General Q's Flashcards
Why consulting
Seeing problems in healthcare have interested me.
Hypothesised many ideas. Interested in innovations in field I am working (esp. data innovations)
Solidfied my interest through: clinical audits (quantitative) and through work at med tech company
Make a large scale difference
Variety of industry exposure whilst learning from very articulate and intelligent people
Working with corporate elite - C-suite level advice
Opportunity to travel
Implementors of innovations in healthcare. Well placed for this
- Pharma, Consulting and health pros will be the future
What does an associate do
Research and analytics - will enable me to gain insights. Have done research before (similar as had to get to know scientific background etc)
Client output - Making presentations and doing data analytics
Learning from seniors about how certain situations are managed
What is a work stream
Collections of activities which will add to the outcome
Research into particular aspects of a problem/aiming to identify if this is issue
Workstreams come together for the final output
What skills can you bring
Industry knowledge in medicine, research, pharmaceutical evaluation, MedTech, medical innovation
Soft skills: Communication through clinical, OpenMed, Innovative knowledge/orientation Persuasion: society, sponsorship Problem solving Teamwork & Leadership Problem solving
Hard skills:
Languages (basic Dutch)
Degree in Medicine and Surgery (innovations)
Microsoft office (research and audit, Presentations - prized)
Very basic computer programming (more courses coming)
Tell me about yourself
Final year medical. Interested particularly in MedTech and ongoing innovations in that area (getting involved)
Studies have given skills in problem solving and able to spot gaps for new practices (Society and coding course)
Gained an interest in finance underlying healthcare and did certification
Travel to Amsterdam - enjoyed traveling, able to speak basic Dutch
Outside of studies: Sporty
What industries are you interested in
Healthcare/social care and life sciences
Not much knowledge in others, very excited for increased exposure especially in Private equity as this is something which is also prominent in healthcare
What experience do you have
Clinical Research Service improvement Team/Project management (society) MedTech
Best accomplishment
Society:
- Had to work/Persuade to get it going
- Lots of interest and rewarding to get projects together
- Enables me to be innovative
- Skills in team leadership and delegation
- Faced several challenges
Difficult situation
Firing person from Soc
When did yo have to work to a deadline
Final Research project Imperial
- Had to be regimented and make deadline
- Unpredictable: had to make alterations to accommodate (patient probs, ethics)
- Had to make sure all members of team were on same wavelength
- Self directed
When did you have to persuade a group
To set up the society
Sponsorship/funding of events
A recent crisis you handled
When sutures weren’t getting there on time/Registrars didn’t get there on time
What transferable skills do you have
Soft skills: Communication through clinical, OpenMed, Innovative knowledge/orientation Persuasion: society, sponsorship Problem solving Teamwork & Leadership Problem solving
Hard skills:
Languages (basic Dutch)
Degree in Medicine and Surgery (innovations)
Microsoft office (research and audit, Presentations - prized)
Very basic computer programming (more courses coming)
When have you failed
Getting into medical school
Had to do better research into where
Strengthened my application accordingly
What is your strength
Able to get one with, cope with any situation and stay calm/confident
Quickly get to grips/understand new concepts and situations
What is your weakness
Unable to delegate/Overly self reliant (perfectionism)
Example of leadership
Society
Interview questions to ask
Does the firm offer further study
Are there many Drs working there
How is a case team picked, what happens if I want to get experience in a specific industry
How many graduate positions are there
How have you built quantitative skills
Through clinical audit and research (SPSS)
Problems facing consulting
inc competition = downward price pressure
internet based referrals
Hectic market: Mergers and Acquisitions happening at record rate
New and changing business models (e.g. .com like uber and Airbnb where they don’t have own products)
Need to employ new skills to match new products etc to match knowledge
Articles, and challenges faced due to BREXIT
BREXIT = opportunity (Market access, supply chain management will change as we leave single market)
UK clamp down on free movement of citizens UK -> EU = problem. Will UK consultants be able to work in EU as freely as now?
Currently more private sector but once out more gov-run bodies will need outside advice
Questions
Is there potential to transfer between consulting and Strategy?
Is the firm involved in structuring M&A or is it more looking for ideas?
Are there any healthcare professionals, How valuable is it?
How easy is it to implement changes in healthcare compared to other industries (regulations)
Consulting in the NHS
Controversial use in cash strapped system of NHS but allows to make better use of resources
Challenges: Growing ageing population and new expensive tech
Cost cutting initiative have already been exhausted, now it is time to be more patient centred and use performance improvement approach
Ideas for NHS
Improve the performance of large UK trusts to have knock on effects of smaller surrounding trusts
Work more closely with big pharma to develop innovative drug pricing models to improve access to meds
