Elisa Dannemiller

I chose to obtain my MBA and my MD to be able to contribute to the healthcare industry by treating one patient at a time while also developing the skill set to affect the healthcare system as a whole. I chose HBS because I believed the diversity of the student body and the case method would challenge me to learn about healthcare from a different perspective. In medical school, I was surrounded by clinicians, but I wanted to learn from others with different backgrounds and industry experiences and apply the knowledge to healthcare. At HBS, I was able to focus on healthcare, not only by taking the healthcare course electives, but also by applying what I learned in other courses to the healthcare industry. Several of my classes required a final project or paper which I focused on a company or organization within the healthcare industry. For example, I applied my learnings from my Entrepreneurial Marketing class to advise a private company in the healthcare delivery sector. I also compared the operations of Doctors Without Borders to those of the International Committee of the Red Cross for my Operations Strategy paper. Additionally, I completed a year long field study in healthcare and volunteered for a consulting project for Children's Hospital. Before I came to Harvard Business School, I envisioned multiple possible career paths and planned on choosing one before graduating. Now I am presented with more career choices than I had ever imagined and I am still not exactly sure how my career path will unfold. While I ultimately plan to be more involved with the business side of medicine, I will pursue a residency in Emergency Medicine after HBS and will make clinical medicine an important part of my career.