Labels: Duke MBA , Health Sector Management , MBA

Duke MBA Healthcare Recruiting

Because Duke University is located in Durham, NC, many folks are concerned about recruiting across the US. For example, the major hubs for pharma, such as Boston, New Jersey, and the Bay Area are far away. Fortunately the Health Sector Management (HSM) program at Fuqua has a solid relationship with many health care companies. Because of the strong reputation (and size) of the HSM program, the Duke MBA is a key target school for many companies in the health sector.

There are many ways students can interact with companies. Duke Fuqua MBA Students can do the following:

1. Sign up for company events when they visit Fuqua

...such as presentations, office hours, receptions, and so forth. Typically once or twice during the recruiting season senior managers at these companies fly in from all over the US and spend a day or two with Duke MBA students.

It's not only a great way for Fuqua students to learn more about the companies, but vice versa. Office hours are typically one-on-one conversations that can build relationships and for Fuqua students to get key questions answered. Many of the senior managers, if not all, will be Fuqua alumni.

2. Visit companies during Week-in-Cities treks

During the school breaks, the Fuqua Health Care Cub organizes week long treks to health care hubs across the US. These are official visits and many companies will host events to engage with students. It's great exposure to what it is like within firms and also gives another data point for students when evaluating employment opportunities. I've written an entire post on this here.

3. Conduct off-campus recruiting

The Duke MBA traditionally has had many alumni enter into the health sector. Because of this, Fuqua students can gain access to virtually every health care company. I'm not exaggerating, and here's why:

When I created my off-campus informational interview list, every single company that I had on the list had at least one current Fuqua alum on it. I remember being incredibly impressed by this. A number of my classmates had success with recruiting off-campus and it is an important resource that Duke MBA students can leverage.

4. Tour local RTP companies

While the Research Triangle Park (RTP) is known for entrepreneurship in the health field, there are both big and small companies with many in between. Among the big ones, GlaxoSmithKline, Becton Dickenson and Biogen Idec have facilities here.

I also did a mentored study at a local mid-sized biotech company through the Mentored Study Program. A sizeable amount of Duke MBA students find local opportunities, and some mentored study positions turn into summer internships.

Companies that recruited on campus at Fuqua

Here's an incomplete list of companies that came on campus to recruit at Duke Fuqua in the 2013-2014 school year, off the top of my head. These only include health care companies or companies with significant health care operations.

Pharma

Amgen
Bristol-Myers Squibb US only
Genzyme (Sanofi)
Genentech (Roche)
Eli Lily
Janssen (Johnson & Johnson) US only
GlaxoSmithKline US only
Biogen Idec

Medical Device & Health IT

Becton Dickenson
Medtronic
Boston Scientific
Endochoice
Ethicon (Johnson & Johnson) US only
athenahealth US only

Consulting & Internal Strategy

ZS Associates
PricewaterhouseCoopers
McKinsey
L.E.K.
Cardinal Health
McKesson
Kaiser Permanente