enjoyed sailing, it wasn't something he did with great regularity. Then in the summer of 2000, he joined some friends in Miami and began crewing on a boat in the Baccardi Cup, a competitive racing series.

It was a good place to make contacts, and Sharp discovered you could earn a good living racing America's Cup boats. Friends of his father suggested he was big and strong enough to join a crew, so Sharp sent out a few inquiries. His efforts were rewarded when he was asked to come to California for training and, if there was an opening, possibly a contract.

"They started in April, early May. I finished classes on a Thursday, bought my plane ticket on Friday, and I was on a plane to California on Monday," Sharp says. The next day he began the grueling training, including running miles in sand dunes, sometimes carrying 100-pound bags.

When training ended, his hard work was rewarded with a contract to join Oracle BMW Racing.

These days Sharp is back on course with his studies and he expects to graduate in December 2004. After that, he says, he isn't sure what he'll do. "I thank my lucky stars I had this chance, even if I don't get back to the next America's Cup," he says. The next race is scheduled for 2007.

He says the crew worked a lot of hours during the past couple of years - as much as 22 months with little time off. "But how many people do you talk to about working that can say 'I really like this job'?"

Perhaps not many. But Brian Sharp counts himself among them.
-- Richard Veilleux