The Cornell Executive MBA/MS in Healthcare Leadership program partnered with WittKieffer to host “The Physician Leadership Journey: An EMBA/MS Alumni Panel,” during which former EMBA/MS students shared how the program advanced their careers. The panel was moderated by Dr. Michael Anderson, a principal in WittKieffer’s Academic Medicine Practice and co-executive director of WittKieffer’s Physician Leadership Institute.
The four panelists were Dr. Peter Armanious, MBA/MS ’23, chairman of anesthesia at Catholic Health, Dr. Brenna Farmer, MBA/MS ’19, chief of emergency medicine at NewYork-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital, Dr. Lisa Moreno, MBA/MS ’22, senior medical director at the Centene Corporation, and Dr. Ella Nnadili-Okonkwo, MBA/MS ‘24, senior director and global safety program lead of therapeutics and oncology at Moderna.
Given that each alum began their careers in the clinical space, they were drawn to the program because they wanted to develop their business expertise and leadership skills, especially at the enterprise level. “A physician’s outlook on health care, especially during these changing times, is so important,” said Dr. Moreno. “When you don’t have that insight as a leader, the decisions that are made may come from a different landscape. It’s important that we provide as much information as we can to guide others.”
Dr. Anderson posed questions about managing complex schedules while in the program, as classes are held every other weekend, and students work full-time for the duration of the program. The alumni agreed that time management is essential, but more importantly, that the program was a salient investment of their time.
“There were classes like health care negotiations that I could immediately implement skills from,” said Dr. Nnadili-Okonkwo. “When I was negotiating for my new role, I was leveraging the benefits of that class in real time. I also had a coach within the program who I could meet with whenever I needed support.”
Each of the alumni experienced transitions in their roles and credits the program with making them more adaptable in new environments. They further stressed that the community they built, whether with coaches or among their cohorts, has become a meaningful part of their lives since graduating. "My class has a group of us that meets at least quarterly,” said Dr. Farmer. “We reach out to talk about issues at work, life changes, or just to catch up. They help me be resilient because they understand the leadership obstacles I might face.”
Asked further about resilience, the alumni expressed that challenges, such as those they experienced as they navigated the program, were essential to their growth. Recalling the most important leadership advice he received in the program, Dr. Armanious said, “In order to create change, you have to create dissatisfaction with the status quo.”
Interested in being a part of the dialogue? Prospective students can learn more about the benefits of the program by attending one of our upcoming events with faculty, staff, alumni, and current students.
The Cornell Executive MBA/MS in Healthcare Leadership Program is a dual-degree program created by two powerhouses in graduate education—the Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management and the Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences— delivering both an MBA and an MS in Healthcare Leadership in an NYC-based weekend format. Learn more about the program here.
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