INSEAD MBA students and alumni can truly be found everywhere, even in rural towns of less than 10,000 individuals.
Paddy Liu
Hometown: Dallas, Texas
Fun fact about yourself: Figure skating was my main sport during childhood.
Undergraduate school and major: Harvard University (Bachelor’s Degree in Applied Mathematics & Economics); Yale University (Doctor of Medicine)
Most recent employer and job title: Internal Medicine and Paediatrics Resident Physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston Children’s Hospital, and Boston Medical Centre
INSEAD is one of the most culturally and professionally diverse MBA programmes in the world. How do you see these global perspectives enhancing the value of your business education over the next year?
Healthcare spending is often one of the largest components of a country’s GDP. This is especially true in the United States, where, for example, increased spending in comparison to many other countries does not translate to meaningful increases in life expectancy.
Efforts to promote efficient healthcare spending while also minimising disparities and elevating the health of the entire population are occurring all over the world, demonstrating the importance of understanding the design and delivery of other countries’ healthcare systems.
I am particularly keen to learn from my professors’ and classmates’ global perspectives regarding how healthcare services are delivered, how mechanisms of quality improvement are used, and how technology can facilitate these processes.
Why did you choose a one-year programme over a two-year programme? How do you see an INSEAD MBA giving you an advantage in the marketplace?
As a physician, refining evidence-based clinical decision-making and honing procedural skills are best served by consistent clinical practice. A one-year programme minimises time spent away from clinical settings while gaining important exposure to relevant business-related concepts and an international community that will guide my extra-clinical work, ideally in the delivery of healthcare services around the globe.
Aside from your classmates, what was the key part of INSEAD’s MBA programme that led you to choose this business school, and why was it so important to you?
I started learning Spanish during my medical training as a hobby. I have been fortunate to experience how much an understanding of the language can enhance my interactions with a vibrant community of Spanish-speaking individuals who access clinical services in the United States.
INSEAD’s emphasis on language acquisition initially drew me to the programme, and I am looking forward to learning from classmates who have prioritised language learning to facilitate their multinational and multicultural experiences.
What course, club or activity excites you the most at INSEAD?
I am always interested in acquiring new skills, so the Sailing Club sounds like a nice start for doing so.
What has been your first impression of the INSEAD MBA students and alumni you’ve met so far?
I believe the overwhelming majority of people entering INSEAD have neither lived in France nor in Singapore, and so there are many people, including myself, who are learning and getting excited about the significant transitions ahead of us.
Other students have been very helpful in welcoming questions, communicating insights, and offering advice to each other. It’s also incredible to see meet-ups happening all over the world, even before the start of the school year. I’ve had my own meet-ups, one of which occurred during one of my clinical rotations in a hospital in the Southwestern United States. I found out that another entering student’s fiancée was working at the same hospital, and they were living in the same neighbouring town as myself. INSEAD MBA students and alumni can truly be found everywhere, even in rural towns of less than 10,000 individuals.
Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far.
Before starting medical training, I joined a programme called Whole Person Care, which sought to provide wrap-around care services for individuals with complex physical, psychosocial, and social services needs. By partnering with community-based organisations, clinical stakeholders, and justice systems around the Los Angeles area, the five-year programme ultimately served over 150,000 individuals experiencing homelessness, return to the community from the justice system, mental health conditions, and substance use conditions.
It was an eye-opening privilege to experience and learn from the process of building a programme from conception to launch. My time with the programme continues to serve as a source of inspiration and energy towards transforming healthcare systems and services to best serve patients, especially at crucial transition points of their unique healthcare journeys.
What do you hope to do after graduation (at this point)?
I hope to continue clinical practice, as I believe that doing so reveals areas of need and improvement that can then inform efforts to better serve patients of all backgrounds.
In terms of extra-clinical work, I am excited to explore how a clinical and computational background can uniquely contribute to building health technologies (both digital and physical) and community-based programmes that minimise barriers to accessing healthcare systems.
What advice would you give to help potential applicants gain admission into INSEAD’s MBA programme?
I would highly encourage applicants to be open to boldly pursuing what may seem uncomfortable or difficult at first, but which has the opportunity to build skills, meet people from around the world, and make change.
There are many chapters in life, and it’s not every day that we get the chance to write a new one by moving countries, changing industries, pursuing hobbies, forming new relationships, and/or strengthening existing ones. I believe such chapters are valued highly when applying to INSEAD’s MBA programme.
