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I am a proud MBA alumnus of Frankfurt School – I graduated from the International Healthcare Management MBA in 2013. I am a doctor, specifically, I am an interventional radiologist based here in Frankfurt. What exactly does that mean you might ask, and why do I need an MBA? I spend the majority of my days seeing and treating patients with heart disease, diabetes, and other vascular conditions using minimally invasive surgery.
So why did I choose an MBA, as an already established Healthcare professional? The answer was simple – I chose to do my MBA to give me the financial skills and strategic management mindset I needed to complement my clinical skills. Reflections on the benefits that I gained from my MBA, and from studying at Frankfurt School.
When I began my MBA I was a Radiologist working outside of Frankfurt in the town of Offenbach. During my MBA studies, I already received a promotion to a position as Senior Physician at the Sana Klinikum in Offenbach in the practice of interventional angiology. In 2017 I progressed to become Head of the Department of Interventional Radiology at the Sachsenhausen Hospital in Frankfurt. Without the skills I learned during my MBA, I could not have developed a business plan to guide the opening and most importantly the successful running of my private practice. I also use these business skills to manage my hospital department.
Practicing medicine is about being clinically excellent, but to make your business successful you also need to clearly understand the business environment – where will my patients come from? Will I have enough patients? How can I motivate my staff and retain them? And of course, how can I make the business more profitable. The key highlight of my MBA programme:
Innovation is necessary for any industry to progress. Many of the procedures that I previously used, involved using anesthetic to operate, significant recovery time and lengthy hospital stays. Now I can operate on a patient in my vascular center and they are out of the hospital, on average within 4 days. Opening your mind to innovation was one thing that the MBA sparked within me – while many of my medical school colleagues may not have been willing to even look at a new method of doing surgery, especially when it comes with the high cost of investing in the necessary machinery, I could see the benefits and weigh out the risks. Not only could I see the potential rewards for patients and my hospital with the new equipment, I knew how to sell the Return on Investment to my senior leadership in a solid business case.
We hosted the MBA class last year for a site visit and executive talk with our CEO and will do so again this year. For me, inviting the MBA class to my hospital is an example of how I, as an alum, can continue to collaborate with the Frankfurt School. While an MBA is very much about the desire to achieve personal success, I would encourage each of you to think about how you can contribute to the success of your colleagues, of your MBA programme, and Frankfurt School. It is through this community we all grow and develop and become enriched.
Make the most of your time in the MBA. You will make new friends, establish new connections and I hope that you give yourself the chance in this environment to push your limits and your mindset.
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