Unapologetically Yourself: My Experience in Healthcare at Michigan Ross
I never thought that I would pursue an MBA. In fact, I actively entertained alternative professional paths. Now, just weeks from graduation, I cannot picture my life without taking the path leading to a career in business. And more importantly, one without the Ross School of Business.
Before coming to Michigan Ross, I completed a service year with AmeriCorps at Boston Healthcare for the Homeless Program and conducted healthcare delivery research in the Division of Population Sciences at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. While these patient-facing experiences have served a critical role in shaping the perspectives I bring to the industry, I felt something was missing in my desire to elevate the scale of impact I could bring to patients. This pursuit was exactly what led me to move from Boston to Ann Arbor.
Healthcare at Michigan Ross is a world-class experience (literally!). I knew it was the perfect MBA program for many reasons, all of which have only surpassed my expectations once I experienced them for myself.
Academic Excellence
A personal non-negotiable for me when I was applying to MBA programs was the ability to simultaneously pursue a master of public health as a dual-degree student. The two degrees complement each other in how I think about healthcare.
My “MBA brain” provides me with the tactical business acumen to strategize and operationalize complex healthcare issues toward actionable results, while my “MPH brain” allows me to critically examine the implications of healthcare decisions.
At Ross, I have acquired these skills through my Healthcare Management Concentration, in classes such as Comprehensive Healthcare Strategies (BA 523) with Professor Butz and Commercialization of Biomedicine (ES 720) with Professor Gordon. At the School of Public Health, I have applied this learning through a focus on health policy, in classes such as Cost-Effectiveness Analysis with Professor Hutton and American Health Insurance with Professors Udow-Phillips and Traylor.
Healthcare and Life Sciences Club
From the moment I stepped on campus, I immediately knew that the HLS was going to be a great fit for me as a professional community of students exclusively focused on advancing their healthcare careers. In Fall A of my first MBA year, I was blown away by the power of this club.
Healthcare Bootcamp immediately caught me up to speed on the hottest trends in the industry, and weekly Sunday Sessions educated me about how to successfully recruit within each sector of the industry. Most impressive to me each year has been their annual HLS Symposium, which creates networking opportunities with sponsoring companies and sources impressive keynote speakers, including Amir Rubin, CEO and founding managing partner of Healthier Capital; Katie Swanzy, group vice president of DaVita; and Steve Nelson, executive vice president of CVS Health and president of Aetna.
HLS gave me the confidence to emphasize my personal passion for healthcare while letting the unique aspects of my personality shine through. My awe with HLS motivated me to continue seeking leadership positions in the club, culminating in serving as co-president in my final year.
Multidisciplinary Action Projects
MAP was what I was most excited about at Ross. I had heard about all of the impactful projects and international locations that students traveled to, and I was itching to be part of it. When I opened my envelope on MAP reveal night, I was thrilled to find out I was traveling to India to work with Aravind Eye Care System. I could not believe that my first direct business experience in healthcare was bringing me all the way to Madurai, a vibrant city in southern India.
I worked with an incredibly smart team of students to develop a revenue model for senior leadership at the hospital system. Most impactful, however, was experiencing firsthand the organization’s powerful values and mission to eradicate needless blindness while operating a business model that gives patients the freedom to pay what they can afford.
If you’re thinking about pursuing healthcare at Michigan Ross, I will leave you with this. I remember being concerned about applying to Ross, thinking to myself: “My experiences are definitely not what the admissions team is looking for.” “How do I make myself sound like a businessman?” There is no way that I will get in there.”
Between all of these feelings of doubt and insecurity, I received the best advice that I could have ever asked for (thank you, Dad!):
“Be unapologetically yourself. If you do that, you will have gotten into a program that wants you for exactly who you are.”
And, for me, that program was Michigan Ross.
Forever and always — Go Blue!
