MBA

Academics

Antonio Perez

As part of his summer management internship at Massachusetts General Hospital, Antonio Perez worked on an academic paper about the coordination of the MGH Vascular Center, the only center of its kind that integrates seven different specialty areas. "The challenge from a management perspective," says Antonio, "was bringing different specialists, with dramatically different working styles, into one place where they could perform effectively." In many institutions, departments spar over which specialty can "own" a given clinical area. "Rather than argue over who owns what," Antonio says, "the hospital determined responsibility not by specialty, but by individual expertise and experience."

Responding to a demand for business leadership

Antonio's experiences at MGH under the guidance of hospital president Peter Slavin, MD/MBA, reinforced his conviction that the future of medicine demands a management expertise that complements clinical responsibilities. "Medicine is an interdependent profession," Antonio says. "There are very few patients today who aren't managed by multiple professionals. Quality care requires appropriate coordination."

The necessary coordination transcends the immediate medical setting to include system-wide developments in treatments, insurance, and care delivery. "Consider knee replacement," Antonio says. "These devices wouldn't exist without a strong medical device industry in intimate contact with physician researchers." The joint MD/MBA, Antonio believes, is designed for the future collaborations that will make medicine work more effectively. "This is a place where we can get perspectives from leaders in numerous fields. We need to know: How does pharma work? How does insurance work? Physicians can no longer say that it's someone else's job to think about costs. There are too many changes, too many advances for a nonmedical person to make important decisions. Doctors need to be comfortable delivering medical care and managing health care as a whole. A dual perspective is essential. We need physicians who can serve as leaders in the business and management side of healthcare."

Preparing for service

One of things that Antonio appreciates about HBS is that "the faculty are dedicated to teaching. Their goal is to create the best experience for students." The culture of service permeates the campus. "Students here aren't motivated by personal success alone, but also by causes and issues," Antonio says. That attitude is reflected in his own ambitions. "I want to be part of a system where I can have a direct, day-to-day impact on lives. Ultimately, I'd like to serve as president of a hospital or medical system where research is conducted and where we're open to radical process redesign."