Maithili Deshpande and Korey Kennelty, graduate students in the Social and Administrative Sciences (SAS) Division, both received best student paper awards in the Medical Care section of the 2010 American Public Health Association’s annual research conference. Both are graduate students of Joshua Thorpe, assistant professor in the SAS Division.

Deshpande’s paper titled, “Disparities in access to asthma medications in U.S. adults aged 50-64 compared to adults 65 and older” examines the potential for reducing disparities in access to medications by expanding Medicare benefits to younger populations. Kennelty’s paper titled, “Poor perceived understanding of the Medicare Part D program and its impact on beneficiary satisfaction with medication cost savings” identifies older adults in Wisconsin at risk of being overwhelmed by the complexity of the Medicare Part D drug benefit program.

The Medical Care Section is a broad cross-section of researchers dedicated to improving healthcare policy and clinical practice through research, advocacy and dissemination of ideas. Every year, the Medical Care section conducts a student paper competition in which five awardees are selected from submissions representing a range of health-related graduate programs such as medicine, health services research, nursing, and pharmacy.