If you’re interested in a career in healthcare, pharmaceuticals or life sciences, you can supplement your Academy experience with our PLUS Life Sciences Program, an Academy that is open to first-year MBAs.
PLUS Life Sciences Academy: Optional
Description of the video:
Rose Mason, Full-Time MBA student:
The Life Sciences is a very special Academy. You have experts coming in from these big pharmaceutical or medical device companies talking to you about different subjects that you wouldn't normally know about, especially if you weren't in the field beforehand. And you have the opportunity to really interact with them and ask questions.
Christine Heinz-Loomer, Full-Time MBA student:
My internship stemmed directly from a contact that I made within the Life Sciences Academy. And that was one of the few ways that I was actually able to connect specifically to the animal health industry. You really do get a pretty broad experience.
Rose Mason:
I'd say coming into the Life Science Academy, it really helped me learn those skills that I needed as a career switcher. The Academy director really focused on learning about me professionally and personally, with what my goals were.
Christine Heinz-Loomer:
I'm a veterinarian. I've decided to go into marketing. I knew how to treat a patient. I knew how all these things worked. What I didn't know was everything that went on before that product ever even got to my hands.
George Telthorst, Director, PLUS Life Sciences Academy:
When they finish up with us, they have a much broader understanding of how the pieces fit together and some superficial understanding of the issues going on and the different pieces, so that they can go out and have a more integrated perspective on things.
Rose Mason:
A lot of alumni are very fond of George. They always have good things to say. So just that relationship that he's built with them and being able to build the relationship with George himself really helps to connect with other alumni. And it really did help when I was looking for an internship.
George Telthorst:
Students need to take our two required courses. Both of these courses have a real-world project that students are working on and they're going to have to dive in and do market analysis of the competition. We'll follow up on the regulatory considerations, and then they have to make a presentation to the actual client company and a panel of industry judges.
Christine Heinz-Loomer:
The consulting project I was working on was really developing a marketing plan from the ground up. It gave me a chance to actually start to apply some of the book stuff that I was learning in the MBA program.
Rose Mason:
That project really helped a lot because that gives us a lot of hands-on experience that really helped me land the internship and land the full-time position at J&J [Johnson & Johnson].
Christine Heinz-Loomer:
The Life Sciences Academy gives you just that little bit of an edge when you're going after jobs in a field that's already competitive.
Is a career in the life sciences for you?
During your Academy experience, you’ll take a two-course sequence in the Business of Life Sciences and expand your business connections through networking activities with peers, alumni and industry leaders. You will:
- Study industry trends in class and meet policymakers who are shaping the future of the industry
- Learn about the healthcare value chain and the life science ecosystem
- Meet executives from leading companies such as Anthem, Baxter Healthcare, Boston Scientific, Catalent, Cook, Deloitte's Healthcare Consulting practice, Eli Lilly, Humana, Johnson & Johnson, Labcorp, Reckitt, Roche Diagnostics, and Zimmer Biomet
- Gain hands-on experience by completing consulting projects with both startups and established life sciences companies
- Take advantage of industry networking opportunities at Life Sciences Collaboration Conferences, organized by Kelley's Center for the Business of Life Sciences together with 15-20 corporate partners
- Learn and work cross-functionally with teammates from healthcare, science, and informatics graduate programs
- Receive ongoing mentoring from the Academy director and alumni
Career outcomes
Students in the PLUS Life Sciences Academy have landed internships and full-time roles in companies such as Abbott, Amgen, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Cardinal Health, Cigna, CVS, GSK, Humana, IU Health, Johnson & Johnson, Eli Lilly, Medtronic, Merck, Novartis, PwC, Takeda Phamaceuticals, and Thermo Fisher Scientific. And Kelley MBA graduates pursue careers across the US and abroad. View employment statistics.
Learn about the Academy and careers in the life sciences
Gain insights about the Academy and positions in life sciences companies from Academy alumni and program leaders.
Questions? Contact us.
George Telthorst
PLUS Life Sciences Academy Director
gtelthor@iu.edu
George Telthorst, who also serves as the director for Kelley’s Center for the Business of Life Sciences, offers more than 20 years of experience in the life sciences industry, including executive management roles at Boston Scientific, Johnson & Johnson, and Baxter.
Help us continue to strengthen the PLUS Life Sciences Academy and the next generation of business leaders.
