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Hometown
Undergraduate Education |
Background
While choosing schools to apply to for medical school, the presence of a combined MD/MBA program played a large role in my decision-making process. After working for a start-up biotechnology firm for two years prior to returning to school, I realized my desire to build a solid foundation for not only clinical medicine, but also leadership and management aspects of the healthcare industry. Since beginning medical school, I have always recognized the importance of maintaining a balanced life and being involved in a wide range of different activities. While in medical school, I became involved with volunteer, research and service organizations, including a mentorship program for local high school students interested in science and medicine, a research project at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles studying the perioperative effects of certain NSAIDs in the pediatric population, and the medical school alumni organization which helped secure financial and educational support for its students. After starting business school, I focused primarily on philanthropic and professional development extracurricular activities, which included A Better LA, Junior Achievement and the BioBusiness Association. Outside of school, I enjoy staying active, traveling and wine tasting.
Business Education
Though attending a medical school with a dual-degree MD/MBA program was important to me, I did not make up my mind on whether or not to pursue an MBA until the third semester of medical school. Though the additional year of education was initially difficult to justify, I ultimately decided that the strengths and opportunities offered by the USC Marshall MBA outweighed the burden of an additional year in school and provided a significant return on investment of my time. These advantages included a flexible program that would allow me to tailor my curriculum to what I wanted to do in the healthcare field, including entrepreneurial and health care policy courses. Also, it provided me with the chance to join one of the strongest professional and support networks in the Southern California region. Halfway through both my business and medical school curriculum, I have met many inspirational individuals in the academic community ranging from successful physician executives to world-renowned health economics and finance experts. One individual whom I am particularly excited about working with during the upcoming semester is healthcare policy expert Dr. Glenn Melnick, who will be leading a symposium for leading healthcare executives and policymakers to address ways to improve healthcare financing, delivery and management, in the U.S. and internationally. Outside of my coursework, I am also working to secure an internship with an IPA in the greater Los Angeles area to get first-hand experience of the effects the enactment of the Affordable Care and Recovery Acts will have on current health systems.
Plans for the Future
While it is difficult to formulate a detailed plan for using my MBA in conjunction with my MD, I have some general ideas for leveraging my business background in the healthcare industry in the future. First, I fully intend on completing a residency program and becoming a board-certified physician, which will not only help establish my clinical credibility but also fulfill my lifelong dream of practicing medicine. However, as I continue in my career I have both entrepreneurial and management aspirations. In the process of completing medical school and a residency program, I hope to continue working with several business school colleagues to launch several healthcare-related business ideas. In addition, I want to be actively involved in helping define the role of accountable care organizations and their relationship with patient-centered medical homes to improve coordination of care and develop larger integrated organizations capable of delivering healthcare more effectively and efficiently.
