Is Private Healthcare Right for Me?

High Stress Tolerance

In the private health industry, you will always be dealing with some of the most pressing problems facing human health. Therefore, it is important to have a high-stress tolerance since there are many moving pieces involved in careers like Biotech and consulting which can be stressful to keep track of.

Strong Communication Skills

Communication is an integral part of all careers in healthcare since there will be lots of daily interactions with clients, coworkers, and in some cases patients. It is important to be clear and concise.

Team Work

Being able to work well in teams is essential since you will often find yourself working with multiple people on the same multi-part goal that can not be reached individually. Being a good team worker helps make you easier to work with and will lead to smoother project completions.

Quantitative and Analytical Skills

In every sector of private healthcare, you will be working with numbers and data on an almost daily basis. Therefore, it is important to be sharp mathematically and comfortable working with large sets of data. Prior experience handling and analyzing data in a lab or business setting will be extremely valuable.

Introduction to Private Healthcare

If you are interested in being involved in the forefront of medical innovation or are interested in solving complex healthcare problems, private healthcare is a great career option that allows for many diverse exit opportunities in healthcare management, biotech, pharmacology, and other healthcare-related fields.

Types of Private Sector Healthcare Careers

Biotech

Using cells and cell material to research and develop pharmaceutical or diagnostic products that can help treat, diagnose, or prevent human disease. Often requires a graduate degree (Ph.D. or MD)

Pharmacology

Studying how a drug affects a biological system and how the body responds to a certain drug. Often requires a graduate degree (Ph.D. or MD)

Health Insurance

Working in the health insurance marketplace selling insurance to people

Healthcare Consulting

Consulting health insurance companies or healthcare providers to help solve problems they may be facing.

Health-related investment banking

Facilitating deals between pharma and biotech companies as well as health insurance providers.

Economics or Innovation?

When choosing to go into private healthcare, you have very distinct career possibilities depending on your STEM (or non STEM) and research background.

Non-STEM Background

There are plenty of exit opportunities in private healthcare available for people who do not want to directly work on medical advancing technology. Some of these careers include:

• Health Care Management Consulting

• Healthcare Investment Banking

• Healthcare Policy Consulting

• Health Insurance Management

• Finance oriented roles at bio and pharma tech companies

STEM Background

If you have a STEM background including a Ph.D. or MD as well as some research experience and would like to work on medically advancing tech, you could find a career in:

• Biotech

• Pharmacology

Private Healthcare Recruiting at Harvard

Almost all recruiting starts with a resume and cover letter drop, so make sure your resume is recently updated and well-formatted. In your cover letter, make sure you explicitly talk about your interest in the company and strengths and skills you would bring to the workplace. This is your chance to show why YOU are unique. For example if you are applying to a biotech company, make sure your previous research and important STEM classes are listed on your resume.

Healthcare/Health Insurance Consulting

Recruiting for this industry is very similar to that of general consulting. In addition, it is helpful to have some previous internship experience in healthcare or health insurance as well as a demonstrated interest in the field which can be shown through any type of extracurricular involvement or side projects.

“For consulting, they are looking for people who are structured analytical people who solve problems systematically. They also want to see that you have some actual serious interest in the life sciences” -- Full Time Analyst at Health Advances '19

Healthcare-oriented Investment Banking

Recruiting for healthcare-oriented investment banking roles is also the same as recruiting for investment banking roles. It is helpful to have some previous internship experience in healthcare or health insurance as well as a demonstrated interest in the field which can be shown through any type of extracurricular involvement or side projects.

Biotech & Pharmacology Recruiting

As an undergrad interested in biotech or pharmacology, you should seek to gain as much industry and research experience as possible to strengthen your resume for recruiting. Generally, it is difficult to get a job conducting top-notch research without having some form of a graduate degree. Therefore, you should gauge your interest in the industry with a research internship and decide after that if pursuing a postgraduate degree heavy in math, chem, and bio is for you. People interested in biotech usually pursue a Ph.D. or MD/Ph.D. while people interested in pharmacology usually pursue a PharmD or Ph.D. in pharmacology or chemistry. Upon completing a graduate degree, it is essential to begin getting in contact with recruiters since most biotech and pharmaceutical companies recruit year-round. However, your chances of finding a job are the highest in the months of January and February since many companies have their recently updated budget sheets and know how many people they are able to hire. Make sure to attend all Harvard info events and develop connections with the presenters there since they are often heavily involved in the recruiting process.

“Some of the most important things I did while recruiting were going to the networking events and talking to people who work at the companies. This is particularly valuable when you are going into such a niche field.” -- Full-Time Analyst at Health Advances '19

Relevant Clubs and Organizations

• Harvard Cancer Society

• Harvard Chemistry Club

• Harvard College Bisexual, Gay, Lesbian,Transgender, Queer, and Allied Students in the Sciences (HBASIS)

• Harvard College Health Policy Society

• Harvard College Undergraduate Research Association (HCURA)

• Harvard PreMedical Society

• Harvard Science Club for Girls

• Harvard Society of Black Scientists and Engineers (HSBSE)

• Harvard Undergraduate Bioethics Society

• Harvard Undergraduate Biological Sciences Society (HUBSS)

• Harvard Undergraduate Global Health Forum

• Neurobiology Synapses Undergraduate Group

• Organismic and Evolutionary Biology Undergraduate Group (OEBUG)

• Scientista, Women in Science Network at Harvard

• Science Theater at Harvard College

• Women in Science at Harvard-Radcliffe (WISHR)