Jamie Benson is an MD/PhD student in Epidemiology in the Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Informatics at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine. His research uses causal inference and spatial epidemiology methods to evaluate how geography, policies, health systems, and social needs shape outcomes in emergency care and substance use disorders.
Before his studies at Penn, he was a prehospital care provider and worked extensively with the State of Vermont Emergency Medical Services Office to institute evidence-based updates to the state’s trauma care protocols. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he also served in the State Emergency Operations Center logistics branch, helping to determine allocation of personal protective equipment to frontline workers. This combination of experiences in public health, applied emergency care, and early exposure to evidence-based medicine inspired him to pursue a career as a physician-scientist. Benson earned a Bachelor of Arts degree with an individually designed major focusing on rural emergency care systems from the University of Vermont, with a minor in biochemistry.