Maya Babu

Home town: Eagan, Minnesota
Undergraduate education: University of Minnesota

"I was impressed by the way professors talked about their love of teaching."

Government policy changed the way Maya Babu thinks about health care. For a summer internship, she worked in the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration of Health and Human Services. "It was run very much like a small corporation," Maya says. "The experience made me realize that beyond the medical issues, there's a need for leaders who can build morale, inspire employees, negotiate with contractors—just as there is in business. To be effective in the public sector, long term, I needed a background in management, in understanding the challenges faced by contractors and service providers." Encouraged by her mentor at the Administration, Maya applied for the joint MD/MBA degree.

Understanding both sides of the health care system
To prepare for participation at HBS, Maya attended several weekend conferences at the school and observed a class in action. "I was impressed by the way professors talked about their love of teaching," she says. "In the class, the time went by so fast—it was tremendously active and intellectually stimulating."

Now that she's immersed in the joint degree program, Maya appreciates the range of experiences her colleagues bring to their discussions. "There are amazing things going on in the private sector I'd like to learn from," she says. "Going to both the Medical and Business schools has helped me understand that medicine plays just one part in the grand scheme of things. As doctors, we're so involved with individual patients that we lose perspective on the whole: How does the system work? How is it paid for? On the other hand, I can share the experiences of working one-on-one with patients; I can bring the human concerns and dilemmas to our business thinking. Both are important to each other."

Exploring public policy
Once she completes her residency, Maya is interested in balancing an active medical practice with a management role in public policy. "Private-public partnerships are becoming more important for the improvement of health care service delivery," Maya says. She's interested in prison health care in general, and juvenile mental health issues specifically. "Eventually, I'd love to start a company that improves access to care and develops innovative models for delivery."