Healthcare at Insead

Question

Hi everyone, I'm a physician that is interested in pursuing an MBA. I'm looking to get into healthcare administration longterm, but would also like to learn more about the pharmaceutical industry and healthcare consulting. I'm really interested in Insead, but have a few questions I was hoping to get some help with:

1) As a non traditional applicant, with little business background, is a 1 year program too rigorous for someone like me? While I want to stay in healthcare, I'm interested in exploring different avenues as mentioned above, will I be able to do this successfully in a one year program?

2) Does anyone know about healthcare opportunities at Insead?

Thank you!

toy9575 · Answer

kat271  have you started your gmat prep? If not i would suggest you should do it

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kat271 · Answer

Yes I have, I scored a 710 (V40, Q47)

donesd · Answer

Hi kat271,

1) I think there are many students in INSEAD with non-traditional backgrounds. If you count those who are not from finance/consulting background, around half of the students are "non-traditional". So no worries for that. Other than going for online courses before the start of the programme, there's a one-week on-campus optional Business Foundations course prior to the start of the programme for students to grasp the foundations of the different business concepts.

2) At least 5% of INSEAD grads work in the healthcare sector ("including pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, diagnostics, medical devices and healthcare services, as well as healthcare-focused consulting, banking, private equity, venture capital and NGOs"). There's an INSEAD healthcare club for students looking for healthcare oppportunities.

kat271 · Answer

Thanks so much!

fatnani · Answer

Hi

First of all you have a great score for insead 
Second a physician and an mba is the kind of profile a MBB would hire for management consulting in health care industry
Other areas you could explore are VC firms helping health care startup’s
Or you can go completely 180 by entering management roles in amazon or any major company 
Getting into banking might be slightly tough with a one year MBA but who knows

I know a few people who have been working as management consultants and they were medical doctors ! So I am Sure you will be a good fit for insead !

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kat271 · Answer

fatnani  
Thanks for the really helpful reply! I'm really interested in learning more about all of the avenues you mentioned. Do you feel a one year program is enough time to fully explore?

fatnani · Answer

Hey Kat,

It actually depends on you . To be honest INSEAD will just give you a place where you want to be faster than many universities! 
But what you should really think about is where do you see yourself after the mba .
If you want to work in the United States then you apply to American schools ! 
If you want to be in Europe or Asia leverage the insead network ! Not that Insead is not famous In the USA , companies prefer American schools there !

I’m sorry if I digressed a bit but yes one year should be enough ! If you want one year with internship then jan intake as it is a complete killer program with an internship ! 
Hope this helps and pardon my typos I am using a cell phone

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slimmz2004 · Answer

Hi kat271

Throwing in my 2 cents as well.

The one thing to consider is your short term post-MBA career choice and if it makes sense to complete an MBA to achieve that goal. When I read your profile, I question why you can't get a pharma job at this time and why you need an MBA to do so. Pharma hires MD all the time, they are more than happy to get trained MD on board and joining a big pharma would not be a major challenge for you.

You might want a solid answer on that one for the "Why MBA?" question.

Again, this is just my personal opinion

pabpinor · Answer

Hey Kat, I think you have already received comprehensive answers to all your questions.

At any school you will be able to develop different career options, and most would include a healthcare path but probably there are some with a better one, I'm not familiar with the Healthcare electives at INSEAD and how they compare with other schools, but it could be another point to consider when choosing the school.

Best of luck!

Regards,
Pablo

kat271 · Answer

I feel I do have a solid response for "why MBA", and pharma is only one avenue I am considering at this time. Regardless, thanks for your opinion!

Perhaps, I will look further into specific healthcare opportunities at insead, but as has been said, other schools may be better suited for me.

Thanks everyone for the very helpful replies!

Davidson1987 · Answer

How's that going, by the way? Maybe I'm late with my advice, but some agencies can train you to become a caregiver. Some of them, such as https://www.assistinghands.com/9/ohio/cincinnati/, teach people who have no practice and then hire them to work here. It's a good way to practice. And I think that it's possible for the pharmaceutical as well. And I think, in this case, the training will be faster than at universities. But it is better to ask because each agency may have its own approach to this.

bb · Answer

Healthcare at Insead

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