Karen, now president of the Healthcare Management Association (HMA) at Rotman School of Management in Toronto, Canada explains the most effective way of bringing new drugs to market.
Why did you decide to begin an MBA program?
The MBA provides exposure to various business leaders in the healthcare field, renowned faculty from Rotman as well as a diverse range of students from various professional backgrounds.
The MBA gives me an opportunity to enhance my financial and business strategy skills as well as broaden my knowledge in areas of management, integrative thinking and problem solving.
Where do you see yourself after you complete your MBA?
I studied and worked as a dental surgeon in South Africa. I will be pursuing a career in the health sector whereby I can combine my professional experience in both the public and private health sectors, and my in-depth medical and clinical knowledge, with my business skills.
My aim is to work in healthcare organizations that are highly innovative and are looking to solve ‘bigger picture problems’, rather than continue to work as a clinician.
What are the club's biggest initiatives this year?
The HMA executive committee plans networking events, industry nights and speaker panels, which give students an opportunity to connect with professionals from various sectors within the healthcare industry.
An area of focus this year will be to facilitate networking opportunities amongst fellow colleagues. This will include integrating students from both the part-time and full-time streams, as well as planning events whereby current Rotman students can connect with students from other MBA schools and healthcare programs.
Which companies are you partnering with?
This year we welcome industry professionals from various healthcare organizations – including University Health Network, Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, St Michael’s Hospital, SickKids, PwC, Deloitte, GE Healthcare, GlaxoSmithKline, Astrazeneca and MaRS Discovery District.
We aim to extend students’ exposure to include the financial roles and entrepreneurship opportunities that are becoming increasingly relevant in the healthcare sector.
We are also grateful to Johnson & Johnson and KPMG for sponsoring our annual Healthcare Strategy Case Competition.
Who is the most exciting speaker you've had this year?
A really exciting speaker was Dr. Zayna Khayat who is currently an Adjunct Professor at the Rotman School of Management in the health sector strategy stream.
She spoke to club members earlier this year about the importance of innovation in the healthcare industry, and the scope of exciting career opportunities for MBAs.
What proportion of your members originally come from the healthcare sector?
Although a small proportion of members are originally healthcare professionals, many of the members come from a variety of academic and professional backgrounds, which helps to create a highly interactive environment.
Are pharmaceutical companies’ R&D departments going to remain the main source of drug innovation and discovery?
Pharmaceutical spending on R&D has been increasing year over year. As the healthcare industry moves towards the use of genomics, nanotechnology and targeted medicine in the treatment of disease, the potential that innovative R&D discoveries will come from university research centres and small independent companies is significantly higher.
However, the huge cost of bringing new drugs to market means that the majority of new drug innovation and development will probably come from the large pharmaceutical companies either directly, or via strategic investment and partnership with smaller companies that are focusing on the development of specific drugs.
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