Yesenia Perez is a unique and respected voice among health law students here at DePaul University College of law. She graduated this May having completed both her JD and LLM in Health Law. She shared her memories and takeaways from her experience as a law student with E-Pulse.
Yesenia graduated from Rutgers University in 2012 with bachelor’s degrees in Biological Sciences and Spanish Linguistics. Her interest in law actually materialized when a medical school application asked her why she wanted to be a physician and what changes she saw in the healthcare field. She took this opportunity to learn about health law and has passionately pursued her goals ever since.
As a law student, Yesenia’s favorite course was Fraud and Abuse with Professor Schostok. The course encourages students to learn from speakers while developing his/her own presentation skills. Yesenia also recommends taking advantage of unconventional opportunities. For example, she took a course on constitutional issues in health law at Loyola University School of Law with Professor Sawicki. She was the only DePaul student in the course and enjoyed the discussion-based learning. She advises students to get involved with the Institute early on and to stay active because the friendships are everlasting.
Yesenia also took the initiative to experience a variety of legal environments. She worked The Law Offices of Sydney S. Ezra, a medical malpractice/personal injury firm, for the second half of her 1L year. She then joined the American Medical Association (“AMA”) in the Counsel of Ethics and Judicial Affairs. She worked in a multidisciplinary settling and learned how to conduct policy research. The AMA’s Health Law Column also published her work, which was one of her favorite moments as a law student. As a 2L, Yesenia volunteered with the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulations (“IDFPR”) and gained exposure to an administrative agency. This experience was focused on the licensing regulations for physicians and nurses in Illinois. She furthered her agency perspective by interning with the New Jersey Department of Health and Human Services (“NJDHHS”) that summer. Her work with NJDHHS focused on health services for special needs children and state Medicaid administrative appeals. Yesenia concluded her law school career by working as a healthcare law clerk for Goldberg Law Group, LLC where she received substantive projects and learned about health law litigation and licensing cases. She is confident in her abilities and aspires to serve as Chief Compliance Officer of a hospital one day.
Yesenia, who will be sitting for the New York and New Jersey Bar Exams this summer, will be greatly missed by the Jaharis Health Law Institute and the students at DePaul. We here at the E-Pulse wish Yesenia all the best and thank her for her noteworthy contributions to the health law program.