Bobby Daly

Home town Darien, Connecticut
Undergraduate education: Stanford University
Previous job: Parthenon Group
HBS interests: Healthcare Club, Technology and Media Club, VCPE Club

"We draw on our experiences and teach each other."

Business and service have been parallel themes in Bobby Daly's life. In high school, he volunteered with the local ambulance corps. At Stanford, where he majored in economics, he helped organize a group of student volunteers who provided companionship for Alzheimer's and dementia patients at the VA Hospital in Palo Alto. While consulting at the Parthenon Group, Bobby volunteered at a hospice in San Francisco. "My volunteering gave me a lot of patient experience at a young age," says Bobby. "And my work at Parthenon provided an education in a lot of different industries and business problems."

Absorbing different learning styles
Unlike most of his joint MD/MBA colleagues, Bobby completed a year at HBS before beginning his studies at Harvard Medical School. "I came to HBS because I liked the large class size," says Bobby. "It's a great way to meet a lot of different people with varied interests and experiences. The large number of international students—about 30 percent of the class—brings a wide range of perspectives to the cases we discuss."

Bobby notes that there's a considerable difference in learning styles between the Medical and the Business schools. "At the Medical School, there's a lot of memorization," says Bobby. "At the Business School, the emphasis is on the case method, which I love. It makes the class experience dynamic and engaging. As students, we draw on our experiences and teach others."

Investigating best use of resources
In one internship, Bobby worked with Genzyme in Cambridge to examine both the science and business issues underlying investments in new medications. "The big question," Bobby says, "is where do we invest our resources?" The issue became even more immediate during a recent immersion experience in Mumbai, India, where Bobby joined Harvard Medical International. There, he helped a nonprofit create a five-year business plan for addressing HIV/AIDS. "The big foundations need to see a solid business strategy in place," Bobby says. "Again, it's all about allocation. How do you deliver care to a vulnerable population when you have very limited resources?" While Bobby is still open to a variety of options for his residency and beyond, he knows that balancing medical needs with economic realities will be one of the focal points of his work.