Elena Rodriguez Rand, MBA Candidate ’22
Cardinal Health, Marketing Intern (Specialty Devices)
*Interview by Chris Anderson, MBA ’22
What project(s) did you work on?
I worked on a project called “Mini Genesis” – it was a project that had previously not worked out and they wanted to see if I could find the variables that would allow it to succeed.
Essentially, Kendall DL (cables and lead wires product used to connect patients to AEDs/ECGs/EKGs) has been getting reprocessed – picked up after a single use by hospitals, cleaned, checked over, and sold back – but can only be reprocessed 5 times before a product gets retired. Other companies (like Stryker) are also able to pick up this product, reprocess it themselves, and if they get the first turn, that product then becomes theirs (and they get all the reprocessing revenue for the next 4 turns).
I needed to find a way to increase Cardinal’s reprocessing options while also blocking product from competitors.
What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome, and what did you learn from it?
The biggest challenge I had was diving deep into the finances. $0.01 could make a significant difference – and a different difference if that came from R&D or labor costs. Having to put together a financial model laying out both a “Do Nothing” vs a “Do Something” scenario was a challenge coming in with no financial background.
How was your experience networking with different colleagues at your company?
It was much harder than I anticipated it being, but I also attribute a big piece of that to being virtual. People were willing to speak to me but because of more formalized call times, it didn’t allow for the same types of meaningful relationships to happen.
Has this experience changed your overall career goals? Did you identify any particular skills that you would like to develop as you return back for the second year of the MBA program?
It helped me identify that I didn’t want to cut out the entire industry of healthcare as an option. Coming back to my second year, it also helped me learn that I need to invest in finance and analytics courses in order to be successful at whatever I’m going to do.
Are there any other suggestions you would give to future students that are about to begin their summer internship?
Healthcare was my “hard no” going into recruiting. I would say not to rule anything out. At this point in recruiting, cast the widest net you can and see what sticks. Who do you like to speak with? Who is going to challenge you and make you think? Who is going to give you the best opportunity to show your creative problem-solving skills?
I would also say to look at the core competency of a company. Even if they bill themselves as a “sustainable company” ask what they are at their core.
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