How do people decide whether their medical needs are pressing enough to merit a trip to the doctor? In what ways did the pandemic affect those decisions? These are some of the questions Ethan Bergmann ’22 has been exploring through research he began working on at Swarthmore, and will continue in his joint economics and public policy Ph.D. program at the University of Michigan through a National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Fellowship he received this spring.

Bergmann described the focus of his research as “how people might evaluate health care risks and trade-offs” for accessing non-COVID-related care. For example, an elderly person might think, "Oh, it's risky for me to stay home and not get care that I need for my heart, but then it's also risky for me to go in because then I'm at risk of contracting COVID,” he says.

The research looked at two types of delays in accessing care — involuntary, because care was not available, and voluntary, with a person making a conscious decision to postpone care.

As a Swarthmore student, Bergmann designed a survey with Camille Brix ’23 to try to identify several different factors that might impact delays in accessing care including demographic characteristics, COVID conditions in a respondent’s area, their political leanings, and other indicators.

“People with young children were more likely to experience involuntary delays in care,” says Bergmann. The research also found people of Hispanic heritage and people living with elders were less likely to voluntarily delay accessing care.  

Bergmann continued the research after graduating while working at Princeton as a research assistant. During his time at Princeton, a research paper he co-wrote with Swarthmore Professor of Economics Erin Bronchetti and Centennial Chair of Economics Ellen Magenheim was published in Health Affairs Scholar.

“That was a really exciting experience for me,” says Bergmann, “to start something in undergrad and continue working with these faculty who have been such great mentors to me.”

“In Economics, it's not the norm for us to publish journal articles with our students as co-authors, but some students are just truly exceptional,” says Professor of Economics Erin Bronchetti (above). “Ethan took a leadership role on this project right away, and his contributions were invaluable.”

Bergmann intends to use the NSF fellowship to explore non-COVID-related reasons people might hesitate to access health care and potentially how to alleviate those barriers.

His research questions moving forward include: “What can we do to align health care consumption with the actual costs and benefits of said care? If we provide individuals with high-quality, trustworthy information about consumption, will that positively influence their health and well-being?”

Bergmann applied to Swarthmore as an undecided student and remained so throughout his first year. He credits Bronchetti’s Public Economics class and Magenheim’s Public Policy Research Seminar, as well as as Franklin and Betty Barr Professor of Economics Amanda Bayer’s Honors Microeconomics Seminar, for sparking and feeding his interest in economics.

“This small summer research proposal turned into a multi-year project that served as a culminating experience for Ethan and helped set him on a path to a career in economics and academia,” says Bronchetti. “I don't think Ethan came to Swarthmore imagining that path for himself, but it's abundantly clear that he has what it takes. Receiving the NSF fellowship is a truly remarkable accomplishment, and our department is very proud of him.”

“I am incredibly grateful for the support I've had from faculty at the College both in my undergraduate [years] and beyond, both in getting me connected with the position at Princeton and applying to grad school,” Bergmann says. “I just started grad school and feel ready to make the most of the fellowship and the support that I have. I think the faculty and just overall support I had at Swarthmore has been really instrumental in that.”