From left: Dr. Joseph Habboushe (M.D. ’06), Dr. Rahul Sharma and Dr. Jean Scofi
Nine Weill Cornell Medicine alumni with key health-care leadership roles served as mentors this spring in Weill Cornell Medical College’s inaugural Healthcare Leadership and Management (HLM) elective.
The innovative course, co-directed by Dr. Joseph Habboushe (M.D. ’06), provided students with a broad awareness of how medicine intersects with leadership in various health-care business fields not covered by the typical medical school curriculum.
This two-week elective is based on the HLM Scholars Program, which was conceived and launched in 2016 by Dr. Rahul Sharma, professor and chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine. That eight-week course provides three to six students with health-care leadership education through lectures on basic business concepts, such as hospital administration, finance, clinical quality, patient safety, policy making and clinical operations management. The HLM Scholars also shadow physicians on clinical rotations, engage in and present independent research projects and participate in journal clubs. More than 30 students have completed the program, and several have gone on to earn MBAs.
“It’s always meaningful to mentor Weill Cornell Medicine students, as I can remember when I was in their shoes and so appreciated the guidance and knowledge of our physician advisors.”—Dr. Edwin Su (M.D. ’97), professor of clinical orthopaedic surgery, Weill Cornell Medicine
“We identified a need for a more concise elective course that would expose students to leaders in non-clinical medical fields and allow them to develop business leadership skills,” said Dr. Sharma, who is also founder and executive director of the Center for Virtual Care at Weill Cornell Medicine, emergency physician-in-chief at NewYork-Presbyterian, and chief and medical director for the NewYork-Presbyterian Emergency Medical Services enterprise. “We believe this capstone elective provides students with distinct advantages.”
Ten medical students took the elective for course credit, including two from Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar and two from other U.S. medical schools. An additional eight students audited the course.
“This course completely changed my perception of what it means to be a health-care leader working in industry and opened my eyes to the possibilities that lie ahead,” said Dr. Jacqueline Tran (M.D. ’23), who begins residency training at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center this summer. “While my current focus is on residency, and I intend to keep emergency medicine at the center of my career, I’m also open to other opportunities to use and expand upon my skills as a physician beyond clinical care.”
“Most medical schools focus on hospital administration as the main, non-clinical career path after earning a medical degree. Instead, we took a broader view and included exposure to diverse verticals within the health-care sector, including the pharmaceutical industry, health IT, venture capital and health-care policy,” said Dr. Habboushe, clinical assistant professor of emergency medicine, immediate past president of the Alumni Association, and cofounder and CEO of MDCalc, a medical reference for clinical decision-making. “Students who may not be interested in pursuing leadership and management roles in the future also benefited from learning how different areas within the health-care sector interrelate and affect patient care.”
In a series of in-person lectures, 20 mentors shared how their medical training intersected with their chosen career paths. Many mentors were alumni, selected for their unique expertise, including Dr. Shantanu Agrawal (M.D. ‘03), chief health officer at Elevance Health; Dr. Tara Bishop (M.D. ‘02), founder of Black Opal Ventures; and Dr. Anthony Rossi (M.D. ‘08), a dermatologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and founder of his own line of skin care products. Each mentor met with two students for an hour, providing them with an opportunity to ask questions and receive feedback.
“This elective provides a lens into the many different careers that can evolve after medical school, and encourages interaction between alumni and students, which is always good.” – Dr. Drew Schiff (M.D. ‘90), managing partner, Aisling Capital
“We intentionally used a variety of curriculum formats to engage students, including putting them in the shoes of leaders to come up with proactive, creative solutions to problems,” said course co-director Dr. Jean Scofi, assistant professor of clinical emergency medicine, director of informatics and analytics, and director of the HLM Fellowship in Administration for the Department of Emergency Medicine. For example, Dr. Scofi led the “ED Operations Hackathon,” in which students analyzed patient flow data and proposed solutions to overcome bottlenecks.
Field trips provided additional experiential learning. Students visited an investment bank that conducts research into pharmaceutical and biotechnology firms, and learned how analysts prepare market reports based on the latest clinical trial results. They also visited a generic drug manufacturer, where they observed how a medication is made.
“As someone hoping to become a physician leader down the road, hearing about the opportunities, trade-offs and decisions that led each speaker to their current role was invaluable,” said Dr. Daniel Restifo (M.D. ’23), who begins a residency in internal medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital this summer. “Mentorship by alumni highlighted that even after we leave Weill Cornell Medicine, we are still members of a supportive community.”