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This week’s Making Rounds spotlights Quinn Sental, Healthcare Brew’s intern and a sophomore studying journalism and data science at New York University (NYU). Sental grew up in Taiwan, offering them a perspective on how the US healthcare system contrasts with their home country’s nationalized system.
Beyond writing about distinctions between the two health systems, Sental’s burgeoning reporting career covers an expanse of areas, from the Affordable Care Act to facial recognition technology. Yet Sental keeps their eyes open for even more topics to cover, which is how getting duped by an advertisement evolved into a favorite reporting project.
This article has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
When did you decide that you were going to study journalism?
I wanted to do animation for a little while. But I love writing—I’ve always loved writing. I love creative writing. But I knew going into college for creative writing just wouldn’t be a great choice. So I was like, “What something that’s similar where I can tell stories, but also make it like an actual career?” And I realized that journalism was there the entire time. And I was like, “That sounds pretty cool, maybe I’ll like it?” And it turns out I really did.
It was honestly a really impulsive decision back in high school. I applied to NYU and they were like, “What major do you want?” I was like, “Journalism.” You know? Now I’m here.
Now that you’ve taken journalism classes at NYU, have you written any stories that you’re particularly proud of, and if so, what are the topics?
This long-form investigative-slash-explainer blog post that I wrote on facial recognition technology—after I had an experience. I saw an ad for a paid study on Instagram where they were like, “We’ll pay you $250 to come do this study.” I was like, “Oh, hell yeah.” I signed up for it.
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They didn’t really tell me a lot. I got there, and it turns out, they were collecting a lot of biometric data of me: close-ups of facial expressions, my vocal intonations. And I knew this was going to feed some sort of large machine learning system because I knew some basic stuff about tech at that point.
I got the $250, and I used $35 of it to buy a website. I wanted to write about this anecdote. I was surprised by how much fun I had with it: finding a point. And then, oh! There’s another point in this point that I want to explain. I learned a lot. I could explain some technology to people and also have it be a little bit funny, and also have some legal and technological information in there.
I was surprised by how much fun I had with it.
And here at Healthcare Brew, you’re reporting on the US healthcare system. How did growing up outside of the US inform your perspective on the industry here?
I grew up in Taiwan, which has nationalized healthcare and good social welfare. If I really had a medical emergency, I could go back to Taiwan and have care covered for me by the government.
Coming here and being able to talk to people about these things firsthand and see the way they have actually impacted people gave me this idea—perhaps a naive and young notion—that there’s got to be something I can do or say.