Meet Our Interns

John Buchwald

John is a second year Masters of Public Health (MPH) student at Virginia Commonwealth University with a concentration in Social and Behavioral Health. He teaches Anatomy and Physiology at Centura College and works as a massage therapist on the weekends. During his spare time, he spends most of his time at the beach, going to ethnic restaurants (with a particular weakness for Thai, Japanese and Mexican cuisine), camping in the mountains with friends or drinking coffee on his balcony.

Within the Office of Minority Health and Public Health Policy (OMHPHP), John serves on the marketing committee of the Health Equity Conference. He has an interest in addressing social injustices as they relate to health, with a particular interest in Native American, as well as gay and lesbian populations.

Jason Emejuru

Jason Emejuru is a rising second year medical student at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU). He received a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from VCU as well. Jason joined the OMHPHP to gain a better understanding of the state department's role in addressing the inequities in health across the state. He is currently assisting the programs, marketing, and scholarships sub-committees for the Health Equity Conference. He would like to get involved in the office’s community-based participatory approaches to combat health inequities.

His current interests include pediatrics/psychiatry, critical education/school reform, mentoring, slam poetry and traveling.

Tiffany Ford

Tiffany Ford is currently enrolled in a dual-degree JD/MPA program at the respective institutions of University of Richmond School of Law and Virginia Commonwealth University. She completed her undergraduate studies in Film and Television Production at Boston University in Boston, MA.

This summer Tiffany is working with the OMHPHP on its regulations and policy recommendations. She is excited to be interning with our office and looks forward to learning from the wealth of knowledge and experience exhibited by her fellow co-workers.

Tamara Scott

Tamara Scott is a second year MPH student at Virginia Commonwealth University. She completed her undergraduate degree in Psychology from the University of Virginia and is from Lynchburg, Virginia. Tamara’s interests include health disparities and mental health. As an OMHPHP intern, Tamara is developing health equity presentations for communities and assisting with the Mosby Court partnership.

Molly Massey

Molly Massey is enrolled in the Community and Public Health Leadership track of the Master of Nursing Program at the University of Virginia (UVA). After completing her undergraduate degree in Nursing at UVA, Molly worked for eight years in labor and delivery units in the Richmond area, where she developed an interest in social justice and health policy.

Molly joined the Department of Evaluation and Quality at the United Network for Organ Sharing in 2003 and is currently working as a Policy Compliance Analyst. During her summer internship in the Division of Health Equity, Molly is assiting with a Community Based Participatory Approach project in Southwest Virginia.