Samhitha Curpad, who is pursuing a double major in psychology and business, recently won the Best Student paper at the national conference of the Association for Marketing and Health Care Research held in Crested Butte, CO. She was the only undergraduate there. “The authors are either professors or doctoral students,” explains Dr. Dee Birnbaum, associate professor of business. “She is a junior at Rhodes, and the other conference attendees were amazed at her presentation.”
Curpad co-wrote the paper with Birnbaum, along with Mark Somers of the New Jersey Institute of Technology and Linda Finch of the University of Memphis. It is titled “Predicting Performance and Expectations for Rewards in the Nursing Profession Using Occupational Commitment and Task Intensity.” She also has done research with Dr. Chris Wetzel of Rhodes’ Department of Psychology since her sophomore year.
The Association for Marketing and Health Care Research is dedicated to developing and marketing products and services related to health care and providing a forum for the presentation and application of research and related scientific activities.
Curpad also has increased her knowledge of the health care industry by working as an intern at ALSAC, the fundraising and awareness organization of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. “I love data—something I discovered during my research with Dr. Birnbaum—and so after graduation, I would like to pursue a master’s degree in business analytics with a focus in predictive data.”
Curpad is a graduate of White Station High School in Memphis.