Health Care Focused MBA programs

In the near infinite world of professional degree combinations, there are the Health Care focused MBA programs. Some schools allow you take it a step further and earn a second degree either in Public Health, Health Care Administration or Biotechnology. Below are a few of the notables:

• Harvard and MIT Biomedical Enterprise Program leads to an SM degree in Health Sciences and Technology from the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology and a MBA degree from the MIT Sloan School of Management (or Harvard Business School except the program is not integrated as well as at MIT Sloan). This program is generally 3 years, but you can finish all the requirements in 2 1/2 years. The program rigorously prepares tomorrow's entrepreneurs and managers to transform scientific discovery into patient-oriented, commercially successful products and services. The curriculum focuses on the complex process of product development and commercialization in the health-care industry, while providing students with a solid grounding in physiology, pathophysiology and issues involving patient care.
• U of Penn Wharton - MBA with a concentration in Health Care Management appeals to those interested in the pharmaceuticals sector, the emerging biotech area, health services, government agencies, insurance organizations, health maintenance organizations (HMOs), and consulting firms that specialize in the health care sector. Health Care Management differs from many other majors at Wharton in blending specific coursework and professional development opportunities. Candidates are required to select this major at the time of application. MBA/MS Biotechnology is a 2-year dual-degree program in which students earn a Wharton Master of Business Administration (MBA) and a Master of Biotechnology (MB). The dual-degree requires 25 course units to be taken with 5 of them being counted toward both degrees. In the dual-degree program, a student takes 14 courses exclusive to the Wharton MBA program and at least 9 courses specific to the Biotechnology degree. The remaning 3 courses may come from either the business, engineering, science or medical school.
• Duke Fuqua MBA with a concentration in Health Sector Management prepares students to analyze factors in the health care arena including: the ever-increasing costs of heath care, the evolving needs of the health care consumer, organizational innovation in a regulated market, the advancing role of information technology in redefining health care delivery, structures to support the development and implementation of technologies in the biotechnology, medical device, imaging, and diagnostic arenas, and globalization as an opportunity for developed and emerging markets. The goal is to apply these lessons strategically and create successful business solutions—as well as further their own health care careers. Building on the flagship Duke MBA program, our curriculum allows students to take the skills acquired in their MBA courses and immediately begin applying them to the health sector.
• UC Berkeley Haas MBA/MPH dual degree is a 2 1/2 year program. The MPH gives students an excellent background in statistics, epidemiology, health systems, and policy/regulatory environments. The MBA provides background in accounting, finance, economics, and other fields essential to management. The combination of the two degrees ensures that students are truly prepared for a long and successful career in health management. The program is unique in that the integration between the two degrees is real and not just on paper. The Graduate Program in Health Management (GPHM) works closely with students and faculty from both schools to assure a relatively seamless, integrated program of study. Health Care Management Certificate within the MBA program at the Haas School provides students with the necessary skills and background to take leadership roles in health services and health technology industries. The certificate is open to all students enrolled in the two-year MBA program. It supplements the standard two-year MBA curriculum with courses in health organization, strategic planning, business development, and finance, all focused on health industries.

Thoughts of a career switcher

There are so many issues to consider when you switch careers, but keep these key points in mind when you consider b-school programs:

• It is progressively more difficult to change more than one aspect of your career: job, function and location.  In the ex-military case you are already changing two.
  
• Even though top schools offer the greatest geographic flexibility, if you are dead set to live a particular location choose the school or schools closest to that area because local firms will always draw from local programs and it is easier to build a network at that firm over a couple years.  An excellent example is the west coast, i.e. San Francisco, Stanford and UC Berkeley (Haas) will give you absolute best chance to work there.  If you choose to go to Harvard and MIT realize that you may not find as many options to work on the west coast from Boston though it is still possible.
• Network, network, network - cultivate relationships and build relationships in the industries you are interested in.  I have a established a beachhead with venture capitalists in my efforts towards the entrepreneurship and venture capital route.  Use the grown up version of MySpace, Linkedin, to build relationships and join relevant alumni and professional groups to build your network.
• Think about relevant work experience.  I would plan to end your service prior to June, so you can take advantage of a summer where you can intern at a company in your interest area.  I am pursuing internships at venture capital firms for the summer to create those later opportunities.  Your resume of military experience may be impressive, but it also comes down to relevant experience.  You need to shape every experience from this day forth for your target industry.

Other things to think about in your application

1. Leadership - both in the service and outside the service. Where you the Battalion Commanding Officer of a NROTC unit? A member of a non-profit board of directors? In charge of a combat unit? Organized large events? Spearheaded organizational changes at your command? All of these and preferably both inside and outside of the workplace will provide a good track record of leadership for your applications.


2. Volunteerism - not the Never Again Volunteer Yourself, but community service. The important point is be involved in an effort that you are passionate about and not for the sake of resume building. Show consistent commitment to the cause. I know this is difficult in the military, but if you have the time and the inclination to extend your public service beyond the military, it will only help your application efforts.


3. An upward trend in academic accomplishment. Even if you started off poorly in college, you can show that you improved throughout. Business schools will overlook poor performance if you have recovered and demonstrated consistent achievement since then. If you had difficulty in quantitative classes, I recommend you take classes, i.e. statistics, now and get an "A" to show you can handle the quantitative workload in business school. Other advanced degrees can provide more recent example of academic performance and may overcome poor performance during undergrad. If you have gpa deficiencies in your profile be prepared to write a honest reason for your poor performance and what you have learned since then in school's optional information block. Do not abdicate responsibility for your poor performance and really highlight the maturity that you have gained.


4. Really think about your post MBA aspirations. Since you are certain to be a career switcher, you must demonstrate a thoughtful, well planned career choice. This demonstrates to admissions committee you are mature and have well considered goals. If you are significantly older than the typical military candidate (>32 years old at matriculation), keep in mind the fields of management consulting and investment banking trend towards younger, single candidates who can work like dogs (60-80 hrs/week), and recruiters may be more apprehensive to hire candidates who would be less apt to accept this sckewed work/life balance. Consumer products companies and other large multinationals are very amenable to military folks and frequently put them into their in house leadership development tracks.

MBA quantitative preparation

Many aspiring MBA students come from backgrounds such as investment banking and management consulting, individuals in these roles have fairly regular quantitative exposure through data analysis. Unfortunately, most military candidates come from a non quantitative background. For most in combat roles, the extent of quantitative analysis is limited to head counts, triangulating your position or dead reckoning. So, what can you do? Here are some suggestions to build your knowledge while demonstrating a deliberate plan to attend business school to admissions committees. Take three courses to build your business vocabulary and quantitative skills: financial accounting, statistics and microeconomics. If you haven't taken these before, it will certainly augment your application and provide a basic skillset for your initial classes in business school. You could take these through community college or through a Navy program. I found the best value and flexibility is offered by the University of California, Berkeley Extension Online program. Each class costs roughly $700 and is conducted online except for the final exam. You also have six months to complete the course based on your schedule. Also, Berkeley Extension Online has a specific pre MBA course plan you can follow if you choose. This preparation has the additional bonus of improving your math skills for the GMAT. A significant number of questions on the GMAT are business and statistics oriented.

Second round decisions and other thoughts

Like many others in the B-school application universe, I am anticipating the release of some round two decisions.  Fortunately, I have already been accepted to my first choice school, and this all but eliminates the pressure.  It has come down to mere curiosity, which other schools I will receive an offer of admission.  You will certainly experience this madness as decisions approach.  It is a single moment that validates your decision to leave the military and the work you put forth on all your applications.

Another point I wish to make that is important.  If you consider the reserves, understand your decision and ramifications.  The reserves for most is a safety net to mitigate effect of complete unemployment during school.  I chose not to join the reserves, even though my time in service exceeds 13 years, for the following reasons:

1. For myself, there will be an automatic augment (activation) for one year during or after school.  I have no interest in disrupting school or my new career progression.  I want to commit and focus my energies on my new endeavor, whatever that may be.
2. The active drilling commitment in business school will detract from my already strained time management to complete homework, the recruitment process and other networking opportunities.  I submit that to complete your drill requirements you will suffer either on the class preparation side or the job pursuit side.
3. The money deficit both in terms of drilling and retirement pay will easily be overcome post MBA.  Consider this but take it with a grain of salt, the self reported salary figures of Harvard Business School graduates average $150,000 for the first year.  The average after five years is $600,000.  $600,000 is roughly the equivalent of 20 years of O-3 retirement pay.
4. Then the last and most important question, did you leave the service because you were happy with the work and the environment?  If not, then why pursue it part time?  The Navy was good to me, but I'm over it, so my choice was easy.

Choosing a school

Choosing a school is perhaps one of the more difficult decisions you will face.  How do you decide?  Well, first let's talk about prestige.  If selectivity and prestige are your main motivators, Stanford and Harvard meet the bill as the top cluster within the M7.  This doesn't mean the scope of opportunities or the quality of education will be less at the other M7 schools, but if you want to live in a new location, find a new job and serve in a new function these schools offer the greatest flexibility.  Harvard offers flexibility most anywhere, and Stanford is a bit more west coast centric.  This is primarily due to the strength of Harvard Business School's alumni network.  Harvard graduates almost three times the MBA's than Stanford or MIT and almost twice as many as the University of Chicago.  Obviously, the weight of absolute numbers trumps the alumni network of smaller schools.  Beyond Harvard and Stanford, it depends on where you want to live and what kind of job you want.  I'll give you the results of my research.  I have provided the name of the school with industry strengths, geographic strengths and basic curriculum.

1. Harvard: general management, consulting, investment banking; strong brand globally but easiest to get jobs on the east coast because of recruitment events.  Harvard utilizes the case method almost exclusively requiring all students to assimilate and prepare to debate the merits of assigned cases.  This requires good communication skills and a willingness to contribute.  Harvard has a fairly rigid curriculum the first year.
2. Stanford: general management, consulting, technology; a national brand less universal globally, best for west coast jobs, more difficult for Wall Street finance jobs.  However, it is strong with the venture capital community in Silicon Valley.
3. Wharton: finance, consulting; good brand globally and great stepping stone to Wall Street or other finance oriented jobs.
4. MIT: consulting, finance, entrepreneurship; international brand and good path to the top three consulting firms, entrepreneurship, technology, biotechnology are other strengths; known as quantitatively rigorous and mixes case method, lecture and theory.  MIT is known for the "Core" in the first semester, a good dose of quantitative rigor, but after the first semester it is "choose your own adventure."
5. Kellogg: known for soft skill development which lends to general management and marketing; a good brand but its greatest strength will be in the midwest especially greater Chicago.
6. Chicago: a finance powerhouse on par with Wharton; well known for building finance, accounting and economics specialists.  Although its typical strength resides obviously in the midwest, Chicago has extremely robust career services department that will help most land finance jobs on Wall Street.  Chicago requires just one course, LEAD, everything else as long as it meets subject requirements is up to the student.
7. Columbia: Wall Street, New York City, this is a natural fit for all those that wish to work on the "Street".

This should help you get started.  While these descriptions don't exclude other options at these schools, it is best to keep these facts in mind because of recruiter perception.  When you start searching for that internship and job during your two years, you may find those hiring hold to these perceptions.  Remember though everything in life is about who you know, so these constraints can be broken by a good networker.

GMAT Preparations Part 2: Data Sufficiency

No other section on the GMAT has the ability to trip you up like data sufficiency.

Remember first and foremost data sufficiency doesn't ask whether an answer is correct or incorrect rather it provides a bit of information and asks if this information can provide a value or confirm the opening statement as true or false. Here's an example:

33. (courtesy of the Graduate Management Admissions Council, "The Official Guide for GMAT Quantitative Review")

If n is an integer, is (100-n)/n an integer?

(1) n > 4

(2) n^2=25

A) Statement (1) ALONE is sufficient, but statement (2) alone is not sufficient.

B) Statement (2) ALONE is sufficient, but statement (1) alone is not sufficient.

C) BOTH statements TOGETHER are sufficient, but NEITHER statement ALONE is sufficient.

D) EACH statement ALONE is sufficient.

E) Statements (1) and (2) TOGETHER are NOT sufficient.

This is a question about the properties of numbers. To recall from your math classes, an integer is a whole number negative or positive. (1) provides a variety of possibilities, such as, 5, 6, 7, etc. however when you test this value in the opening statement some produce an integer and some do not. This is therefore insufficient because it gives us a big MAYBE for an answer, and this is grounds for INSUFFICIENT on the GMAT. (2) provides 5 or -5 (remember the positive and negative squared both yield 25) either one of these values when plugged into the opening statement yields an integer, (100-5)/5 = 19, (100-(-5))/5 = 21, thus SUFFICIENT.

Manhattan GMAT provides a good methodology to answer these questions:

• Memorize the answer choices as they remain the same, and it will save time having to read the same answer choice for all data sufficiency questions.
• Eliminate the easy statement, (1) or (2), what this means is eliminate that statement which obviously does not provide enough information to answer sufficient or insufficient. An example:

Question 34 (GMAC OG Quantitative Review). If p, x, y, and z are different positive integers, which of the five integers is the median?

(1) p + x is less than q
(2) y is less than z.

• Both of these statements do not relate all the variables to each other, thus the information is insufficient with each statement alone. You can eliminate both A, B and D. Then you merely test C and E, and again you can't link the two individual statements, i.e. no common variable in both statements, thus you cannot establish a relationship. The only possible answer would be E (both statements are INSUFFICIENT together).
• Use an answer grid to keep track and eliminate answers. Like I said in Part 1, write an answer grid for every question before reading it. This maintains organization and prevents you from forgetting which answers you have already eliminated.
• Practice your scratch paper technique.
• Visualize and draw number lines to understand equalities or other number relationships to help you answer questions. This is essential for geometry based problems.

Good luck and keep studying.