Chapter 01: An Early Interest in Health Care

Chapter 01: An Early Interest in Health Care

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Description

In this chapter, Ms. Hay speaks briefly about her family background then explains that she elected to go to Southwestern University, Georgetown, Texas (B.A. conferred in 1996) because she was looking for a broad education. She lists her varied interests in college and notes that she was thinking of becoming a physician, but discovered she was better suited to a career in finance. She notes that she was always interested in health care and wanted not just a job, but a career focused on helping people. She describes characteristics she has inherited from various family members.

Identifier

HayAC_01_20150204_C01

Publication Date

2-4-2015

City

Houston, Texas

Topics Covered

The Interview Subject's Story - Educational Path; Character, Values, Beliefs, Talents; Personal Background; Professional Path; Inspirations to Practice Science/Medicine; Influences from People and Life Experiences

Transcript

Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:

Please jump in and correct it for me.

Amy Carpenter Hay:

I will.

Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:

All right. And the counter is moving. So, I’m Tacey Ann Rosolowski, and today I’m interviewing Ms.

Amy Carpenter Hay:

for the Making Cancer History Voices Oral History Project, run by the Historical Resources Center at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. Ms. Hay came to MD Anderson in 1999. Is that correct?

Amy Carpenter Hay:

No. [laughs]

Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:

Okay, already, right?

Amy Carpenter Hay:

Nineteen ninety-six.

Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:

Ninety-six.

Amy Carpenter Hay:

August of 1996.

Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:

Okay. And you were an administrative fellow at that time?

Amy Carpenter Hay:

[laughs] No.

Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:

Hey, [inaudible].

Amy Carpenter Hay:

I came to MD Anderson in 1996, actually, as a patient service coordinator—

Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:

Okay.

Amy Carpenter Hay:

—straight out of college.

Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:

Oh, wow, okay. All right. And then, in 2000 you became senior department administrator to Radiation Oncology. Is that correct?

Amy Carpenter Hay:

Yes.

Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:

Okay.

Amy Carpenter Hay:

In nine—your 1999 date was correct in that I was an administrative fellow—

Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:

Okay.

Amy Carpenter Hay:

— in 1999. And then, when that was complete, and then I took the Radiation Oncology position in 2000.

Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:

Okay, and it’s been since 2012 that you’ve served as vice president of Business Development?

Amy Carpenter Hay:

That is correct.

Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:

Okay, great. This session is being held in Ms. Hay’s office in the Cancer Network suite in the Mid-Main Building of MD Anderson. And today is the first of two planned interview sessions. It is February 4th, 2015, and the time is about six minutes after one. So, again, thank you very much for participating.

Amy Carpenter Hay:

Well, thank you.

Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:

Really appreciate it. And just for the record, to start, can you tell me where you were born and when?

Amy Carpenter Hay:

Yes. I was born on September 16th, 1973, in Dallas, Texas.

Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:

Okay. And did you grow up in that area?

Amy Carpenter Hay:

Yes, I stayed in Dallas until I left for college in 1992.

Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:

Okay, all right. Now you said that you thought it would be most appropriate to talk about your college experience and coming to MD Anderson. That would help tell your story the most effectively. So, why don’t you start—

Amy Carpenter Hay:

Great.

Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:

—however you feel is the best way?

Amy Carpenter Hay:

Great. Happy to. So, as I mentioned, I grew up in Dallas, Texas—obviously very comfortable, and know Texas very well. I went to college at Southwestern University in Georgetown, a small liberal-arts college about thirty-five miles from Austin. And so, spent my college years in that area of Texas.

Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:

Why did you choose to go to that institution?

Amy Carpenter Hay:

Southwestern is a small liberal art, really, based on a broad educational platform. So, as I was completing high school, it was very clear to me that I was interested in so many things, and it was very intriguing to me to go to an environment with a small population. So, I was looking for a small school. I was looking for, really, a broad scope of education. So Southwestern gave me the ability, quite frankly, to take a lot of courses and get exposed to a lot of things that I think I might not have had the opportunity at a larger state school or larger environment.

Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:

What were some of the interest areas? You know, you said it was pretty wide. What were some of the things that were intriguing you at that time?

Amy Carpenter Hay:

Mm-hmm. I was very interested in psychology. I was very interested in ethics. I also, at the time, was very interested in photography, so it also had the arts component. At the—at the same time, was interested in being a physician, potentially. So, this allowed me to take some of those initial biology and chemistry courses, which I quickly figured out that I was much better suited for finance and business. And so, it really allowed me to get a broad spectrum the first two years of my education, which really ended with me having a degree in psychology and history. And I had, also, a minor in education. So, a pretty wide breadth of classes and opportunities.

Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:

When did you discover the whole finance and business piece? Was that as an undergrad?

Amy Carpenter Hay:

That was as an undergrad.

Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:

Oh, and how did that happen?

Amy Carpenter Hay:

I took—I took a finance course. And the way Southwestern is set up, you must take certain courses in all the core areas to graduate. It’s kind of their holistic approach. So, whether you like business or not, you had to take one of them. And I took a finance course, and I really enjoyed it. I also took a stats course, and I found that fascinating. And it nicely fed into kind of the side of epidemiology in healthcare. While I quickly figured out my acumen was not in biology and chemistry—really, organic chemistry—it was clear that there was some opportunity to still be involved in healthcare and not necessarily be a physician. So, it was a nice approach.

Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:

Why were you so drawn to healthcare? It sounds like that was fairly early as an interest.

Amy Carpenter Hay:

It was. And most of that was due to the patient aspects of it. I really enjoyed the patient contact. I’ve always been a big believer in doing something that meant something. I never even, early, wanted to just have a job. I wanted to have a career. I wanted my work to be part of who I am. So, part of that is having something that is aligned, for me personally, with people, and helping them, and having a clear mission, and a clear drive for why you go to work every day.

Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:

Mm-hmm. You mentioned an iss—an interest in ethics as well. How—tell me about that piece.

Amy Carpenter Hay:

Through the psychology arm, I took some courses in ethics and philosophy, and, you know, the cool—that whole area of reading the works that have been completed, and really thinking of how you could adopt them to current environment. Again, it’s kind of the approach of how could you be within the healthcare field but not necessarily be a physician? And I saw that as another avenue, just like psychology. You know, psychology was another avenue, ethics, business. So, you know, looking for areas that not only I was interested in, but also, you know, had a potential for, and how that might adapt to healthcare in the long term.

Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:

Was there something in your family that kind of oriented you towards a service mission? What do your parents—what did your parents do?

Amy Carpenter Hay:

You know, that’s a good question. I never thought about it that way. My father was in international reinsurance, and just retired this last year. And my mother is an artist, so she is very much on the arts side. So, I think a lot of the photography and the ability to be very flexible and nimble comes from her. The business side comes from my father. I was very lucky in that I had the opportunity to literally live down the street from my grandparents, who were very instrumental in my life. My grandmother is still alive. She’s ninety-six right now, and she still reads the paper every day, and clips things out, and sends them to me to make sure I am up to date on politics and healthcare and legislation. So, I don’t know that there was a direct connection, but I think it might have been the convergence of having one role model, in my father, that was very business, and another very different role model in my mother, who was very artistic and very open to new things.

Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:

Mm-hmm. Tell me your parents’ names.

Amy Carpenter Hay:

Mary Ann and Neil Hasty—H-A-S-T-Y. They both live in Dallas, still, with my grandmother. And thankfully they own a home in Galveston, so they come often and spend time with us. My dad is now retired, so they’re enjoying gallivanting around the world. I think a lot of my love for travel and new experiences comes from them. They—it’s not uncommon for them to disappear in Europe and we have to hunt them down from time to time. So—

Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:

[laughs] Do you know where your parents are?

Amy Carpenter Hay:

I know. I mean, even my children, they kind of laugh and ask where’s, “Where’s Gammy and O.B.? We haven’t heard from them.” Thanks to texting and Skype, now we can find them. [laughter]

Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:

That’s a great story. Well, I’ll ask you at some point about your own travels.

Amy Carpenter Hay:

[inaudible]

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Chapter 01: An Early Interest in Health Care

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