Rockefeller Leadership Fellow: Jonathan “Nathan” Busam ’17

This series introduces the 2016-2017 Rockefeller Leadership Fellows. Each fellow reflects on why he or she wanted to be a part of the program and what aspects of leadership most interests them.

I love being part of creative change, and I want to help lead creative change in healthcare. I see the Rockefeller Leadership Fellows Program as an important step towards that goal, because I will gain a greater understanding of the values, skills, and experiences that shape the thoughts and actions of successful leaders. This growth will help me in my journey to becoming a practicing physician leader, researching consumer-focused health systems and consulting on health system organization.

Helping to establish the Healthcare Policy, Innovation and Delivery Living Learning Community (LLC) has been one of my most meaningful leadership experiences while at Dartmouth. Rui Zhang '16 and I co-founded this residential Healthcare LLC to provide Dartmouth's first space for students to explore healthcare through informal conversations in an interdisciplinary fashion.

Resident feedback suggests we greatly increased the sense of community among individuals interested in health care while also providing a venue for innovation and academic risk-taking.

RLF will positively impact my role in this organization and other organizations by allowing me to explore issues, such as organizational adaptability in unforeseen circumstance and the importance of using reflection to deliver the best experiences to residents.

Jonathan “Nathan” Busam '17 grew up in Chatham, New Jersey and graduated from Chatham High School. At Dartmouth, Nathan is a double Biology and Economics major. Excited to help design and discover novel, personalized healthcare delivery strategies that enable populations to thrive, Nathan worked on performance improvement initiatives at Morristown Medical Center (MMC) and conducted research on the effectiveness of Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) at Dartmouth. Nathan has an additional passion for social entrepreneurship. He helped establish the Healthcare Policy, Innovation, and Delivery LLC, a healthcare themed residential community focused on enhancing creativity and design thinking skills on campus, and ChathamSTEM, a non-profit organization focused on reducing inequality in STEM fields in his hometown. At Dartmouth, Nathan also writes for various publications and helps captain the club tennis team. In his free time Nathan enjoys hiking, skiing, and exploring new places to eat.

Edited by Rachel Favors '18, Rockefeller Center Student Program Assistant for Communications