Pankaj Gupta ’19

Pharmaceutical research and development are going through a significant transformation. The ever-increasing cost of drug development, the focus on precision medicine, and the advent of new technologies make this an exciting and challenging time to be in this field.

I have a technical background in the area of pharmaceutical development, but wanted to expand my skill set to get a grounding in business fundamentals. The EMBA program, with its healthcare focus, is allowing me to do that. This program is very uniquely set up as it combines foundational business courses, along with coursework relevant to the latest developments in the healthcare sector.

In the past six months, I’ve been able to apply insights from my courses—especially Managing Groups and Teams and Modeling Managerial Decisions—in my job. My team at work was recently involved in a very fast-paced deliverable with unforgiving deadlines. Thanks to what I learned in Managing Groups and Teams, I tweaked the way I interacted with my team, and it definitely helped. We not only achieved the deadline, but were recognized for the work. We accomplished this without anyone feeling burned out or overwhelmed.

Time management is a challenge for all of us in the MBA for Executives program. It almost seems like a juggling act while standing on one leg. But I think the important thing to know is that I have a support system of about 64 other students who are in similar situations. Almost everyone has demanding schedules, has to balance work and family obligations. But when we are here, we’re all equally committed and engaged, and we want to get the best out of this program. This is a highly driven group of individuals who’ve done well in their respective fields and who are very bright. It’s a very enriching experience, being with such classmates.