Transforming My Healthcare Career with an MBA in Healthcare Management

I signed up for the Masters of Business Administration in Healthcare Management (MBAHM) at IMU in March 2020. At that time, I was at a crossroads in my life where I needed to decide what I wanted to do with my career moving forwards.

Back then, there were not many Universities that offered the MBA in Healthcare Management. I found out that IMU was one of the universities offering such a programme. So, I contacted the Admissions Office and was put in touch with the Programme Coordinator at that time, Prof To’ Puan Safurah. We then spoke on the phone at length regarding the programme.

One of the things that she told me in that conversation really stuck with me. She said, “I promise you that even before you complete your MBA, you will experience career progression and will be promoted at work. Just wait and see”. She said it with such conviction. At that time, I was quite amused by what she said, and I was intrigued to find out if it would be true.

Fast forward to three years later, I can safely say that what To’ Puan told me was indeed true. During the course of my studies, I was promoted at my workplace. In addition to that, I was approached with an offer to go and work elsewhere at another leading private hospital.

Looking back at the time of my studies, I chose to do the part-time programme which gave me the flexibility that I needed to juggle family, work and studies at the same time even though the the MBAHM is offered as a full-time and part-time programme.

Very soon after I started the MBAHM, Malaysia went into nationwide lockdown due to restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. I must commend IMU for seamlessly transforming the teaching modules from a hybrid model to a full online model. We were all in uncharted territory, but the programme was not affected in any way.

Coming from a purely medical background, venturing into the MBAHM opened my eyes as to how healthcare is viewed from a business perspective. I found myself working and thinking differently at the workplace even from very early on in the course. It was no longer about me solely delivering healthcare to the patient.

I started to see the hospital organisation as a whole entity and understood the importance of Health Systems Operations, Clinical Governance, including Safety and Quality practices. I also had the opportunity to put my human resource knowledge and negotiation skills to practical use.

I gained a newfound interest in what my competitors in healthcare were doing after learning about Strategic Management and Entrepreneurial Marketing. It definitely gave me an upper hand in many aspects at work.

I have to say however, that the greatest thing I got out of doing this course was the lifelong friends I made along the way and the connections I have amassed as the other candidates came from all kinds of backgrounds, professionally and personally both locally and internationally. This is something extremely valuable that cannot be replaced by anything else.

Lastly, I am grateful to have had excellent and supportive lecturers who guided me through the toughest times of the course without whom I would not have been able to complete this MBAHM. Special thanks need to be mentioned to Prof Dr Adlina, Mr Roslan and Dr Vijay, who is the current Programme Director.

Written by Dr Maya Chandra Sekaran