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Health Admin. students meet with DC policy makers  From June 4 through June 9, MUSC students in the Executive Doctoral Program in Health Administration and Leadership met with numerous federal political leaders and administrators during a health policy seminar in Washington, D.C.     From left are: Dr. Walter Jones, interim DHA program director; Kurt Komlos, MBA, program manager; Senator Strom Thurmond; Dr. Steve Jones, director of federal relations and economic development;and Dr. Danielle Ripich, professor and dean, College of Health Professions. During presentations at such federal and government-related agencies as the Food and Drug Administration, the Health Care Financing Administration, the National Library of Medicine, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, and the Institute of Medicine, the students heard from and exchanged viewpoints with administrators on developments in such areas as Medicare and Medicaid cost containment, Internet health information systems innovations, the Human Genome Project, and the reduction of medical errors in hospitals.     Two recent program graduates, Steve Jones, DHA, MUSC director of federal relations and economic development, and Gen. Donna F. Barbisch, DHA, of the office of the Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Civil Support, participated in the seminar as guest speakers.       In addition, students discussed congressional health policymaking and the upcoming national elections in November with South Carolina congressional staff members.  South Carolina’s senior Senator Strom Thurmond welcomed the students and the interim DHA program director, Walter J. Jones, Ph.D., to Washington at a luncheon on Capitol Hill.     Located in the Department of Health Administration and Policy in the College of Health Professions, the Executive Doctoral Program in Health Administration and Leadership is designed for actively employed health care executives.     With an innovative course format and schedule, the program attracts a nationally representative body of health administrators. The most recent participant is a French student.