Healthcare Consulting?? Please Help...

[Ilovecoffee]

I want to forray into healthcare consulting. But the thing is, I'm confused as to what exactly one needs to study to either end up with traditional consulting firms (McKinsey, BCG) or with pharma companies (Merck, Pfizer etc.)

According to me, an MBA is the conventional route to consulting, or with an undergrad BBA, a consulting job right out of college down the line allows you to get into healthcare consulting as the industry of interest.

Having said that, my situation is a tricky one. I did my undergrad in Psych, with a minor in Business. At the time, I never got any business/consulting jobs because I had no work experience. So I ended up at UPenn for a year doing research after graduating from UT Austin.
I HATED clinical research. It was wayyyy to boring. Now I'm moved back home, (i.e - India) and am writing for a healthcare publication part time, and work as a Medical Writer for a healthcare brand solutions firm.

NOW - that I am considered grad school, I'm not sure what to do. As in should I be doing an MPH/MBA - or an MBA in healthcare? or a MHA.... I'm really confused. Or simple an MPH...

If I think of the MBA route - arent they really hard to get into? I have no real 'business' experience. Clinical research and medical writing doesnt exactly count for business experience.....


Anyone with insights?

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[dropout]

I want to forray into healthcare consulting. But the thing is, I'm confused as to what exactly one needs to study to either end up with traditional consulting firms (McKinsey, BCG) or with pharma companies (Merck, Pfizer etc.)

According to me, an MBA is the conventional route to consulting, or with an undergrad BBA, a consulting job right out of college down the line allows you to get into healthcare consulting as the industry of interest.

Having said that, my situation is a tricky one. I did my undergrad in Psych, with a minor in Business. At the time, I never got any business/consulting jobs because I had no work experience. So I ended up at UPenn for a year doing research after graduating from UT Austin.
I HATED clinical research. It was wayyyy to boring. Now I'm moved back home, (i.e - India) and am writing for a healthcare publication part time, and work as a Medical Writer for a healthcare brand solutions firm.

NOW - that I am considered grad school, I'm not sure what to do. As in should I be doing an MPH/MBA - or an MBA in healthcare? or a MHA.... I'm really confused. Or simple an MPH...

If I think of the MBA route - arent they really hard to get into? I have no real 'business' experience. Clinical research and medical writing doesnt exactly count for business experience.....


Anyone with insights?

your question is a bit convoluted, but if i understand you correctly, you're debating mba vs mba/mph vs mha vs mph.

since your ultimate goal is consulting or (sounds like) a business development role at a pharma company, an mba is your safest and most conventional path. to get a spot a mck, bain, bcg etc, you'll really need to shoot for the top schools. your lack of business work experience is a challenge but not insurmountable, especially if you can progress into some management/supervisory role at your current job. and of course you'll need to rock the GMATs.

 

[DrJosephKim]

If you enjoy studying, then I'd encourage an MBA/MPH. There are several programs that offer this combined degree. An MBA will equip you for the business side of healthcare, but you'll soon discover that this world is huge. So, an MPH can give you perspective from a population health standpoint (as opposed to an individual patient view). This can be very valuable when you're looking at the larger picture (common analogy of the seeing the forest vs. the trees).

More and more people are entering B school because of the worsening economy. Ask yourself - what will make you stand apart from the rest of those graduating with an MBA?

 

[Ilovecoffee]

your question is a bit convoluted, but if i understand you correctly, you're debating mba vs mba/mph vs mha vs mph.

since your ultimate goal is consulting or (sounds like) a business development role at a pharma company, an mba is your safest and most conventional path. to get a spot a mck, bain, bcg etc, you'll really need to shoot for the top schools. your lack of business work experience is a challenge but not insurmountable, especially if you can progress into some management/supervisory role at your current job. and of course you'll need to rock the GMATs.

- my situation is a bit of a catchy 22 - never having had real consulting or any kind of business experience makes it hard to get into consulting. My current job doesnt require any management/surpervisory roles or the scope to move into one.
HOWEVER, I am applying for corporate relations/communication jobs at hospitals - hopefully that'll work out. with that experience under my belt, i believe i can be better placed to apply for a MBA/MPH...

In the mean time, I'm keeping my options open and applying for just an MPH - with a health management and policy concentration. Just incase a job doesnt work out. Its super hard to get jobs in India as well... with SO MANY people applying for the same jobs...its crazy.

ANYHOW - what do you do? are you already a into healthcare consulting??

 

[Ilovecoffee]

If you enjoy studying, then I'd encourage an MBA/MPH. There are several programs that offer this combined degree. An MBA will equip you for the business side of healthcare, but you'll soon discover that this world is huge. So, an MPH can give you perspective from a population health standpoint (as opposed to an individual patient view). This can be very valuable when you're looking at the larger picture (common analogy of the seeing the forest vs. the trees).

More and more people are entering B school because of the worsening economy. Ask yourself - what will make you stand apart from the rest of those graduating with an MBA?

The thing is that at this moment in time - I don't have much to set me apart really. I am however in the process of applying for corporate relations positions at hospitals. If those work out, I believe I would be better placed to apply for an MPH/MBA down the line.

That being said, I'm also keeping my options open with applying for just an MPH for the fall 2009 academic year. Just incase a job doesnt work out right now....

Any suggestions on what kind of public health positions I should look into? I've already done alot of volunteer work with NGOs, I've done clinical research, medical writing, article writing for a healthcare publications...

your thoughts will be appreciated.
many thanks...

 

[ilovecollege]

Healthcare consulting is a great field. I have one brother who currently works in the field as a drug pipeline analyst at Merck and another who works as a consultant at McKinsey. My first brother's experience was very similar to yours - working at UCSF in clinical research and then going to Tulane for his MS in Infectious Diseases. My oldest brother got into healthcare consulting when he worked for Accenture. It was quite a change for him since he had done nothing but finance at Berkeley. He always says how McKinsey is quite demanding and strenuous but the company is an excellent place to work. Maybe you can consider continuing your work for a few more years and then applying for some type of MBA with an emphasis in Healthcare management. McKinsey seems to like graduates of Wharton's program (obviously) as they are well prepared for the h.c. consulting field.

 

[DrJosephKim]

To consult for major firms, your changes are the best if you graduate from a top-tier MBA program. Even then, you have to really stand out to get recognized. With today's economy, consulting jobs are becoming more difficult to obtain.

On the other hand, public health jobs will grow as Obama pushes for some significant healthcare reform.

 

[nontrdgsbuiucmd]

From what I've seen, consulting firms, at least the top ones, are either looking for really bright new MBAs as mentioned above, or people with pretty deep functional experience. I've seen McK's ads for, say, financial services people with 5+ yrs financial services fortune 500 experience. A peer was recruited directly from my Bschool into healthcare consulting; he did not have healthcare experience. Check out McKinsey's web site & try the "practice case" if you want to get a feel for what they're looking for in general. How many ping-pong balls fit into a 747? (example of a question consulting applicants are asked to see how they think and figure stuff out)

I think this is true for all the big ones - definitely true of McKinsey -- you may be traveling 3 1/2+ days per week, indefinitely. Nice hotel rooms, but they're still just hotel rooms. There is no track that has you tied to one city, although it may be more "likely" that you'll stay near your home if you're in a major city.

 

[IveyGirl]

Sometimes it doesn't have to be a MBA program, just a top-tier business school (i.e. undergrad counts too). I'm currently doing a double degree program (honors business admin + honors specialization in med sci) and a lot of my B school classmates have gotten jobs at top firms like McK, Bain and BCG.

Just a bit of perspective. However, they do really value a diverse range of knowledge and experiences too. It won't hurt to apply - provided you pass the interesting series of tests that comprise their interview process, you'd be set to go. One of my personal favorite consulting firms would be Monitor Group. They're closely affiliated with harvard and place an emphasis on academic consulting. I met one of their consultants last year who had an undergraduate degree in Neuroscience from the university of Toronto. Like I said, they're looking for people who can think, it doesn't REALLY matter what degree you have, but of course, business school + something that makes you special would be preferable.

Good luck!

 

[balladevil]

I would definitely say that getting an MBA from a top-tier school is not required (but go for the combination if you think it will help develop your skill set)... if you are interested in only getting one degree and still hope to make consulting your career, you will come off better as having a healthcare-related degree from a top school versus an MBA from a top school (they will be more likely to staff you on healthcare projects as well). I qualify that by saying that I am an MD/MBA myself but I truly feel I got my job in consulting from my medical background versus my MBA. In firms like McK, Bain, BCG, top tier B-school grads are a dime a dozen (and thus it's tougher to stand out from the crowd) and top tier non-MBA professional degrees are not as common and come off as different/interesting during the interview process. In the near future, with healthcare being one of the lead markets for consulting firms, there will be a need for those with background and knowledge of healthcare. So IMHO, an MPH or MHA would speak directly to your interest in healthcare and would be just as useful to getting into consulting firms if you are thinking of only getting one advance degree.

Aside: Another firm to think about is LEK Consulting ( I have seen the name pop up recently in consulting circles that hire life science specialists).

 

[Glentui]

I worked for several years in BCG's health practice group in Europe. My background is in law - BCG wants generalists, and it couldn't care less what you studied.

My advice is to study whatever will get you the grades you need to get a BCG interview. Good luck!