Ep 82 | The Best MBA Programs for Healthcare

Healthcare is a dynamic and fast-changing industry. More and more MBA students hope to improve lives by driving innovation and strategy in the healthcare space, whether in biotech, pharma, hospital administration, or digital health. In this week's episode of the mbaMission podcast, Harold Simanksy and Jeremy Shinewald are joined by mbaMission Senior Consultant Christine Patel. Harold, Jeremy, and Christine discuss which MBA programs are leading the way in healthcare, how health-focused MBA applicants can stand out in the admissions process, and how you can use your business degree to make a real impact in the field of healthcare. If you're interested in working in healthcare after business school, you won't want to miss this conversation!

00:00 Welcome to the mbaMission podcast
02:05 Evaluating healthcare MBA programs
02:42 What does "healthcare" include? 
05:33 What are the best MBA programs for healthcare?
09:22 What if I don't have a healthcare background?
10:36 Wharton Health Care Management (HCM)
12:22 Can you be entrepreneurial in healthcare?
13:20 Connecting with MBA healthcare programs
13:47 More business school healthcare programs
15:48 Dual degree programs
17:37 What if I already have a graduate degree?
21:47 Growing business school focus on healthcare
23:43 Advice for healthcare MBA applicants

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Transcript

Welcome to the mbaMission podcast

Christine Patel 0:00

There's so many schools out there. Um, so I I would say don't limit yourself by just the industry location or the reputation of a school.

Jeremy Shinewald 0:07

People say to us, well, should I apply to business school? Is it sort of like, is that too much education, or are they are they gonna think that I'm like a degree collector? And the answer is if you need the degree to get where you want to go, the schools would be delighted to have you. There are so few MDs and PhDs in the programs, and they add so much. Look, healthcare is a growing part of the economy.

Christine Patel 0:27

Going back to why a lot of people I've worked with want to do healthcare is really to change people's lives.

Harold Simansky 0:43

On today's episode of the MBA Mission Podcast, we're diving into one of the most dynamic and fast-changing industries out there: healthcare. Whether it's biotech, pharma, hospital administration, or digital health, more and more MBA students are drawn to the idea of improving lives while driving innovation and strategy. But if you're thinking about building your career in this space, which MBA programs really stand out and why, to help answer that, I'm joined by MBA Mission Senior Consultant Christine, who has worked with many applicants heading into healthcare. Christine is a Stanford GSB grad and knows which schools have the strongest healthcare ecosystems, the best recruiting opportunities, and the right mix of business and science for different career goals. We'll talk about how healthcare-focused applicants can position themselves, what programs are truly leading the way, and how to use your MBA to make a real impact in this field. So if you're curious about where business meets medicine, innovation and purpose, this episode is for you. So I'm Harold Samanski, I am the host of the MBA Mission Podcast. I'm here today with Jeremy Scheinwald. Christine, we're here to talk to you today about the best MBA programs for healthcare. And I know that's something that you yourself went through in choosing an MBA program, but why don't you just give us some thoughts on the best programs, what someone should look for?

Evaluating healthcare MBA programs

Christine Patel 2:01

Yeah, um, thanks, Harold. Uh nice to be here. Thank you for hosting. I think that, you know, when you look at a healthcare program in business school, I think first you want to figure out what your goals are, right? Because healthcare is super broad. It can be services, it can be devices, med-device to diagnostics, drugs, health tech, I mean, or policy. It's super broad. So healthcare is a huge umbrella. Um so when you look at which school, make sure you know which school is actually what type of healthcare. I think healthcare is super broad. Uh it actually certain schools may not be the right fit, even though it has a strong healthcare program. Maybe maybe they're better at life sciences than say like policy, for example.

What does "healthcare" include?

Harold Simansky 2:39

I was gonna actually I was gonna actually ask you that, Christine. When you say healthcare is super broad, what does it actually include now?

Christine Patel 2:46

I mean, it's probably one of the biggest, if not the biggest, industry in terms of GDP, I'm guessing, and growing. And you know, even with technology and AI, there's even more room for opportunities there. That's right. Uh someone I know is working on, you know, life sciences and the usage of AI to actually expedite, you know, looking at drugs, drug development. So, and you know, there's a lot of health tech opportunities in AI. I mean, there's just a healthcare is just super, super broad. And there's health policy, how to use AI.

Harold Simansky 3:15

And I think it's interesting too, because you have so many different healthcare companies that are really on far different places in what I would say the economic development or the life cycle of the company. You certainly have folks who are sort of fighting with hospital bureaucracies, and that's been their focus from a business perspective, to these folks who are way out there when it comes time using AI in healthcare and everything in between.

Christine Patel 3:35

Yeah. So when looking at healthcare, I think, you know, there are programs that you can go by specific area in healthcare, but then also by location. So if there's like an industry hub that you're really into, let's say like um biotech, obviously Boston, San Diego, and San Francisco Bay Area are like the biggest areas in those in that field. If you're looking at like um, say like health tech and maybe the usage of AI, you probably want to come to San Francisco actually. San Francisco has a lot of not just tech, but is the hub for AI currently right now. So it just depends, I think, by location. Um, the other piece is, you know, for some people, they actually like having a joint curriculum. Um, maybe you're really into policy. Um, I, you know, I know someone who wanted to do a joint degree at Harvard Kennedy School in policy plus an MBA. And that and they have a special program where you can do an MBA at five certain business schools, which include places like Wharton and the GSB, where you can alternate between HKS and these programs. So you there, you know, there's a lot, a myriad of opportunities out there. Um, and then lastly, you know, we're looking at business schools, like what percentage of alumni actually graduate in that field? If you if there's a huge base, say, for example, like Wharton Healthcare Management Program, they they have a ton in, say, like pharmaceuticals or in finance, right? So I think, you know, that's another signal you can use to figure out which program works for you.

Jeremy Shinewald 5:00

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Harold Simansky 5:33

That makes sense. And in actual fact, they are sort of spread out throughout the country. When I think about healthcare, maybe Tuck is really a great program. Then let's talk about Haas, which I believe has a dual degree program. And what are some of your favorites?

Christine Patel 5:46

I mean, there's so many of them out there. It really depends what you want to do, like I said. Um, but I think, you know, like Tuck is amazing. I've, you know, I've seen people who've done finance in healthcare, also pharmaceuticals come from Tuck. Um, and you know, I think just because, you know, maybe it's not in a hub doesn't mean you should eliminate that option. Definitely take a look and apply. Um, you know, I really like um obviously Wharton is considered one of the best programs in healthcare. They have their own dedicated cohort through the healthcare management program. They have specific coursework that is, you know, really in depth with different types of healthcare or your finance. And then they have a resume book dedicated to just that cohort too, which I think is really useful. Uh, recruiting the alumni network super strong. So, I mean, definitely Wharton is probably considered one of the best programs out there. Um, but there are many more. I think, you know, if you want to do biotech, obviously Sloan, you know, where you graduated from, Harold is very good. Um, being in Boston, uh, as well as, you know, obviously HBS is a big one. Those two schools have specific programs that are unique in biotech. Uh HBS has a program where you can do a master's in life sciences plus an MBA at the same time. And then I think Harold, you mentioned a program at some that you really liked it as well.

Harold Simansky 7:03

Yeah, that's right. Um, just over the last few years, MIT, the leaders for global operations, MIT LGO, has really started looking very closely at healthcare across a few different dimensions. First of all, it is going into big companies. For example, LGO, a student there, will always have a six-month practicum where they'll be embedded in a company. Frequently now, there's some really some big pharmaceuticals, generally turns into a job. You spend six months at Santa Fe, six months at Amgen, and by all means you'll likely end up there. And that is maybe an operations role, but really in sort of the nuts and bolts of big healthcare companies or big pharma companies. The flip side is that right now, as an MBA student at MIT, it's a much different experience. You can get a healthcare certificate, but at the same point, you're going into biotech. Just walk out the door of MIT Sloan, go out the back door, not the front door, the back door, and suddenly you're in the middle of Kendall Square, biotech VCs, biotech companies, there, it's all right there. So a little bit of a different experience. Let me put in a plug for one school, though, or one city that I think may be encapsulates what we're talking about here. So Nashville happens to have this wonderful venture community in the health tech world, and a lot of historic reasons why that has happened. But that means also Owen, the Owen School of Business, Vanderbilt, has a wonderful healthcare curriculum as well. So it's sort of interesting as far as what it excels at a place like North.

What if I don't have a healthcare background?

Christine Patel 8:25

I agree. I I wrote in a recent blog post actually for MBA Mission on Healthcare. I think Owen has one of the highest percent graduates in healthcare, period. So I totally agree with you on Owen. I think it's awesome. Um, you know, the other schools, we can go to underrated schools next, or we could just go with some other other ones in the West Coast. You know, like I was mentioning San Francisco being a hub of biotech, tech, and AI right now. I definitely take a look at Stanford and Berkeley. Haas, I think these two programs are amazing. Um Berkeley Haas has a joint degree program, MPH MBA, uh, which actually I applied to. I got in. I also applied to Stanford and you know ended up there later. But I think these there's so many amazing opportunities you can have. And you don't necessarily have to even do a joint program at Haas. I think some of them, some of the alumni graduate without doing the joint degree, and they have careers in you know, health tech or in life sciences nearby. Um, so I think there's a lot of opportunities in the Bay Area for sure.

Harold Simansky 9:22

How about if I'm going in there without really a healthcare background? This idea here of maybe I've been personally touched by issues around healthcare, but didn't work in that industry before. What sort of opportunities would look like?

Christine Patel 9:34

Well, a lot of people wanted to get into this field to make a difference, which is what attracted me, especially, you know, you know, going to business school, focusing on, you know, what you know what what things matter to you and why you're applying to business school. Um so I think healthcare as a personal experience is very common threat for many applicants, uh, whether or not they're in the industry or not. Um I think if you are gonna try to pivot in this space, maybe try to show some type of experience that's relevant. Um so for example, maybe, you know, maybe you work in in finance, but you know, you didn't work in healthcare finance. But on the side, you maybe you had volunteered for an Alzheimer's organization because your grandmother was really impacted by Alzheimer's. Um so you know, if you show this interest or passion that's that's real, I think you it's possible. And then maybe you work for a finance, you know, you could do a functional, you can stay stay in the same function, work in finance for a pharma company later on. I think that's a very doable career path.

Jeremy Shinewald 10:36

One thing that's that's really interesting is you said that kind of show an interest. Like I would say, I feel like Wharton healthcare management is kind of the, it's kind of like, at least for now, kind of the gold standard for specific healthcare programs. If you're gonna, if you really are just focused on healthcare, you're probably looking at the healthcare management program. And you don't necessarily have to have, you know, medical, you know, any sort of clinical, any, you know, any practical experience. You could be a consultant who worked with life sciences firms. You could be, um, I I I worked with an applicant who several years ago who got into who got into Wharton. His background was really in supply chain issues for help for the healthcare world. It's like they want to have a diversity of experience. Like, yeah, you have to have some connection or interest. You you can't, but but like it's not just, hey, this is a program for people who've been at a pharmaceutical company or in a hospital. Um, so I think like I think it's important to keep in mind, but I think also to what you said originally, you know, you have to, for yourself, you have to know what the schools offer. And it's really different to go to a uh Tuck where they've, you know, they've got like a big hospital system right there in um, you know, in Hanover, uh, or even you know, UVA or Duke, where they're teaching hospitals and want to get into like walk out the door and go into biotech, maybe that experience exists at Duke or it exists at uh at um you know at Harvard or whatever it might be at MIT, um, but it might not exist at Tuck. I don't want to say it doesn't, but it might not to that extent, where there's just like a world of startups. So you really have to be speaking intelligently to the programs and understand that healthcare isn't some monolithic thing, like sometimes people perceive consulting, which is a little bit more general. It's like there are just so many entry points to that, you have to be able to express that.

Can you be entrepreneurial in healthcare?

Harold Simansky 12:22

Yeah, not to mention the fact that healthcare now is a much more entrepreneurial place. So you have a program like the HCM program at Wharton, which I have to tell you, for me always meant running a hospital, sort of this, I'll call it old economy piece of the healthcare world. And just over the last few years, they've actually pushed this notion here, okay, you can go into this more entrepreneurial side of things.

Jeremy Shinewald 12:42

One very practical thing about the HCM program that a lot of people a lot of applicants don't realize is if you want to apply to that program, you have to reach out to June Kinney, who runs like admissions for that specific program. And a lot of people think that like that's very different than um than most than than virtually the entirety of the world of MBA admissions, where you're kind of like, it's weird for you to reach out directly to the admissions director, but she basically expects you to reach out and then you have a one-on-one interview with her before you're gonna be admitted to the program. So seems odd, but it that's in fact something that that is expected.

Connecting with MBA healthcare programs

More business school healthcare programs

Christine Patel 13:19

Um Yeah, no, I think that's a great advice. I also would suggest if you're really interested in healthcare in for certain schools, to go to the healthcare conferences that people host every year at these schools, go reach out to the healthcare lead of the clubs to get more information. Right. Speak with alumni. Um, you know, I Warren has a resume book you can look at, which is nice. Um look across those the those books to get a feel for what people are like in that class. Um and there are a lot of other programs we haven't even touched upon. I think, you know, Kellogg, Duke, you know, they all have really strong healthcare programs. Um people I've I've known are are very happy there, you know, and and they've graduated to work in different fields.

Jeremy Shinewald 14:00

The thing I like about the Kellogg program is there the the clubs at Kellogg host a lot of like very basic um kind of like education around like you're you you don't have to be a doctor, but it helps to kind of understand the science. And there's kind of a whole bunch of club activities that support this like healthcare 101 type type behavior, so that you know, I guess in this in the same way that you don't necessarily know how to need to know how to like how your car runs in order to drive it. It's like you just need to understand that it drives sort of the same same type of spirit there. Like, look, let's let's give you some the some of the bait. You don't need to know the exactly how to you know stitch up a wound, but you but you want to understand some of the basics. I'll take this metaphor as far as I can. Uh, you know, and uh they'll they'll let you do that at Kellogg, which I which I think is really a wonderful aspect of the other.

Christine Patel 14:46

I mean at the GSB when I was there, I was a little, I felt like they were missing a few classes. I actually had a professor, and I reached out to him, pulled him out of retirement to start a healthcare innovation class there, which is still being taught to this very day. But it is also very simple to go across the street to programs in the medical school or in the engineering school to learn more about life sciences, like the biodesign program is a good example. Um but there's there's so much opportunity in, you know, not just the GSB, in so many programs out there. Um we didn't really mention a few other programs like um UMichigan Ross and UNC actually have both have very strong healthcare programs, as well as UCLA, um, you know, that think a lot UNC is in Raleigh Durham, where there's a lot of biotech going on in that region. LA, such a major part of the country, has so much going on. Amgen, you know, recruits out of UCLA. Um, and then there's just you know, there's so many schools out there. Um, so I I would say don't limit yourself by just the industry location or the reputation of a school. Really try to explore different opportunities out there to see what might fit for you.

Dual degree programs

Harold Simansky 15:47

Aaron Powell Well, you actually touched on something I just want to drill down on a little bit more. Clearly, you can be in a two-year MBA program with a focus on healthcare. At the same point, you could be doing a dual degree from your perspective. First of all, what dual degrees come to mind as really being very powerful if you're gonna stay in the healthcare space, as well as what's the advantage of a dual degree versus just focusing on it?

Christine Patel 16:07

Aaron Powell It kind of depends. So if you're gonna go into say like biopharma, it could be useful to have say like a PhD or MD or some kind of science background. Um but if you're not going into that field, you may not need that. But let's say like I I know someone who wants to become you know involved in global work and policy for women's health. Um, you know, she's pursuing uh, you know, an MPP degree at HKS, you know, and is also you know looking at MBA opportunities at the same time. So I think it really depends what your ultimate career goal is. And you may not even need that dual degree.

Jeremy Shinewald 16:42

You know what's interesting? I had an applicant a couple of years ago who applied to Wharton and applied to Kellogg and had a background in in healthcare, and he he had very significant background in healthcare and and he didn't want to apply to the HCM program, and he didn't want to apply uh, you know, as a healthcare applicant. He he won't go back to healthcare, but he was just he just felt it almost necessary in his optional statement to note why he wasn't applying to the HCM program because he felt like he'd be over-indexed towards healthcare. He felt like he had that background and he was coming to Wharton for operations, for marketing, for finance. He felt like he said kind of had that down. Like you shouldn't feel like if you are applying to a school that has a strong healthcare program, even if your goals are in healthcare, you shouldn't feel like you have to apply to their healthcare-specific program.

What if I already have a graduate degree?

Christine Patel 17:30

I totally agree with that. I actually know someone else in that same vote who decided not to apply to Wharton HCM, but just Wharton. Uh on the flip side, if you look at this, you asked me about joint degrees, if you already have a different degree, that's another interesting perspective. Let's say you already are an MD or you're a PhD and you know you're interested in getting another degree, I th or you're, you know, you're just not a standard MBA applicant, but you have this background healthcare. I st I really encourage you to consider looking at business schools too. It doesn't have to, if you've never, you know, I've had you know worked with people who are, you know, from non-traditional backgrounds, and I think they're actually they actually make excellent candidates because they're so different. They have a good perspective to bring to the classroom, um, and it just adds a lot of value.

Harold Simansky 18:13

No, that certainly makes sense in just sort of another commercial here is for those sorts of people, particularly if they're more mature in their career, maybe it's not a two-year MBA program, maybe it's something like an executive MBA program. And for those of you who have not watched it yet, we did a podcast on executive MBA programs with Christine and our colleague Julianne as well. But also there's an even another option, which might be something like a mid-career MBA, like the Stanford MSX or MIT LGO, another podcast on that as well. But but to get back to the point here is depending on what your background is, sometimes a dual degree program fits perfectly, and sometimes not getting a dual degree actually fits perfectly.

Jeremy Shinewald 18:51

You know, one other thing that just is a sidebar that I think we might discuss is, you know, if you're an MD, if you have a PhD, you know, in a healthcare-related specialty, you know, people say to us, well, should I apply to business school? Is it sort of like, is that too much education or are they are they gonna think that I'm like a degree collector? And the answer is if you need the degree to get where you want to go, the schools would be delighted to have you. There are so few MDs and PhDs in the programs, and they add so much because there are so few. You know, if you're gonna have a healthcare program, a healthcare management program like Wharton, you'd be delighted to have an MD in that. And and I I would imagine there are very few who apply because MDs generally are very driven in their own careers. They spend a lot of time in school, and they generally speaking don't want to take another two years to get it to get a management degree. But we get a we have a handful every year. But that if it's something you're thinking of, there's there is certainly space for for you in the programs.

Harold Simansky 19:43

Right, right, definitely. And quite honestly, this notion of an MD getting an MBA, I think it's just getting more and more popular. And sort of off, and it's a admittedly a developing world, but I know, for example, my alma mater, Brandeis University, not necessarily a business school that people think a lot about, but they have purposely created an. MBA program just for MDs. Because at this point, the job of an MD sadly requires management, requires some financial skills that that was simply was not part of their MD career.

Christine Patel 20:11

Cornell actually has a specific executive MBA program that focuses just on healthcare and is perfect for someone who's like an MD actually. Um, because you've gone midway through your career, maybe you don't have the time, you know, to do a another MBA with more, you know, it takes more time and you may have, you know, may have to travel a lot to get there. So check out Cornell's healthcare executive MBA program. It's actually a very unique program, just focused on that.

Harold Simansky 20:38

Aaron Powell One other point that quick really parenthetical here, we actually work with quite a few PhDs in terms of really across the board, not just healthcare-focused PhDs, because I think we've had pretty good success with PhDs going to business school when they are able to articulate why it's so important to them. And the reality is, is yes, it's important for folks coming out of the life sciences, but it is important for other PhDs as well. So another commercial here. So if you're a PhD, thinking about a business school, thinking about business school, give us a call, spend 30 minutes with me, with Christine, with Jeremy, and we can help you just think through some of the what your options might be. I mean, clearly there are some great programs really all across the board here. Frequently it's related to just are you in the middle of a really big healthcare system like Duke? I mean, Duke Medical, just huge, huge, huge, very central, you'll really a very important medical center. So of course that lends itself in terms of Duke being Fuqua, really being having a great MBA program with a focus on healthcare. Michigan Ross, for example, is a wonderful school. They have the Pinkert Scholars Program for folks who are really committing to a career in healthcare and very exciting.

Growing business school focus on healthcare

Jeremy Shinewald 21:42

Yeah, I mean, there's there's so look, healthcare is a growing part of the economy. I felt like during COVID, the schools woke up the fact they needed more people, uh, you know, they needed to diversify their class and have more people for healthcare, that healthcare was really like a multidisciplinary um, you know, industry and that, you know, it was it's growing, it required innovation. It was like an area that business school could tackle in a way that I think, you know, uh consulting heavy, banking heavy didn't speak to like this big societal challenge. And I think people who have experience in healthcare, the schools get excited about them. And if you can, if you can hit your your horse to their wagon and and really connect it to a Pinkard Scholarship scholarship program, uh a you know, Duke's HSM, um, you know, uh whatever it might be, just do your homework and really understand. I was always talking about like connect the dots. Here's where I am, here's where I'm going. Your school has these resources to get me there. And you don't, it doesn't mean they have to have a specific HCM program. You can you can create that connection through, like I said, it again, going back to the beginning. It it it doesn't, you you need to know the discipline, but but schools have most of these schools have teaching hospitals associated with them. They've got you know some spin-off effects. It's like just being uh of the hospitals themselves and of the innovation of university towns. You just got to be thoughtful and really connect your story to what they offer.

Christine Patel 23:03

And going back to why most a lot of people I've worked with want to do healthcare is really to change people's lives. If you can bring it back to the core mission and you know your values, I think that will really help your candidacy.

Jeremy Shinewald 23:16

Yeah, super point. It's like it's it's you know, everyone wants to be purposeful in their career, and and you can be purposeful in your career in investment banking if it's something just as deeply, you know, for whatever reason on a visceral level, just like really connect with you. But it generally speaking is a little bit easier to do it with healthcare. It's it's meaningful to everyone. We all get that message. So if you can, if you can present that message to the school, they're gonna kind of get a sense of your purpose as long as it's obviously not superficial, as long as you have some of the experience to back it up.

Advice for healthcare MBA applicants

Harold Simansky 23:42

That's right. So what I'm really hearing is a good MBA application is first of all, this understanding of why healthcare may be important to you, being able to articulate that, but also then thinking very deeply about where in the huge healthcare world do you actually want to fit in? Because there's really great opportunities. Operations management, for example, general management, sort of something more innovative, something that's more life science focused. It is a really exciting place, but at the same point, it's really big. You really have to communicate sort of where you fit into this very big world and what you need to learn.

Jeremy Shinewald 24:12

Okay, great. Well, this has been a great discussion. I've learned a lot about the healthcare field from you guys today. Um, thanks so much for having me on your podcast. Thanks so much for being here as our guest.

Harold Simansky 24:22

Christine, it is really wonderful. Wonderful to speak to you. And we've also done a couple of other podcasts with you, which are also terrific. And Jeremy, I'll see you at the next one.

Jeremy Shinewald 24:30

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