Athlete, Researcher, Future Physician: Madison Howard’s Northwestern Story

By Andrew Nellis
February 24, 2025

Madison Howard, ’25 MS, always knew she wanted to be a physician, and as a collegiate soccer player who tended goal for both Wake Forest and Northwestern University, she gained particular interest in orthopedic surgery, watching the impact good surgeons have on athletes’ lives. But before applying to medical school, Howard wanted to gain research experience, and that led her to the Master of Science in Epidemiology (MS-Epi) program. Now enrolled in the MS-Epi, Howard sat down to chat about her experience.

Why pick Northwestern?

First, the school’s reputation for academic rigor. As someone who wants to attend medical school, I knew I’d be gaining a huge step up by completing a program at Feinberg. I was also excited to join the MS-Epi, because it’s a new program, which would give me a chance to work closely with my mentors and the program director, and those expectations have more than been met.

The third reason I picked Northwestern is because you can’t beat Chicago, especially in the summertime , which is when I got here.

Why take the MS Epi, specifically?

My lifelong goal is to be a doctor, with the ultimate goal of becoming an orthopedic surgeon. Having been around sports my whole life, it’s something I want to keep close. The Master of Science in Epidemiology gave me the opportunity to approach the field through the lens of public health and broaden my expertise.

My undergrad was in health and exercise science, which focuses more on the clinical side of things. I did two years of research with geriatric populations, which was very hands-on. But learning about medicine on a population-scale has grown my understanding of why policies are put in place and how research is done.

The program has two major benefits that stuck out to me: it can be completed in a year, and it allows you to focus more on the science and practical skills of epidemiology. A Master of Public Health is broader and, while a great program, the MS-Epi lends itself more directly to my goal of attending medical school and increasing my practical skills.

Favorite parts of the program so far?

My mentor. Being at Northwestern, I got the chance to connect with Vehniah Tjong, MD. She’s the team physician for Northwestern University Varsity Athletics, and she’s a physician for the USA Women’s National Soccer Team — the team that won gold during the Paris Olympics. That’s sort of my dream job, so it’s incredible that I get to work with her for my MS-Epi thesis project. She is an incredible role model as a surgeon, a mentor, and a person.

What classes have stood out?

We take two electives during the MS-Epi, and I took “Infectious Disease Epidemiology,” which was eye-opening. It covered everything from malaria to anthrax, and it gave me a lot of perspective into how governments respond to a health crisis.

One aspect I loved was the CDC mock-incidents that we ran in every class. We would game through an outbreak and make decisions as if we were part of the epidemiology team: identify what information we needed, who would require a further diagnosis, and so on. The practical angle to the class was truly informative.

COVID directly impacted me during the Spring semester of my senior year of high school, and as I matriculated to Wake Forest as an undergraduate student athlete. The pandemic had a profound effect on my life and collegiate career. Taking that elective helped me understand what was going on during that time, what we can do better next time, and it helped me gain perspective and learn from a situation I never thought I would experience in my lifetime.

What advice would you give for people considering the Master of Science in Epidemiology?

Coming into the program, I had very little experience with coding or epidemiology and I was concerned about those skillsets being subpar. That wasn’t a problem. The program offers introductory courses in coding and Epi, and now I am proficient in both R and SAS. I would encourage those looking at this program not to let your background keep you from applying. If you’re interested in public health or epidemiology, you’ll be in good hands.