What are your Club's big initiatives this year?
The Healthcare and Life Sciences Club will continue to build its presence on the campus of the Ross School of Business at University of Michigan with several exciting events.
We really want to bring the impact of the industry to life. We hope to invite sales managers and representatives who work with medical devices, pharmaceutical products, and biotechnology solutions to connect with students and bring in actual product demonstrations.
We intend to invite Healthcare entrepreneurs and venture capitals to understand where the industry is heading in terms of innovation, healthcare reform, and healthcare IT. Healthcare IT is quickly becoming one of the fastest growing segments of healthcare and we want students to learn more about the opportunities and initiatives that are occurring to "technologize" the health field.
Another thing we hope to see more of this year is partnerships with other clubs, to multiply the number of attendees at our events. Recruiters from healthcare typically look for marketing, finance, and consulting talent so the Consulting, Marketing and Finance Clubs are natural partners to host events such as a "Health Case Study Crackdown" or "Business Development in Emerging Markets".
I hope to continue pushing the frontier of how healthcare can expand beyond the traditional medical device/pharma/biotech job opportunities in the US and capture growing concerns about healthcare problems in areas such as China, India, Latin America, and Africa.
What companies are you partnering with?
We partner with both US and global firms in the following segments: medical devices, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, healthcare consulting, hospitals, and payer organizations (healthcare insurance). If any firms in these sectors are looking for creative, hard-working, and ambitious individuals with sharp analytical, communication, and business skills, they should contact me at amjoship@umich.edu!
Where do you see yourself after you complete your MBA?
I hope to work for a medical device organization in the marketing division. Ideally, I'll be in charge of innovation marketing and help build the future pipeline of the company because I have a unique background - I studied biomedical engineering in undergraduate and have my business degree from Ross. I can nicely sit across both the business and technical world and help R&D engineers constantly innovate and improve the product while also facing customers and helping build strategies for continued growth in all areas of the world.
Who is the most exciting speaker you've had this year?
This is a difficult question to answer as we have had a wide range of speakers, and I'm always impressed with their caliber and level, and how they devote time to speaking with Ross students.
In healthcare companies the human element is very strong because our work directly serves humanity. Companies bring not only executives and employees but also patients to speak about their organizations.
Johnson & Johnson invited two AIDS patients who use their drug therapies to share their journeys and how J&J products have changed and sustained their lives for many years. This is just one of many examples that I could discuss. It reminds all of us why we work for the companies that we do!
What proportion of your members are originally healthcare professionals?
We tend to find that many students are career switchers and we actively engage with students to promote a career in healthcare, regardless of their experience before coming to business school. Healthcare companies that come to Ross are looking for passionate, hard-working, and talented individuals and accept students with a myriad of backgrounds. This past year, more than 80% of students who joined the Healthcare and Life Sciences Club accepted internships within healthcare organizations and consulting firms that work with healthcare clients. We are very proud of this number and it supports our ongoing effort to provide programs, initiatives, and support for our club members and general student body to explore healthcare careers.
Are pharmaceutical companies’ R&D departments going to remain the main source of drug innovation and discovery? Or do you think it will be taken over by university research, small independents or government-funded research?.
R&D typically serves as the main source of innovation within the healthcare industry as employees in this division are constantly working to discover new medicines and new breakthroughs that will improve drug therapies.
What I have found in my own research is that these organizations are leveraging the strengths of universities and institutions such as the World Health Organization and United Nations to build better marketing and public awareness campaigns for their treatments. These initiatives better spread awareness of diseases, therapies, and possible solutions while also encouraging better access to health in more impoverished areas. These partnerships seem to be very valuable for pharmaceutical organizations, which like the creativity, dynamism, and passion of young, dedicated students.
RECAPTHA :
fb
47
b0
79
