A Recap with Ruan Dos Santos of his corporate finance summer internship with Elevance Health

Interview by Deepti Singh, MBA ’24 Candidate

 

 

Ruan Dos Santos – Corporate Finance at Elevance Health

 

 

 

 

 

What company did you intern with this summer? Which program and/or functional area were you a part of?

I interned at Elevance Health, in Corporate Finance. I worked as an audit intern in the Risk, Controls, and Assurance (RCA) team.

What brought you this role/ company?

I developed my career in the healthcare industry, back in Brazil, specifically with a technical expertise, and I wanted to have a summer internship in a broader set, but in the same industry. To be honest, I didn’t realize at first that Elevance used to be Anthem and had changed the name less than a year before, but I was surprised when I discovered that the company was among the top 20 Fortune 500 companies, and among the largest health insurance companies.

What project(s) did you work on?

In my project I collaborated with the due diligence process, working with cross-functional teams and external auditors to review and analyze financial statements, contracts, and other relevant documents to assess risks and opportunities of the company.

What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome, and what did you learn from it?

The biggest challenge was to understand the “why” behind the numbers and reports. Healthcare is a huge sector of the U.S. economy, with a fragmented system that was completely new to me. So, learning about deductibles, premiums, drug prescription system, Medicare, Medicaid, and other components of this complex environment in a fast pace was challenging. Nonetheless, this was so meaningful and made me look at my role and carry my responsibilities with a different perspective.

How was your experience networking with different colleagues at your company?

Networking was the best part of my experience. It sounds cheesy, but it’s absolutely true: it’s not about the place, it’s not about the product, it’s about the people. And I had a great privilege to network with senior leaders, to learn from them, to have a coach guiding me since my first week, that helped me navigate through the different areas and connect with different teams, in summary, to learn from experienced and brilliant minds that were willing to help me make my internship memorable.

Has this experience changed your overall career goals? Did you identify any skills that you would like to develop as you return for the second year of the MBA program?

This experience helped me realize how big the spectrum is in the Healthcare industry, with a lot of great opportunities. It did not change my career goals; it helped me open my view and broaden my possibilities. In terms of skills, I was fortunate enough to work with executive leadership that showed remarkable planning skills and strategic thinking abilities. The interactions we had made me eager to return for the second year of the MBA program and look for opportunities to plan strategically, to balance opportunities and risk, while creating value for the customers and the company.

Are there any suggestions you would give to future students that are about to begin their summer internship?

Ask questions, from the very beginning. Of course, do your homework, do your research, get familiar with the company’s offering, but don’t spend too much time trying to figure things out on your own. Leverage the network opportunities to learn from those you work with. They are more than willing to help and guide you, take advantage of this.