REGISTER for the Event- lifesc@indiana.edu
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The “all hands on deck” responses to the COVID-19 pandemic have driven significant innovations in areas ranging from vaccine development and drug repurposing to diagnostic and antibody testing, telemedicine and contact tracing. At the same time, the pandemic has also prompted a relook at things like global supply chains, PPE strategic reserves and just in time inventories.
While the pandemic is not yet over, progress has been made in research, vaccinations, therapies and more at a rapid pace. Now is a good time to think about what has went well and what can be done in the future.
Speakers and panelists representing government, pharma, device, providers and payers will discuss preparations for future pandemics as well as the effects on current healthcare.
9:15 – 9:30am | Welcome and Introduction Dan Peterson, Vice President, Industry & Government Affairs, Cook Group |
9:30 – 10:15am | Keynote Lindsay Weaver, MD, FACEP, Chief Medical Officer, Indiana State Department of Health |
10:15 – 10:30am | Break |
10:30am – 12:00 pm | Panel – Five Things Going Forward Moderator: Neal Roach, Technology Industry Chair, Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP Chris Otto, Senior Director, Clinical Laboratory Sciences, Eli Lilly & Company Erica Anderson, Population Health Strategy Lead, Office of Population Health, Humana Denis Johnson, Vice President and General Manager, Catalent Pharma Solutions Chris Kiple, CEO, Ventec Life Systems Rusty Ring, Vice President Government Affairs, Roche Diagnostics |
12:00 – 12:05 pm | Wrap-up and Transition to Breakouts George Telthorst, Director, Center for the Business of Life Sciences, IU-Kelley School of Business |
12:05 – 12:15 pm | Break |
12:15 – 1:00 pm | Breakout Session(s) Over Lunch with the morning speakers |
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Research Summary by
Dan Sacks, Assistant Professor, Business Economics & Public Policy & Life Sciences Research Faculty Fellow, Kelley School of Business, Indiana University
How many people are currently infected with the virus that causes COVID-19? Information about current COVID-19 prevalence is critical for governments faced with decisions about gathering restrictions and school closures, for businesses deciding on staffing and safety precautions, and for individuals weighing how much to social distance. Unfortunately, even now – a full year since the start of the pandemic — we still do not have a clear sense of the current prevalence of COVID-19 in the general population in most parts of the country. The problem is that only a small fraction of the population is tested for COVID-19 on any given day. And the people who are tested tend to be either showing symptoms of COVID-19 or have had an encounter with another infected person. People who have mild or asymptomatic cases of COVID-19 are less likely to be tested but are still able to spread the disease. This selection bias in testing means that the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases reported on the dashboards maintained by state governments and newspapers likely substantially undercounts the true number of cases. Likewise, common metrics like the test positivity rate are probably overestimating the true prevalence of the disease.
In the face of these data limitations, the best we can do is place plausible lower and upper bounds on true prevalence. For example, in the first week of December, 2020, 0.5 percent of the population of Indiana tested positive for COVID, and 21 percent of the people tested were positive. This means we can be confident that COVID prevalence was between 0.5 and 21 percent. But that bound is very wide, making it hard to judge the severity of the epidemic in December and the risks associated with different activities.
In this research project, we investigated ways to tighten the bound COVID-19 prevalence by studying people who had been hospitalized. We focused on people hospitalized for non-COVID illnesses, such as pregnancy, cancer care, or car accidents. These non-COVID hospital patients are not at elevated risk of being infected with COVID-19. But because they are in the hospital, they are tested for COVID-19 at very high rates, 25 to 50 times as high as the general population. As a result, we obtain much tighter bounds on COVID prevalence for this group. For example, in the first week of December, 2020, COVID-19 prevalence was between 2.4 and 4.8 percent among people hospitalized for non-COVID reasons. Using non-COVID hospitalizations to measure population-wide COVID-19 prevalence is surely imperfect. The hospitalized population is not representative of the general population. It is older, for example, and it may be sicker or more susceptible for disease.
Despite these imperfections, we believe our approach is useful and feasible for states and health systems looking to measure COVID-19 prevalence. It is useful because even if the hospitalized population is non-representative, we can still learn something about COVID-19 prevalence. For example, if we think COVID-19 prevalence is higher in the hospitalized population, then the upper bound on COVID prevalence in the hospitalized population (4.8 percent in our example) is an upper bound for population prevalence, which could be as high as 21 percent without the hospital data. The approach is feasible because states already collect and report information on COVID testing and prevalence in the general population, and they report COVID-19 hospitalization rates. To report our prevalence bounds, states would only have to report COVID test and prevalence rates for a subset of hospitalizations, ones with diagnoses for non-COVID conditions.
This summary is based on the research paper ‘What can we learn about SARS-CoV-2 prevalence from testing and hospital data?’ The paper may be read here co-authored by Coady Wing, Associate Professor, Indiana University O’Neill School of Public Health; Nir Menachemi, Fairbanks Endowed Chair & Chair-Health Policy and Management department, Indiana University Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health; and Peter Embí, President & CEO, Regenstrief Institute, Inc.
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Summaries by Mitchell McBrairty
MBA Candidate, Class of ’21
On Friday, February 19th the Kelley Center for the Business of Life Sciences hosted its Indiana Life Sciences Collaboration conference focused on the advances in mental & behavioral health. Special thank you to series sponsors: Anthem, Covance & Reckitt Benckiser and Primary Sponsors: Baxter, Boston Scientific, Fort Wayne Metals, Ice Miller LLP and Eli Lilly and Company for helping to support this event.
Links to presentations and a short synopsis of the topics covered is presented below:
View Keynote- On the Cutting Edge of Brain Research
William Hetrick, PhD, Professor & Chair, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University
The conference started with a masterful keynote from Will Hetrick, Professor & Chair of Psychological and Brain Sciences at Indiana University. He shared the current state-of-the-art research at IU that is making huge advancements in our understanding of the human brain. This included new studies that show a mechanistic understanding of brain development, revealing an enzyme in the brain responsible for neural migration that is disrupted during Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. He showed the advancements in the experiments that can be used to probe for scientific evidence, including a novel rat model of episodic memory and new imaging techniques to uncover the different structures of neural connectivity. I was especially fascinated by the data showing that brain function is distributed, and that the model of mental processes belonging to specific brain regions has been replaced by “fingerprints” of different neural network connections. The next topic of research that showed a healthy social network can reduce the onset of Alzheimer’s and how we can complement the gold standard of clinical trials with real world evidence studies. All of these research programs are advancing our understanding of brain function and uncover truths that will eventually lead to new therapeutic interventions.
View Panel – The Latest Treatments and What’s Next
Jennifer Kowalski, Vice President, Public Policy Institute, Anthem; Rob Conley, MD, Chief Science Officer, Neuroscience Development, Eli Lilly and Company; Alison Darcy, PhD, Founder & President, Woebot Health; Melanie Gareau, PhD, Associate Professor, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis;Trisha Palencer, LCSW, LCAC, TTS Director, Addiction Treatment and Recovery Center, IU Health West Hospital
After the morning keynote, which took a deep dive into the basic research at IU into brain health, a panel of speakers showed us how this research can translate into therapies to help patients suffering from behavior or mental health crises. It was interesting to see the how many different ways technology can be applied. These included:
These are all incredible new applications of our latest understanding in brain research and are creating solutions for diseases that have historically had relatively poor treatment options.
View Fireside Chat – The Effects of the Covid Pandemic
Kevin Woodhouse, Partner, Ice Miller LLP; Susan Coakley, JD, MPH, Interim President, Beacon Health Options; Geoffrey Fortner, MD, Physician Executive, Community Fairbanks Behavioral Health, Community Health Network; Jay Chaudhary, JD, Director, Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Indiana Family and Social Services Administration
In the final session of the conference, a fireside chat discussed how Covid-19 has affected how we deliver mental health treatment services. More specifically, they described the pandemic as an accelerant. This means that services such as telehealth which were in their infancy have exploded in popularity out of pure necessity, and therefore we have traversed the learning curve much faster than what would have occurred normally. This discussion also aimed to understand how we can make sure that these events do not also accelerate social inequalities due to the lack of access to information, technology, and changing healthcare services.
Other difficulties in a socially distant world include the effects of isolation, blurring lines between work and personal life, and the toll it has taken on the social development of children. We are incredibly lucky to have a wide range of professionals who have made it their mission to improve our mental health in this tough situation.
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Interview by Mitchell McBrairty
MBA Candidate, Class of 2021
I had the wonderful opportunity to grab a virtual coffee with Aish Thamba, a recent graduate of the master’s in healthcare management program (MSHM) at O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs and Kelley School of Business. She has now added the white coat and is currently a first-year medical student at the Indiana University School of Medicine. I wanted to understand how the MSHM program added a unique skill set that will help her achieve her goal of becoming a well-rounded physician.
Aish explained why she chose the program, “I had a lot of unanswered questions when I went through the process of helping a family member navigate the complexities of the healthcare system. I wanted to understand exactly how all of the moving parts fit together and how we can make it more efficient. This program helped me develop new ways of thinking with the broader context in mind that will prevent me from developing tunnel vision.”
I first met Aish working together on a consulting project for a CBLS course that embodies this mindset. She is very sharp and always brings infectious energy, but more importantly, she embraced the opportunity to learn from the diverse group that filled the classroom. “I enjoyed learning from classmates that have different perspectives. It showed me how experts in different fields approach problems and gave real examples of impactful solutions to problems in the healthcare system,” she notes. The course also had such a wide variety of different speakers in the class that came from different areas of the industry. These conversations enlightened us to interesting career paths that we never realized existed and put context to how these different workstreams contribute to the system as a whole.
She carried this experience into the practicum in healthcare management, an experiential learning opportunity within the MSHM program. Aish was placed in a project management position at the behavior health outpatient center at IU health. This project required her to incorporate lean methodologies to reduce waste in the healthcare system and work with a variety of stakeholders that had different interests. They often asked for her input during important meetings, which also allowed her the chance to speak impromptu and improve her communication skills.
A moment that will forever stick with her is the time she observed the process for how instruments are sterilized before surgery. “It is complicated. Everything had to be done in a precise manner all the way down to getting the right color tags on each specific instrument. This is a process that may be overlooked by the casual observer but is extremely important because it is directly related to health outcomes by preventing infections during surgery. One thing I learned from this is that process control is just as much about people as it is about specific tasks”. I absolutely love that last line and it underscores the development in her thought processes that she experienced during the MSHM program.
After going through the MSHM program, I asked Aish what advice she would give to current or future students that are following in her footsteps. She quoted Miss Frizzle from the cartoon The Magic School Bus, “take chances, make mistakes”. There are plenty of opportunities to get outside of your comfort zone and meet people you normally wouldn’t interact with, and these experiences will develop into engines for personal growth. This is how you take full advantage of getting your MS in Healthcare Management!
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According to the CDC, over 56 million physician visits were attributed to mental, behavioral or neurodevelopmental disorders as a primary diagnosis.
Mental & behavioral health has become even more of a concern during the COVID-19 pandemic. With this, there has been much discussion & discovery in education, treatments, technology and therapies.
The Center for the Business of Life Sciences at the IU, Kelley School of Business would like to invite you to be a part of this important discussion that impacts so many Americans.
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Keynote- On the Cutting Edge of Brain Research William Hetrick, PhD., Professor & Chair, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University |
Panel – The Latest Approaches & What’s Next Moderator: Jennifer Kowalski, Vice President, Public Policy Institute, AnthemRob Conley, Chief Science Officer, Neuroscience Development, Eli Lilly and Company Monique Levy, Chief Commercial & Strategy Officer, Woebot Health Minhthy Nguyen, Senior Vice President, Research and Development, Evolve Biosystems Trisha Palencer, Director, Addiction Treatment and Recovery Center, IU Health West Hospital |
Breakout Sessions Over Lunch (with morning presenters) |
Fireside Chat – The Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic Moderator: Kevin Woodhouse, Partner, Ice Miller LLPSusan Coakley, Interim President, Beacon Health Options Geoffrey Fortner, MD, Physician Executive, Community Fairbanks Behavioral Health, Community Health Network Jay Chaudhary, Director, Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Indiana Family and Social Services Administration |
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Summaries by Carson Baker
Undergraduate Major in Biotechnology
To view recorded files, click on the presentation title.
Keynote Presentation – House Calls: from Buggies to Bandwidth at the Dawn of Telemedicine
Dr. Bill Hanson, Chief Medical Information Officer at Penn Medicine, University of Pennsylvania Health System, and Professor, Anesthesiology and Critical Care, University of Pennsylvania
In his presentation, Dr. Hanson gave a brief history of telemedicine to begin the discussion. He touched on the first methods of telemedicine and how they advanced from the use of the telegraph to order medical supplies in the 1860’s to the use of carrier pigeons to transport medical specimens in the 1970’s.
He then spoke more about what telehealth is exactly and the different modalities that are involved. These modalities include live or synchronous telehealth, store and forward or asynchronous telehealth, remote patient monitoring, and mHealth. All of these modalities require zero patient and practitioner contact by using telecommunications or the transmission of patient data via a secure channel, such as EPIC, to the practitioner. He also mentioned the numerous apps that are available for patients to use such as pregnancy related apps and even breast cancer apps.
Dr. Hanson then explained how he and his team have evolved telehealth at Penn Medicine since 2006. Having many different programs, such as the Center for Connected Care and the Network Telemedicine, Hanson was able to create the largest program in the nation of telemedicine. Another program, the Virtual Urgent Care program “ONDEMAND” helped Penn Medicine to cut down on unnecessary urgent care visits for its staff, so the program was then extended to patients.
With regard to COVID-19, Penn Medicine really ramped up their telemedicine programs in order to prevent the spread of the virus. Within one week of the virus in the U.S., the number of telemedicine visits at Penn went from 300 to a little over 15,000 visits. This being quite remarkable since the majority of the country was scrambling to figure out solutions for medical visits.
To finish up his discussion on how telemedicine has evolved and what it is doing currently in the wake of COVID-19, Dr. Hanson explained how Penn was ready to dispatch its telemedicine efforts at the onslaught of the pandemic. Now, he says, telemedicine is gearing up for the “new normal” of the future.
Panel- Has Telemedicine Finally Come into Its Own?
Moderator: Stephanie Grinage, Vice President for Advancement, Indiana Biosciences Research Institute
Panel Members:
Kris Kinghorn led off the panel, giving a brief introduction to telemedicine and virtual healthcare speaking on key points such as the convenience of both services and time reduction between patients and physicians. Although there were new-found pros that came along with telemedicine, a couple of cons followed along. Kris mentioned how some healthcare providers were let go, including nurses and medical assistants, due to the lack of a need for their positions.
The second panelist speaker, Chris McCann who is also the founder of Current Health, spoke about how they strive to obtain as much data about the patient as possible. Current Health does this by continuously monitoring patient’s vitals via SMS-based monitoring. They also use clinical algorithms to identify any risks to the patients, and then patients can meet with physicians virtually in order to be treated. All of these services combined through Current Health, physicians are encouraged to step in because of the efficiency of Current Health.
Dr. Stephen Friedhoff, from Anthem Diversified Business Group, spoke thirdly regarding the payer perspective of telemedicine. According to Anthem’s claims data, telemedicine increased with them about 60%. He spoke about how behavioral health was one of the groups that increased the most since COVID-19. Dr. Friedhoff touched on how simplicity was key for
the current evolution of telehealth since patients and physicians were tired of downloading apps and remembering passwords. With his perspective of providers, Stephen mentioned that telehealth was in fact reimbursed although it was not utilized much before COVID-19.
The final panelist was Dr. Jennifer Sullivan who is the secretary of the Indiana Family & Social Services Association or the IFSSA. IFSSA works mostly with patients who use Medicaid and use social drivers of health to help determine the optimal treatment for those patients. Dr. Sullivan gave an example of a young woman who had a scheduled mental health visit that was in-person, but her car would not start. This prompted Dr. Sullivan transferred the patient into a telehealth visit instead so that she could focus on her mental health and then worry about her car trouble. She explained that this was just one example of how IFSSA has been flexible in order to meet patients’ needs. However, the amount of patients who still have no access to proper bandwidth and devices for telehealth is fairly high for these low-income individuals which is one problem that IFSSA faces with this dawn of telemedicine.
Keynote- Sponsor Oversight of Decentralized Clinical Trials
Eric Pittman from the US FDA was the keynote speaker for this discussion and gave a brief overview of his role at the FDA and how this has changed with the structure of virtual clinical trials.
He mentioned that regulations, for the most part, remain the same with decentralized clinical trials. The quality and integrity of the data are still the focus of clinical trials no matter if it is performed in-person or via a telehealth visit.
Pittman stated that decentralized clinical trials are heavily involved with mobile technologies such as cell phones, smart watches, mobile healthcare providers, and telemedicine of course. He also mentioned briefly how virtual trials are performed on models and decentralized trials refer to clinical trials which use digital technologies.
Decentralized clinical trials also involve different ways of making sure the subjects receive the products that are used for the trial and how they consent to being in the trial, but the overall outcome of obtaining data remains static throughout this process. Local healthcare providers may be used for exams and collection of samples. Electronic informed consent and electronic clinical outcome assessments are performed instead of forcing the patient to travel to the laboratory. Shipping the investigational product, or the IP, to the patient directly or intermediary is also needed for decentralized clinical trials.
Eric touched on the benefits of decentralized clinical trials such as efficiency at a lower cost, the diversity of subjects, more frequent or even continuous measurement, and more advantages in geographically dispersed subjects. The challenges of decentralized clinical trials, however, go hand-in-hand with these types of trials. The common problem of internet
infrastructure and limited experience with this type of approach are a couple of the challenges that the FDA has to deal with in order to complete trials that are decentralized.
So, along with these challenges, there is a clear need for innovation of the methods for decentralized clinical trials. Eric stated that these include technical support, security of smart tools, the flow, access, and control of data, and regional and legal differences in telehealth.
Lastly, Eric gave a brief overview of guidance that the FDA is sponsoring for decentralized clinical trials which includes remote monitoring. He mentioned how this involves monitoring data early and often and how communication across sites needs to be done effectively.
All in all, decentralized clinical trials are a current method of receiving data for the trials while also maintaining COVID-19 protocols of staying at home and social distancing. This new era for clinical trials and the FDA still needs some fine tuning, but with time and effort, can be accomplished.
Fireside Chat – Virtually Transforming Medicine
Moderator: JJ Spegele, Vice President, CLS Business Systems and EPMO, Covance Central Laboratory Services
Nicole Sheetz, from Eli Lilly and Company, was the first panelist to give her insight into decentralized trials and how Lilly have improved their efforts into this realm of clinical trials. She mentioned how COVID-19 has certainly amped up these efforts due to the immediate need for some form of virtual clinical trial. Some of the first couple of issues that Lilly had to overcome were the informed consent forms and protocols that would allow for more fluidity with these types of trials. Nicole also spoke about making the virtual programs for patients more familiar much like most social media apps that are on the market nowadays, which was met with increased uptake by patients.
The following panelist giving her perspective into these trial settings was Leslie Thomas from AbbVie. Leslie agreed with Nicole on the amount of effort both companies have had to put in over the course of almost a year now due to COVID-19. She also stated that AbbVie has tried to include a plethora of digital methods to ensure the efficiency of the trial itself. She also mentioned how these methods are being used for the patient, or subject, in order to drive them away from having to transport themselves to the brick and mortar site of the trial. Some of the struggles that Leslie mentions AbbVie of currently having are the fact that some clinical trials were not decentralized and are now having some difficulty shifting over. She also mentioned that the continuation of care that is provided, albeit being virtual, is being heavily embraced by patients, especially since telemedicine is being used more frequently now than ever.
The final panelist was Kara Mezger from Cook Research Incorporated where she provided her perspective from the medical device world. She briefly mentioned how the obtaining of patient samples, such as blood work, is still difficult and that Cook still needs to work on fixing those hiccups. However, the overall decentralized clinical trials in the medical device space is relatively the same with that of the pharmaceutical space. She also stated how even the older demographic of patients in the current state of these trials are adapting positively to the virtual telemedicine network and this gives Cook hope for the future.
Many Thanks to the Following Conference Sponsors:
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Perspective by Mitchell McBrairty
MBA Candidate, Class of 2021
During the Fall 2020 semester, I had the wonderful opportunity to take the CBLS course, X519 – The life sciences industry from research to patient. This class took a deep dive into each step of the healthcare value chain, featuring speakers on a wide range of topics including technology transfer of basic research, manufacturing of biosimilars, medical communications, value-based healthcare delivery, and many more. With a class built from a variety of different backgrounds including scientists, MBAs, Masters in Healthcare Management students, and undergraduates, it was extremely valuable to see how each of our specific expertise fit within the broader context of the industry. As nearly all of us are students exploring new career opportunities, it also opened up our eyes to many new ways to contribute to the different pathways that have an impact on the final patient.
The course design carefully wove in our newly acquired knowledge of the healthcare value chain with a term-long team-based final project. The objective was to develop a commercialization strategy for Kovina Therapeutics, a newly created biotech startup co-founded by Elliot Androphy out of Indiana University. Kovina Therapeutics discovered a valuable new medicine to treat the root-causes of HPV-associated cancers and needed to identify the ideal value proposition for the new venture. This required us to think extensively about where this new technology could add value at each step of the value chain to develop a viable business model.
This quest for determining the right business model incorporated many peripheral topics that took the experiential component of the course to the next level. For example, our team had to contemplate what might be the best strategy for pricing when building out our financial model. We also scrutinized the potential strategies to build the extensive capabilities required to bring a potential new medicine to market. This included the possibility of partnerships with existing companies, co-development opportunities, and licensing agreements. In the end, we had the pleasure of presenting our findings to Kovina Therapeutics and provided the startup with a variety of interesting strategies to consider moving forward.
The healthcare industry, with all of its complexities, can be one of the most challenging to understand. However, whether you are working for a small startup or a large corporation, understanding how your current work fits into the broader value-chain is an important component of creating a successful career. This class definitely prepared us for an exciting future in healthcare!
A special thanks to Eli Lilly and Company and the IU Research and Technology Corporation for supporting the course along with all the corporate guest speakers each week.
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Interviews by Mitchell McBrairty
MBA Candidate, Class of 2021
Anna Hung
Previous Industry, Employer, and Role:
Before my MBA I worked in marketing operations for magAssist, a startup developing an extracorporeal artificial heart.
Where did you intern with this summer? Which program and/or functional area were you a part of?
Novartis; I interned in Market Access for the Patient & Specialty Services team.
What project did you work on?
My project focused on analyzing partner vendors and optimizing performance management.
What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome, and what did you learn from it?
In a virtual environment, I was afraid it would be hard to join a new team and share my opinions. However, at Novartis, the organization embraces the “unboss” culture,
encourages everyone on the team to share their own opinions and take initiative. This gave me the chance to practice presenting my viewpoints and train my presenting skills.
How was your experience networking with different colleagues at your company?
People are really nice and willing to share their experiences. Novartis has such a talented team. I learned a lot from them every single day when I interned in Novartis.
Has this experience changed your overall career goals? Did you identify any particular skills that you would like to develop as you return back for the second year of the MBA program?
Interning at Novartis opened the door to a new world in Patient & Specialty Services and gave me a great experience with the pharmaceutical industry. In pharma, I had the chance to stay close to the patients and trying our best to improve the patient’s journey. We are in the role that allowed our patients and healthcare professionals to be able to access the product and understand it better.
Are there any other suggestions you would give to future students that are about to begin their summer internship?
Not be afraid to ask questions so that you can quickly adjust to the new environment, especially in a virtual situation. It is also important to network as much as possible so that you can learn about the company’s culture and understand the different functions within the company and learn how we work better in a team.
Robert Kobey
Previous Industry, Employer, and Role:
Automotive Sales, Community Auto Group, Internet Sales Manager
Where did you intern with this summer? Which program and/or functional area were you a part of?
CarDon & Associates (operates senior care facilities in Indiana and Ohio). Internship in analytics and finance.
What project did you work on?
Worked on cost allocation at the individual patient level to measure patient profitability, automated the analysis in Power Query and Power Pivot and integrated data from multiple information systems.
What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome, and what did you learn from it?
There were a lot of challenges: doing an internship in the middle of a pandemic at a healthcare company, learning enough to understand a business with a lot of financial complexity, and technical challenges to create a tool that is easy to update with new data each month. If I had to pick one, I would say the technical challenges were the most difficult. In the process, I learned a lot about using automation to do things that wouldn’t be feasible to do manually.
How was your experience networking with different colleagues at your company?
It was very difficult with everything going on with covid. It is difficult to make those personal connections when you aren’t face-to-face.
Has this experience changed your overall career goals? Did you identify any particular skills that you would like to develop as you return back for the second year of the MBA program?
I now have a much greater appreciation for the importance of analytics and the insights you can get when you have the tools to work with large data sets. I haven’t changed my career goals, but I plan to sharpen my analytics skills during the school year as a result of this internship.
Are there any other suggestions you would give to future students that are about to begin their summer internship?
One of the things that really helped me during my internship was to reach out to faculty and other students with expertise in the areas where I was struggling during my internship. They were very helpful in pointing me in the right direction and towards the right resources.
Matt Lee
Previous Industry, Employer, and Role:
Consumer Products, 3M, eCommerce Sales Specialist
Where did you intern with this summer? Which program and/or functional area were you a part of?
Medtronic, Business Marketing Academy
What project did you work on?
This summer I worked on a project to increase visibility and tracking capabilities for Medtronic marketing spend. I created a tool that would help product marketers make more accurate plans on how they would spend their marketing dollars at the beginning of the year and to track that spend throughout the year. Ultimately the goal is to increase to use this information to increase the return on marketing spend for the company.
What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome, and what did you learn from it?
I had never worked in a finance centric role before. My project required understanding several different budgeting processes and systems that tracked marketing spend. I had to understand how marketing spend was flowing through a handful of systems as well as how that spend was currently being gathered and analyzed by financial personnel
Overall, I learned how to ask questions well and to continually follow up and search for better resources. Many times the first person I contacted wasn’t the right person with the answers, but I could use that connection to find the person that did.
How was your experience networking with different colleagues at your company?
I had a very easy time networking within Medtronic. The company culture is extremely collaborative and almost all of the people I reached out to were willing to make time to connect. Several times I had to reach out to members at the VP level and was always given the time of day to ask questions. It was also very easy to network with individuals in my peer group. There were 21 other marketing interns in my program and all who I reached out to were able to meet.
Has this experience changed your overall career goals? Did you identify any particular skills that you would like to develop as you return back for the second year of the MBA program?
This experience changed my outlook on the finance function within a large corporation. I realized that financial literacy was a very valuable skill to have and would open many doors into leadership if I would be able to better understand and articulate financial metrics. I decided to tack on two additional finance courses this semester as a result of what I was exposed to during my internship.
Are there any other suggestions you would give to future students that are about to begin their summer internship?
Dive in. 10-12 weeks seems like a while to get your feet wet but ultimately it is a spring to the finish. Just as you’re getting a hang of what you are doing you will have a midpoint report out and be expected to have a full project plan of what you have accomplished and what you will accomplish. Exercise your best organizational skills. You will be consuming a lot of information in a short window of time and you will need to quickly reference and syndicate that information. Keep an evolving list of you have met with and where they reside within the organization. Include notes that will help you remember specific details about colleagues lives to help build report. Most of all. Ask questions. You are in the internship to learn as much as you can about this company. Questions show that you are interested in what you are doing and engaging with the work. If you are afraid to sound stupid, your worries are misplaced. You will look way dumber if you make an assumption that turns out to be wrong. Be humble, flexible and work hard and the rest should take care of itself.