I do. I recently had lunch with a classmate Robin in San Francisco. We are currently discussing the next stage of my Practicum project. Nigam Shah has been a life saver and helped me with information and strategy for a presentation that I am giving on AI in Healthcare. I have been contacted by Hiro to support a friend of his who was looking for some information regarding tube feeding for pediatric patients.  I have also been part of the interview panel for the current cohort.

Yes, I moved into a position of leadership within my organization.  MCiM has prepared me for the role with understanding the future of healthcare from a leadership perspective. I am using elements of Business Strategy, Accounting, Leadership as well as Quality and Safety. It has given me confidence to speak about technology and informatics in healthcare with my nursing peers and Leadership to ensure minorities are represented in the design and integration of these tools. As well as provide support to the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland, in a collaboration on building a framework for assessing the qualities and needs of an eHealth tool.

When it came to selecting which electives to take, I followed a few guiding principles to make choices that would enrich my experience as a student. I looked for electives that would equip me with the knowledge and skills necessary to excel in my current management role. Balancing core courses with electives can be challenging, so I tried to choose electives that I could manage alongside my core coursework. I also sought advice from alumni, as learning about the experiences of those who have previously taken the courses can provide invaluable insights.

Certainly! MCiM, with its distinct combination of data, healthcare, and business, has had a transformative effect on my career. The business courses of MCiM have honed my strategic and managerial skills. Understanding the business side is critical in healthcare as it drives innovation and sustainability. They have helped me grasp the financial and operational aspects, which are key to executing successful projects in the healthcare domain.

For the MCiM program I was most excited about learning from innovative leaders in healthcare, growing my network and gaining a more insightful understanding of the complex healthcare system in the US. MCiM has delivered above and beyond what I hoped to learn from a program, from visionary guest speakers to in depth class discussions of real world problems faced by healthcare providers, the MCiM program has done a wonderful job comprehensively diving into the details of US healthcare.

I wouldn’t say that MCiM has necessarily changed my perspective on healthcare, if anything MCiM has given me much more clarity as to what “healthcare” is. Coming from a non-healthcare background (and I would argue even for those with a healthcare background), understanding the healthcare system was like walking around a dark room with only a phone flashlight. However, in completing this program, I feel that I now have a spotlight on the key areas of healthcare and a network who can help me further uncover what is still hiding in the shadows.

I believe in order to optimize any part of a business/organization, it’s important to understand how the business fits into the larger system as a whole. Once you can truly understand who the relevant players are in the system, you will have a better perspective on how your organization or business should strategize to become successful. Through MCiM, my deeper understanding of the system has helped me to optimize my implementation of work which I believe has provided great value to my organization and team.

Unlike most of the other students in the program, I entered the MCiM program much further along in my career.  I don’t think I was expecting the program to be so inspiring and personally transformative so far into my career, even after my MBA. I honestly sit though through many classes with my jaw dropped open behind my mask, being completely in awe of what I am learning, mentally stimulated and feeling super fortunate to being taught by the world’s thought leaders in digital innovation and futuristic healthcare. If I could have given myself advice prior to starting the program, I would have said to let go of all constraints, be prepared to be mentally disrupted and immersed in the unique learning environment at Stanford, which seems to be extremely deliberate in training its students to take on the complex problems in society that no one else can or will.

Every faculty member that taught us so far been someone so globally influential in the field, someone I had previously listened to on prominent webinars or whose NEJM paper I have read and cited multiple times before coming. All have been truly the best in the world. I was most taken though by Professor David Scheinker, who is the inspiration for the next phase of my career.  He was able to show me how math, system engineering, machine learning and simulations can help me solve a lot of the frustrations I currently experience as a physician and administrative leader within my healthcare system. Canada, like many universal healthcare systems, has been troubled with access to care issues and long wait times. Modelling the expected amounts of resources required to deliver quality healthcare at the local and national levels, linking that to projected growing incidence of disease, and then using that to redesign care delivery and resource investments can really help our healthcare system stay ahead and be more sustainable.

The good news is it already has. Prior to coming to the program, I didn’t have high hopes that my career would be as fulfilling as I had originally imagined it to be when I first entered medical school. Physicians currently practice in an environment that is rampant with staff shortages, high rates of burnout and moral injury resulting from our inability to take care of patients in the way that is needed. Now I can see how the unique combination of business model innovation and technology can really achieve the healthcare system that we all want to work in, that can benefit both providers and patients. I am now skilled in leading beyond the usual goal of incremental improvements in healthcare to large scale healthcare system engineering and redesign, digital health ecosystem and infrastructure modernization. This is so exciting!

The pandemic has highlighted the long-standing gaps in health care cost, quality, and access that impede health equity. Our health care system is in desperate need of a transformation and I believe the MCiM program can create leaders that leverage data necessary for this transformation. By understanding how to turn data into information, we can turn knowledge into meaningful action that benefits everyone.

Participate as much as you can even if its uncomfortable. As an introvert, socializing can be hard, but networking in this program led to memorable conversations and meaningful friendships that made it worth it. I realized just how many opportunities there are to learn something new, you just have to have the willingness to put yourself out there.

As a Pediatric Emergency Medicine (PEM) physician focused in the operations of our department, MCiM offered an opportunity to expand my clinical expertise by broadening my understanding of business practices, digital health and health technology as well as incorporating the design process. I wanted a foundation on how to use the data and metrics related to clinical care to make decisions not only related to our day-to-day workflows but also make innovative decisions and sustainable successful decisions for our future.

BioDesign classes are enhancing my process improvement focus especially when it comes to clarifying and understanding needs of our patients.  The concepts from our Business Strategy class are exciting and new for me to apply coming from a health/science background and I feel it’s turning me into a more well-rounded leader. 

I aspire to take this study of business, technology, and design process to continue to excel Stanford Pediatric Emergency Medicine (PEM) in innovation. I would love to use this experience to create partnerships with tech in our area and make us a leader in PEM.