Andrew Dervan

Home town: South Pasadena, California
Undergraduate education: Yale University

"You have the most to learn from the people who are the most different from you."

Like many of his colleagues, Andrew Dervan entered medical school to fulfill a passion. And like many of them, Andrew says, "I'm frustrated with the system. One out of seven dollars in the US is spent on health care. It's just incredible that so much money is spent on a system that has so many inefficiencies." Where Andrew breaks away from many other medical students, however, is in his commitment to doing something about it, to find ways to "fix the system."

Applying insights from outside industries
In his first year at Harvard Medical School, Andrew took a health care management course with Peter Slavin, MD, MBA, president of Massachusetts General Hospital, that opened his eyes to new possibilities. "I was impressed that Dr. Slavin could sit at the table with both the clinical department heads and the corporate executives," says Andrew. "It was an introduction to areas where physicians with clinical perspectives and business people with an economic perspective can cooperate to do great things for health care."

Inspired, Andrew became one of the first candidates in the joint MD/MBA program with Harvard Business School. At the Admissions Weekend he attended, Andrew was impressed by the scope and depth of the School's Healthcare Initiative and by the quality of the MBA students. "You have the most to learn from the people who are most different from you," says Andrew. As an example, he refers to an MBA student who had directed operations in a General Electric jet engine facility. "I think of the operating room from the perspective of a doctor," Andrew says. "But wouldn't it be great if I could learn from GE, if I could gain expertise in workflows to coordinate more surgeries in less time? I want to learn how others approach problems so that I can bring fresh insights to the problems physicians face."

Opportunity is right
Andrew plans on fulfilling his residency and following a clinical track in internal medicine or pediatrics. Eventually, he says, "I'd like to divide my time between clinical practice and health care-related business initiatives. Right now, the opportunity is right for me to add a business education and increase my business sophistication. Once I have my MBA, I'll be better prepared to approach tough questions and challenges; I'll be more capable of directly engaging them."