Video: A Day in the Yale EMBA Program

We spent a day with Patricia Tobon ’19, the COO of Balance ACO and a student in Yale SOM’s MBA for Executives program. 
 

Every other Thursday, Patricia Tobon ’19 hops on a train in Grand Central Station for a two-hour ride to New Haven. She has made sure her partner and two toddlers are set for the weekend and that everyone at work knows what to do in her absence. Tobon, COO of Balance Accountable Care Network, wants to be certain that when she arrives at the Omni Hotel in downtown New Haven, she can turn her focus to the next two days, which she’ll spend in the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM.

“I like to be there by early evening the day before classes,” she says. “I want to be able to spend time with my classmates, to debrief and catch up on what they’ve been doing the last two weeks. The idea is to slowly work myself into the academic mindset, so next morning, I’m ready to go.”

A typical day for EMBA students includes at least two class sessions, lunch with classmates, and a workshop on, say, career and leadership development. A second-year student with a healthcare focus, Tobon has completed the core curriculum, absorbing lessons on everything from negotiation strategy to macroeconomics; this year, she’ll take advanced management courses and classes on healthcare economics, operations, policy, finance, and more.

Tobon has learned a tremendous amount in the classroom that she’s already able to put into practice at work, she says. Equally valuable are the connections she has formed with her classmates, who come to Yale with a wide variety of skills and experiences.

“Our peers are already leaders in their fields,” she said. “These are your resources.”