I'm done.
Yesterday I turned in my pager and moved out of my office at the hospital. No more rounding at 5:00 AM. No more 30-36 hour shifts. No more driving to the hospital at 2 AM to see a patient in the ER.
I had promised a few months ago that I'd write a post detailing my decision to attend B-school. Now seems like a good time. Before I start, though, I want to thank everyone here. I don't come from a "normal" pre-MBA background. I knew a few physicians who'd gone into industry, but I certainly didn't know anyone from medicine who was applying with me. If it weren't for gmatclub, this entire experience would've been a very lonely (and likely far less successful) endeavor. So thank you.
THE INITIAL DECISION
I first really considered business/industry in college. I double-majored in biology and economics and loved 'em both. At the time, combining both areas by pursuing something like healthcare-focused consulting, banking, or entrepreneurship never occurred to me. So I had to pick one area. I dipped my toe in the medical waters by volunteering at local hospitals and doing some biomedical research. I really liked the experiences and decided on medicine. Went through medical school and residency and started fellowship (additional subspecialty training beyond residency) without any problems. I was working hard but having a lot of fun. As fellowship went along, though, a sense of dissatisfaction began to gnaw at me. It developed for a lot of reasons... frustrating interactions with HMOs/insurance companies and the somewhat repetitive nature of the invasive procedures I was performing were certainly significant factors.
What could I do instead, though? I'd kept up with business throughout medical training and that seemed a reasonable route. I looked preliminarily into available options. I could get a position as a medical director, running clinical trials for a biotech/pharma or medical device company. That didn't seem like a whole lot of fun... I'd be taking orders from upper level management, carrying out trials at their behest. Alternatively, I could enter consulting via a program like McKinsey APD. Consulting didn't enthrall me either, though. I then spoke to a couple physicians who'd gone to HBS and gone on to entrepreneurship/startups. These conversations made me realize two things: 1) Entrepreneurship/early-stage development really excited me, and would hopefully allow me to continue to positively impact the patients I cared for (via medical devices or biotech/pharma); 2) I would need an MBA to gain the credibility necessary to really get anywhere in the business world.
STARTING THE PROCESS
I didn't make the above realization until the very end of June last summer. When I realized how much effort and time would be required for the GMAT and applications, I panicked. When I calmed down a bit, I made a preliminary list of schools based on my interests (thankfully the list didn't change... they were the five schools I ended up applying to). I started studying for the GMAT as well, using
the Official Guide as well as a few
Manhattan GMAT guides (I hadn't taken a math class since DiffEq... in 1993!). I signed up for an early September GMAT sitting. While working on the GMAT, I started to work on essays as well. In retrosepct, working on the GMAT and essays at the same time was an incredibly stupid move. I wanted to get my applications out in R1, though, so I plowed ahead. Thankfully, the GMAT went OK.
I was then able to fully commit to the essays. As with everything else in this process, I seriously underestimated the effort required to write effective essays. Thankfully a friend let me look at some of his essays and lent me a copy of Montauk's book. A lot of people still didn't know I was leaving medicine, so I wanted to keep my online presence to a minimum until I actually had an acceptance (paranoid, I know). So I lurked on gmatclub a fair amount
. Using all of these resources, I understood that I had to explain precisely what my goals were and how they had developed from my clinical experiences. I also had to be completely open and honest. A difficult process (I nearly threw my computer at a wall during Stanford's essays), but a good learning experience.
INTERVIEWS
I think preparation for interviews varies substantially. Some people like to prepare for every conceivable question, others like to go in feeling fresh and spontaneous. I fall squarely in the former group. I prepped by reading the databases on
accepted.com and Clearadmit and practiced my responses in front of a mirror (and looked ridiculous in doing so). The interviews themselves ran across a broad spectrum. Kellogg and Wharton interviews were on-campus with Adcom members (a student in the case of Wharton), and corresponded pretty closely with the existing databases. Sloan was on-campus with an Adcom member... they use that funky BEI/STAR technique. I thought it went pretty poorly, but things worked out. The Stanford interview was literally a conversation with a really enthusiastic alum at a Starbucks. I came out of the Stanford interview knowing the SGSB was my first choice.
DECISIONS
- I think my Sloan interview went so poorly that it killed the enthusiasm I had for the school. Besides, I've been in Boston for a while and would like to try a different part of the country.
- I absolutely loved Wharton. The Health Care Management program there is incredible and I really liked the people. For a long time I thought I would end up at Wharton, and I know I would've been very happy there.
- Well, I liked Stanford even more. For what I want to do (entrepreneurship/early-stage/VC), it's a great place to be. And the Bay Area's not a bad place to spend some time
- I'll attend DAK II and see how it goes. I really like Kellogg and the money from the Austin thing's pretty cool.
SUMMARY
Wow, I can't believe this process only started nine months ago. I just want to reiterate how grateful I am to everyone here. I have every intention of sticking around and helping out. And if I end up at Stanford, I'll do my best to partner up with Kryzak (assuming he ends up at Haas) and entice people to the West Coast