McCallie Junior Ivan Yu, left and Dr. Robert Betz '70
McCallie junior Ivan Yu, a boarding student from Shenyang, China, traveled to Washington, D.C., last week to present original research to a meeting of the Model United Nations World Health Organization at The George Washington University.
Ivan was joined in the presentation by Dr. Robert Betz '70, a long-time health policy expert and an adjunct professor of health policy in GW's department of political science. Dr. Betz was contacted by McCallie economics teacher Skeeter Makepeace about Ivan's research ideas, and Dr. Betz collaborated with Ivan in developing the presentation for the Model UN.
Ivan's presentation was titled "How is Long Term Care in Provided in China and are There Any Lessons to be learned from this Approach?"
As part of his yearlong research into the topic of care for the elderly in China, Ivan examined over 750 written survey response, conducted over 30 face-to- face interviews with doctors, nurses, health care administrators, as well as representatives of the Chinese government, along with a significant academic literature review.
"I was indeed astounded that a high school student would attempt research methodology usually seen at the university level," said Dr. Betz. "Ivan Yu is a remarkable young man showing great academic as well as personal potential."
The George Washington University Model United Nations is an annual gathering of high school students from across the U.S. put on by GW's Elliot School of International Affairs. The World Health Organization attendance this year was over 80 students who went to Washington for the three-day meeting.