School of Public Health
Class of 1993
"By the time you've been a family practitioner for 20 years, you've seen enough of your patients become sick and live with the consequences…illnesses that might have been modified by behavior change," Dr. Hudson says. "I wanted to be involved with people in an earlier state and help with the bigger picture: prevention."
While working at the Open Door Family Medical Center in Ossining, N.Y., first as a physician and then as its medical director, Dr. Hudson decided to go for her M.P.H. degree at New York Medical College. Soon after, she became director of women's and youth services at the Westchester County Department of Health, which led to an appointment in 1996 as deputy commissioner of community health services. She became health commissioner shortly after that, and has been busy ever since working on ways for the county to address dozens of frontline health issues, including disease control, restaurant inspection, health education, public health nursing, immunization, and the Women, Infant and Children's nutrition program (WIC).
Dr. Hudson was pleasantly surprised to find out how much she enjoys administration. She also likes having the opportunity to make decisions that influence the county's healthcare policy, even if it means working long hours. She says, "A health department has to be responsive 24/7, and to do that you have to be available."