A Perfect Placement: An Interview With Marium Rehan, MS’26 in Global Health Policy and Management
June 23, 2026
Abigail Arnold | Office of Graduate Affairs
Marium Rehan, MS’26 in Global Health Policy and Management, had long had an interest in studying the field when she came to Brandeis. “Even in my first year as an undergraduate, I knew I wanted to do a master’s in global health,” she said. Through the Fulbright Program, she was placed at Brandeis for the master’s program, her very first time being away from her home country of Pakistan. She was one of the seventy-two recipients of the Fulbright Award from Pakistan. Rehan called the placement “honestly amazing,” praising the way in which the program allowed her to build technical skills to complement her theoretical background.
Rehan praised the atmosphere at Brandeis, which allowed her to meet and connect with a diverse group of peers inside and outside of the classroom. “One of the best things was that almost ninety percent of my cohort were international students, which gave us a lot of different perspectives,” she said. “A lot of people came from different countries and continents but had faced similar problems working in the field, and I loved getting to learn from my classmates and see how their experiences compared to mine in Pakistan. That was one of the best things I got out of the degree: a variety of perspectives on creative solutions to universal health care problems.” Her cohort also brought together people from different stages of life, and she joined with other students for social and cultural exchange opportunities. “Brandeis does a good job bringing a lot of people together,” she said. “We had an intercultural Ramadan and broke fast together, which was amazing. I learned a lot about cultures and countries that I didn’t even know existed.” Rehan also appreciated the opportunity to study with Dr. Moaven Razavi, whom she described as “very realistic and pragmatic in his teaching.”
Following graduation, Rehan has returned to Pakistan to use the skills she acquired during her master’s program. She has a job offer from a health consultancy working on Gates Foundation projects, where she previously worked on an immunization project in Karachi, and is exploring other options as well. “My dream job is to work at WHO or World Bank so I can use my passion for equity in healthcare and UHC and contribute meaningfully to countries beyond Pakistan, specifically other low-income countries,” she said.
Rehan suggested Brandeis’s Global Health program as a good fit for anyone who is looking to build their data analysis and technical skills in this area. “Not a lot of programs are focused on this,” she said. “I felt Brandeis was the perfect fit because it added these important skills to my profile – if you don’t have exposure to this skillset, this program is the best fit you can get. And because of the enriched exposure to health economics and data analysis, it is also a perfect segue into doing a PhD.”