Interested in both health policy and pediatrics, Meg Oberle ‘07 combines her passions to better serve the Philadelphia area as a Pediatric Endocrinologist. A biology major and Integral Honors degree candidate at Le Moyne, Meg stayed in Syracuse to receive her MD at SUNY Upstate Medical University. She completed her residency at Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital, Cleveland, OH, and is now completing a pediatric endocrinology fellowship at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, where she studies obesity in women and children participating in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) program. With her research, she hopes to identify appropriate modifications for SNAP that will better serve the needs of participants, ensuring that they not only receive the assistance they need, but tools to create healthier lives.
Why did you choose Le Moyne College? What stuck out most to you in that selection process?
I chose Le Moyne because I wanted to go to a smaller school. I was also specifically looking for a Jesuit school for college. I had been attracted the concept of combining strong academics with social justice and community outreach. It sounds cheesy, but I immediately felt like I belonged there when I visited campus for the first time. Also, the early assurance program with early admittance to Upstate Medical School was also a big factor in me ultimately choosing Le Moyne.
How has a liberal arts education helped you in your career path?
My education at Le Moyne, specifically involvement in the Integral Honors Program, helped me develop a very interdisciplinary way of looking at the world. I learned to look at issues or research ideas from the viewpoints of multiple disciplines—be it social science, biology, or economics. I think I developed a love for collaboration because of this. Currently, I am collaborating with a Ph.D. candidate from the School of Urban Design at the University of Pennsylvania. A Pediatric Endocrinologist very rooted in the "hard sciences" and a Ph.D. student in design are both evaluating the SNAP program from different angles. Our study team is made up of people from the Schools of Nursing, Urban Design, and Medicine at Penn, and it has been really fun and innovative.
What were you involved in on campus that meant the most to you?
My thesis for Integral Honors was really my first introduction to research. My thesis was related to health policy and started my interest in how policy impacts health.
Another big experience for me was studying abroad through Le Moyne's program at the University of Essex. I really "came out of my shell" during this time and gained a lot of confidence.
What does a "typical" day look like for you in your current job?
I see patients in the Pediatric Endocrinology clinic at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia one day a week. I see patients with diabetes, thyroid issues, and other hormone problems. The other times I am either working on my research or going to class.
My research involves evaluating the effects of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as food stamps, on obesity. I spend my day either recruiting subjects for the study or doing study-visits that involve talking to mothers who are on SNAP. I learn about how they use their benefits to feed their families and barriers to feeding their families healthfully. Another part of this study is evaluating whether their patterns of eating on SNAP benefits affect weight gain by looking at appetite-regulating hormones. I hope that the end goal of this research is to modify the SNAP program to better suit the needs of the participants or to give participants tools to make SNAP work for them.
I am also getting a Masters in Health Policy Research from the University of Pennsylvania. I am learning different research techniques and how to translate science and medicine into policy.
What advice do you have for current students?
It's okay if you think about problems from a different perspective from others in your field. Not a lot of doctors in the world of hormone disorders have been thinking about obesity through a food policy and food access lens. I never really feel like a "typical doctor," but then I realized there is no such thing. I am creating a niche for myself within medicine and research with something I am passionate about, and I just had to find people from all different disciplines that share this same passion.
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