Healthcare consulting, anyone?

[ponyo]

I tried posting this in the business forum but it seems dead, so I'm trying pre-allo even though it's a total shot in the dark...

I am a fourth-year pre-med undergrad at a core school. I plan to take at least 1 year off, possibly 2-3, between college and medical school and am interested in working for a healthcare consulting firm. A number of them recruit at my school, and I've already spoken to some recruiters, but it's hard to gauge from those interactions what things are like in the industry as a whole. If anyone is familiar with the industry, I would be extremely grateful if you could take a few seconds to answer these questions:

1. Are there "big" healthcare consulting firms? What are some of the more established ones?

2. How specialized are they, in terms of the consulting service and also in terms of client base? Do they tend to compete very directly or fill in small niches (e.g. pricing, sales, research, policy, etc.)?

3. How heavy a role does formal recruitment play for these? Is it as significant as it is for management consulting? Should I expect to do most of my job search through networking and contacting firms that do not formally recruit?

4. So obviously regular management consulting firms have their stereotypes in terms of firm culture. Are there similar stereotypes in healthcare consulting?

Thanks in advance!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Keewee]

hmm. i too was in your position- I thought I'd want to work in healthcare consulting or the healthcare division of investment banking. but, the more i looked into it and talked to recruiters/alumni, the more i realized that biotech companies are, at their foundation, companies that want to make money. so, as a healthcare consultant, you work a lot more on branding, corporate strategy, market analytics, etc., you deal VERY little in the actual science/healthcare side of things.

To put it plainly, you are essentially a management consultant who is focused entirely on clients in the biotech/healthcare industry. many of the big consultants (bain, bcg, mckinsey, etc.) will work with the big healthcare companies (amgen, medtronic, pfizer, BMS, j & J, glaxosmithkline, even hospitals and medical centers, etc.).

There are smaller, boutique consultant firms (Trinity Partners is the only one that comes to mind) that deal entirely with healthcare companies.

and I would say that >75% of jobs will be secured through recruiting. I doubt that you will be able to drop off your resume and CL at an HR website and have any luck. If you know anyone in the industry, that will be a huge help. Simply mentioning the name of someone or saying that you got referred by someone will at least get your resume a glance.

like I said- healthcare consultants are essentially industry-specific management consultants. I would say that similar stereotypes apply.

the reason I didnt go this route is because so little science and healthcare policy is actually involved-- you are just instructing these companies on how to boost sales, find more customers, operate more efficiently, etc.

 

[Keewee]

also, to reinforce what i was saying.... you will see B.As in economics/finance and MBAs almost exclusively in healthcare consultancies. There are very few MD/phDs/MS... just gives you another perspective on the type of work these companies do

 

[ucladoc2b]

I have worked in healthcare management consulting for 5 years. I am currently a MS1. PM me if you have any questions.

 

[kpcrew]

I have worked in healthcare management consulting for 5 years. I am currently a MS1. PM me if you have any questions.

Maybe you should change your username then lol

 

[MiracleforMD]

Maybe you should change your username then lol

Isn't his username accurate if he's an MS-1 at UCLA?

 

[Pose]

On a side note, I'd be curious what the interviews are like. Are they case-study driven, similar to management consulting? Several rounds of interviews?

 

[HatWobble]

FWIW, I went to the same undergrad you did OP and did "healthcare" consulting coming out of undergrad. I actually had no plans of being an MD upon graduation, but due to how much I didn't like consulting after two years I decided to do an MD.

To answer your questions:

1 & 2: It seems to me that the big generalist firms (McK, Bain, BCG, etc.) do things related to healthcare consulting, but they also do lots of other things, too, obviously. I worked at a firm that was very niche-focused (ZS Associates), as 90% of their cases involved helping sales teams at pharma companies. Much of the work was very business-oriented and didn't have anything to do with science at all; I later found out that this made the job very uninteresting for me. YMMV. I don't know any firms that deal with the more science-y side of things, but if they do exist they will probably 1.) focus on pharma (since that's where the money is) and 2.) won't hire you right out of undergrad. I'm just speculating, though.

3: Just go through the standard recruitment pipelines, it makes things so much easier if you know you want to do consulting. At our school they basically pipe everyone into consulting and banking anyway with very little opportunity to do anything else. I wanted to do something totally different coming out of undergrad but I just couldn't stomach sending out cold letters to tech companies when I had so many consulting options available to me on campus.

4: Of course. Get a Vault guide.

Hope that was helpful.

 

[willen101383]

FWIW, I went to the same undergrad you did OP and did "healthcare" consulting coming out of undergrad. I actually had no plans of being an MD upon graduation, but due to how much I didn't like consulting after two years I decided to do an MD.

To answer your questions:

1 & 2: It seems to me that the big generalist firms (McK, Bain, BCG, etc.) do things related to healthcare consulting, but they also do lots of other things, too, obviously. I worked at a firm that was very niche-focused (ZS Associates), as 90% of their cases involved helping sales teams at pharma companies. Much of the work was very business-oriented and didn't have anything to do with science at all; I later found out that this made the job very uninteresting for me. YMMV. I don't know any firms that deal with the more science-y side of things, but if they do exist they will probably 1.) focus on pharma (since that's where the money is) and 2.) won't hire you right out of undergrad. I'm just speculating, though.

3: Just go through the standard recruitment pipelines, it makes things so much easier if you know you want to do consulting. At our school they basically pipe everyone into consulting and banking anyway with very little opportunity to do anything else. I wanted to do something totally different coming out of undergrad but I just couldn't stomach sending out cold letters to tech companies when I had so many consulting options available to me on campus.

4: Of course. Get a Vault guide.

Hope that was helpful.

In a nutshell what exactly does one of these companies do?

 

[ponyo]

hmm. i too was in your position- I thought I'd want to work in healthcare consulting or the healthcare division of investment banking. but, the more i looked into it and talked to recruiters/alumni, the more i realized that biotech companies are, at their foundation, companies that want to make money. so, as a healthcare consultant, you work a lot more on branding, corporate strategy, market analytics, etc., you deal VERY little in the actual science/healthcare side of things.

the reason I didnt go this route is because so little science and healthcare policy is actually involved-- you are just instructing these companies on how to boost sales, find more customers, operate more efficiently, etc.

I actually LOVE this aspect of consulting... I've been casing with friends and it's such a good way to procrastinate from doing real work Then again, so is doing puzzles from LSAT... (Maybe I'm just a nerd.) I do know at least one firm that is very science-oriented, as in their case interviews will actually be impossible without a science background, but they are probably the minority. In either case, the business aspect really appeals to me. This is particularly because after interning at a small healthcare facility and then a biotech firm, I became painfully aware of how much more business/operations matters than research, even when you do start out with the intention to "do good". If I will be taking gap years in any case, I would really like to develop the ability to think analytically in those arenas.

FWIW, I went to the same undergrad you did OP and did "healthcare" consulting coming out of undergrad. I actually had no plans of being an MD upon graduation, but due to how much I didn't like consulting after two years I decided to do an MD.

I PM'd you but did not notice the "I went to the same undergrad you did" part... actually I assumed you didn't because I looked at this thread and it seemed like we can't have... but in any case, thank god for core school(s) because I would not have the same opportunities otherwise.

In a nutshell what exactly does one of these companies do?

From what I have heard (which is not very much), it depends on the firm. Some focus on the sales and marketing side; some focus on pricing (like for big pharma, for instance); some do policy work for the government; some do research for hospital management in general... etc. McK/Bain/BCG seem to be a little more overarching in scope but I really don't know anything about that since I haven't really thought about applying to them.

 

[Keewee]

In either case, the business aspect really appeals to me. This is particularly because after interning at a small healthcare facility and then a biotech firm, I became painfully aware of how much more business/operations matters than research, even when you do start out with the intention to "do good". If I will be taking gap years in any case, I would really like to develop the ability to think analytically in those arenas.

md/mba ftw

i think a couple years in consulting and- if you are extra ambitious- an mba,will be extremely valuable, especially if you want to go into management/administration later on (chief of medicine!)

 

[Goro]

Technecon Healthcare Pvt. Ltd. is one of the top healthcare consulting firm. Since 1998, as hospital consultant, they have been a part of strategic hospital planning, hospital design, and process improvement for several hospital projects in India and overseas.

Nice 7 year old necrobump