Highlights of My Tuck MBA Experience
WHAT MOTIVATED YOU TO PURSUE AN MBA AT THIS POINT IN YOUR CAREER?
My early experiences in medicine made it clear that many of the challenges we face aren’t purely clinical but are rooted in how care is organized, financed, and delivered. Through my clinical training and exposure to system-level issues in various hospitals, I kept coming back to the same realization: better outcomes require better systems. Just as importantly, they require strong cultures—ones that empower people to speak up, collaborate, and take ownership of improvement.
Pursuing an MBA alongside medical school was a way to engage with those problems more deliberately. I didn’t want to just notice inefficiencies at the bedside; I wanted to understand how to actually fix them. The MBA gave me the tools to think more structurally about health care, while reinforcing that meaningful change depends not only on better systems, but on empowering the people within them to lead and sustain that change.
WHY DID YOU CHOOSE THE TUCK MBA AT DARTMOUTH?
Tuck stood out to me for both its people and the kind of learning environment it creates. As a medical student considering an MBA, I was looking for a place where collaboration between medicine and business wasn’t just theoretical but actually happening in the classroom. My early experience taking a Tuck course alongside MBA and The Dartmouth Institute students really changed my perception of business school. It was challenging, but also supportive, and I always felt like my perspective mattered.
At the same time, the culture felt distinctly different: genuine, close-knit, and deeply invested in individual growth. The combination of intellectual rigor and community made it clear this was a place where I would grow, be challenged, and actually enjoy the process.
HOW ARE YOU PLANNING TO USE YOUR MBA AFTER GRADUATION?
As I begin anesthesiology residency at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (Harvard), I plan to bring a more systems-oriented lens to my clinical work, particularly in perioperative operations, efficiency, and care delivery models. I’m interested in how small changes in workflow or structure can meaningfully impact both patient outcomes and team dynamics.
Long term, I hope to build a career in academic anesthesiology that integrates clinical practice with leadership in innovation and education. I’m especially interested in sustainable anesthesia and rethinking how perioperative care is delivered at scale. The MBA has given me a structured way to approach these challenges—not just as ideas, but as things that can actually be implemented. Health care, now more than ever, needs physicians to be leaders.
HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THE ACADEMIC EXPERIENCE AT TUCK?
The academic experience at Tuck is rigorous and practical, but what stood out most to me is how consistently it centers on leadership and decision-making. In Strategy with Professor Ramon Lecuona Torras, I was introduced to concepts like complements, network effects, and competitive positioning through companies like Apple and Patagonia. What stuck with me was how intentional strong leaders are in building systems. It pushed me to think about how those same ideas apply to health care, especially in designing better perioperative systems.
In Strategy and Management of Health Care Organizations, that thinking became more grounded in real patient care. A case on a preventable death at Boston Children’s Hospital, along with hearing directly from the patient’s father, made it clear how failures in culture and communication can have real consequences. It reinforced that culture is something leaders actively shape and that it directly impacts outcomes.
Together, these experiences reshaped how I think about leadership, both in designing systems and in building cultures that support safe, high-quality care.
WHAT MAKES THE TUCK COMMUNITY DISTINCT FROM OTHER MBA PROGRAMS?
What makes Tuck distinct is how consistently people show up for each other. It is not just about academics or recruiting—it is how people support one another through everything, especially during difficult moments or major life events. That kind of support is not occasional, it is part of the culture.
Whether it is preparing for interviews, working through a challenging class, or navigating something personal, there is a real sense that you are not going through it alone. People check in, follow up, and make the time. It is not performative—it is genuine. That extends beyond classmates to faculty, staff, and the broader community. It creates an environment where you feel supported as a student, but more importantly, as a person. Shout out to Millie and the Byrne Staff!
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO PROSPECTIVE MBA STUDENTS CONSIDERING TUCK?
Be intentional about how you spend your time at Tuck. There is a huge amount of opportunity, but what you take away from it depends on how willing you are to lean in and be present. At the same time, try not to come in with too rigid of a plan. Some of the most meaningful experiences come from things you did not expect.
Trust that you belong in every room you walk into. There will be moments of doubt, but the values that got you here—integrity, curiosity, a sense of community—will carry you through. Lean into the people who challenge you, the work that excites you, and the discomfort that signals growth.
Most importantly, prioritize the people around you. Take the time to get to know your classmates beyond the surface and be someone others can rely on. Those relationships end up shaping your experience in ways that classes and recruiting alone cannot, and they are a big part of what makes Tuck what it is.
IN ONE SENTENCE, HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THE TUCK MBA EXPERIENCE TO SOMEONE CONSIDERING BUSINESS SCHOOL?
Tuck is a place where you learn to think strategically, lead deliberately, and approach complex problems with both rigor and perspective.
