MSQM:HA students "meet" in Durham without leaving home
Fuqua's demanding quantitative program offers the flexibility to maintain your career and personal priorities
Heidi Register
“This program truly ties together the business basics with emphasis on the health care industry, while also integrating data analysis techniques and statistical methods. And it’s not just the technical skills you walk away with but also the soft skills involved with business communications and strategy that round out the program nicely.”
Senior Analyst
Duke Human Vaccine Institute
MSQM: Health Analytics
Class of 2022
Industry:
Health Care Research / Virology and Immunology QA
Prior Education:
North Carolina State University
Biological Sciences, 2013
Biological Sciences, 2013
Hometown:
Raleigh, North Carolina
Nationality:
USA
Reflections
With my undergraduate degree narrowly focused on Biology, over time, I found myself not having the depth of knowledge to tie the two “worlds” of business and science together seamlessly. This degree has given me a background and strong foundation in business methods and logic, and how to utilize those techniques, as my career evolves into management. I now feel prepared to address management concerns related to medical and health care-oriented settings. I believe this degree will be beneficial in supporting conversations with the various departments I engage with, such as finance, project managers, and professional committees.
Before Fuqua
I currently manage the Viral Diversity Program in a high-containment lab where rare and unique HIV-1 subtypes are cultured for use in vaccine clinical trials, nationally and internationally. This involves data collection, management, and analysis of immunologic and virologic assays for our external quality assurance programs supporting NIH-funded labs actively engaged in HIV-1 vaccine research.
After Fuqua
The skills, methods, and concepts I’ve learned will be valuable tools in my position—from concise and engaging presentations to stakeholders, to management strategies for streamlined processes, to statistical methods for handling data appropriately. I can be confident in managing team-based projects, navigating budgets and streamlined processes, identifying data patterns, and presenting data in a meaningful way.
What Surprised Me About the Program
One unexpected benefit of the program is how much I would learn from my peers. The members of my cohort come from such a kaleidoscopic array of places around the world. You get to know these people and go through the triumphs and trials of the program alongside them. They truly become a part of your life, and to me, that’s been very exciting. I’ve also been surprised by the topics and courses that I’ve found myself engrossed in, which has opened new opportunities and avenues for future career pursuits.