Jan 19, 2022
| FROM ISB Admissions Blog: How is telehealth going to transform healthcare delivery in India? |
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[img]https://blogs.isb.edu/healthcare/files/2022/01/shutterstock_1417142954-1-1.jpg[/img] Telehealth has been at the forefront of the rapidly evolving healthcare delivery models in India, especially now during the pandemic. While the benefits of telehealth are quite evident, there are some questions that need to be addressed for it to be widely accepted and adopted. Some of these are: How do we ensure quality in telehealth? Who plays a bigger role in the adoption of telehealth – providers or the patient? How to address the concerns related to trust-building with the doctor online and the accuracy of clinical information received from the patient? Medical expenses of teleconsultation and homecare are not covered under traditional insurance models, what can be done about it? AMPH Co 2022 students [url=https://www.linkedin.com/in/jyotipravapattanaik/]J P Pattanaik[/url] and [url=https://www.linkedin.com/in/smitha-chowdary-kankanala-432570136/]Smitha Chowdary Kankanala[/url] invited experts and industry leaders to share their opinions and insights on these critical questions in the first AMPH Discussion Circle hosted by the Max Institute of Healthcare Management. [b]Key insights from the discussion [/b] [*]Telehealth makes healthcare Accessible, Affordable and Available with better quality.[/*] [*]The ultimate brand ambassador for telehealth is the individual beneficiary who experiences a “wow” effect in interacting with a remote healthcare provider (HCP). To achieve ‘customer delight’, the HCP should get into the mind of the patient and cater to his/her specific needs albeit using technology.[/*] [*]There is a good potential for telemedicine for follow-ups, especially in cancer care and NCD management which are lifelong diseases. Most follow-up visits are just discussions and reviews of pre-determined tests.[/*] [*]The use of healthcare standards for the exchange of health information is still not getting its due recognition. Adoption of standards in telehealth is a must as a confidence-boosting measure.[/*] [*]The pandemic has helped in realising the potential of telehealth. However, sustaining its success for the long run will be more challenging than ever.[/*] [*]Virtual Reality and immersive technologies are going to play an important role in care delivery and improving the provider-patient experience.[/*] [*]IoT and remote devices can help in gathering accurate clinical information at lesser costs.[/*] [*]For patient satisfaction of a doctor’s presence, a video teleconsultation is preferable over audio. In remote/rural places, the government should implement video consultation kiosks at PHCs with a staff trained in digital literacy.[/*] [*]New insurance models are evolving to support expenses incurred for telehealth services.[/*] [*]With better infrastructure (broadband, power supply, etc.), telehealth is bound to flourish further and will reach every nook and corner of the country.[/*] [/list] Moderated by the students of AMPH Co 2022, the Max Institute of Healthcare Management hosts the AMPH Discussion Circle on the third Sunday of every month on its LinkedIn page. [b][url=https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6878189648250753024/]Click here[/url][/b] to go to this discussion thread. |
Jan 20, 2022
| FROM ISB PGP Admissions Director Blog: 4 key questions that every aspiring product manager wants to know! |
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In recent times, Product Management has emerged as an important element of a business’s core strategy. Challenging yet highly coveted in the present job market, Product Manager is among the highly sought-after career roles. An engineer by background, Viny Nigam worked as a software engineer before joining ISB in 20014. A keen learn and risk-taker, Viny ventured into product management upon graduating. Six years down the line, she is currently positioned as Product Lead for Azure Network Monitoring at Microsoft. Originally a telecom engineer, Ankit Gupta tried his hands in product management after graduating from ISB in 2017. He currently works as a Senior Product Manager with Amazon Music looking after the US, Europe & Japan region. He describes himself as an experimenter who loves statistics, predictive analyses, machine learning, and everything else associated with product experiments. In a recent online panel discussion organised by the Indian School of Business, the two former ISB students discussed various aspects of their job and answered the 4 most pertinent questions. Here is the summary from the session. What is Product Management? A software engineer by profession, Viny Nigam has spent nearly a decade in product management. According to her, “A product manager answers the ‘What’ & “Why’ of a feature or the next thing that will occur in the product development and has the customer at the center of their decision making. All the cool features that you use in your everyday popular products (e.g – apps), there is a very smart product manager that who thought it; decided to build it; designed how it should be built; took it to the people to use it and today is sitting behind in some room looking at the matrix, analysing how many of you are actually using the product, taking in feedback and making some smart decisions behind the scenes.” Sharing his perspective, Ankit Gupta adds, “I believe product management is about coming up with ideas and working on those ideas backward from customer-end. A product manager must see what is relevant and must solve problems efficiently. They have to work with the engineering, design, and research team on executing the product development and also manage post-launch activities and feedback. It is a continuous cycle of development and improvement that keeps repeating.” When thinking about the fun part about his job, Ankit jokes, “It is mostly a thankless job. The fun is derived from the satisfaction one gets upon completion of a product cycle. The result helps to mitigate the frustration we go through prior to the launch. When you people using your product and how it is helping in their everyday lives – that to me is the most fun part of it.” Talking about the non-fun part of the job, Viny says, “The copious amount of paperwork that has to be done as a product manager. The note-taking, interviews that we record, up-levelling, specs writing – all of it requires tons of paperwork. The dreaming & solving part is fun but to turn that dream into a one-pager with proper lingo is a bit boring but necessary. Is Tech Background a Pre-requisite for Product Management? When speaking about being technically adept for becoming product management, Viny adds “I would say If you can be, then why not! Though I understand the point coming from a non-engineering background, it is an added bonus if you know technology well enough to have a confident conversation with engineers working on the product. Despite all the factors that we consider during product management (marketing, strategy, UI, UX, etc.), a lot of time is spent working with key stakeholders i.e. engineering, and making sure they understand what they are building. That is where having technical knowledge comes in handy for translating lingo into technically understood concepts. Now, what if you don’t have a technical background? There are companies where the product engineering interaction aspect is separated from the product marketing & strategy aspect. One can also pursue roles in those companies. In full-stack roles, one can always show the intent to learn and pick up enough technical knowledge to have a confident conversation with the team. Be it may, one should always be prepared to learn technology while working as a product manager.” Adding his viewpoint to the topic, Ankit believes one should have a passion for technology to be a product manager. “If you want to be a product manager, you should not hate technology. Even if one does not know about technology, one should always have the intention to learn it. As long you have the intention to learn tech and have a technical mindset, one will face never any major challenge while managing a product. A product manager will probably never code and would generally have a conversation around the overall architecture. For Product Manager with a non-technical background, do not choose platform building roles and rather find a customer-facing management role.” How should one upskill for becoming a product manager? Sharing his views on the topic, Ankit believes there is no silver bullet to becoming a product manager. “Product management in itself is not a skill. It is a combination of skills that helps in delivering products in accordance with customer needs. The key component is taking a big complex area and breaking it down into meaningful pieces which one can simplify and solve. Having structured thinking around the product is the key requirement for being a product manager. Your thought process and mental models should be consistent enough so that your decision-making over time becomes easier. One should not have to re-evaluate their entire work while making every decision. Another aspect that product managers should develop is the ability to take feedback and improve on it. Being open-minded about feedback and suggestion helps a lot in the execution part of product management.” While speaking on the difference in skills required for product management roles in different companies (such as Software Company to E-Commerce Company), Viny added, “There are few skills that are common to product management in every company. Doesn’t matter at what role or company are you working with – at the end of the day, you are solving problems. The priorities for different companies however vary. In enterprise companies, qualitative feedback is highly valued and product development takes time. In a consumer-centric company, the opportunity to develop and re-iterate is quick. So, depending on the company, product managers should be quick enough to adapt and learn quickly.” Sharing another insight on upskilling from personal experience, Ankit adds, “If one wants to work as a product manager in a consumer-centric company, one should learn to deal with statistics. There is a lot of experimentation that goes into developing new features and one should be able to navigate through the metrics so that it doesn’t affect the whole product itself. If you are good with statistics, you will be a top-tier product manager.” How does an MBA help in Product Management? Putting forth his view on the topic, Ankit said, “I would say an MBA helps in two ways. One is the development of business lingo. As a product manager, one has to write business proposals, develop business plans, forecasting, and so on. Sometimes a great idea can be chucked out because it is not written in the right manner. When you pursue MBA, you get exposure to the business terms which helps in forming better business-oriented proposals and ideas. Secondly, the other subjects you study during MBA helps a lot. At ISB, I was exposed to statistics and business communication that helps in making better decisions from multiple aspects. Though one may have learnt these skills separately at different points of time, an MBA provides a platform to bring all the skills together and put them to better use in product management roles.” Sharing her thoughts on the topic, Viny stresses choosing the right MBA. “One has to choose an MBA that provides the right lingo, structured thinking, and out-of-the-box ideation. There is a lot of method to the madness that PGP at ISB provides and helps you carve a better outlook for product management. The way things are taught at ISB and the whole learning culture imposes a huge impact on our everyday work functions after the programme. The two things that I really benefitted from PGP are the strategy models we built and the organisation behaviour courses. I still use some of the value-chains we learnt to develop at ISB to this day. The ability to influence change across levels and teams in the organisation without authority is another thing I learnt at ISB. Product Managers are individual contributors. We make individual impacts that span across all teams and come out as business impacts. To be able to confidently handle changes coming without losing motivation due to conflict becomes easy after ISB because you have the tools and frameworks to rely on. Not an MBA, but the right MBA is what makes all the difference while looking for a career in product management.” The above article summarises and presents excerpts from an online panel discussion organised by The Indian School of Business on the topic “Career in Product Management”. Viny Nigam (PGP Co’15) is a Product Lead, Azure Network Monitoring at Microsoft. Ankit Gupta (PGP Co’17) works as a Senior Product Manager (Technical) with Amazon Music at Amazon. The session was hosted by Pragati Garg, a current ISB student from PGP Co’22. |
Jan 20, 2022
| FROM ISB PGP Admissions Director Blog: ISB is known for helping people make careers transitions in desired roles. – Siddharth Shekhar |
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Siddharth Shekhar currently serves as Industry Head at Google and leads the Telecom, Media & Entertainment functions in the organisation. An ISB Alum from PGP Co’13, Siddharth has over a decade of experience across different roles and organisations including Star TV Network and Aditya Birla Group. A seasoned marketeer with a passion for sales, he is also an active member of the ISB community, helping students and aspirants in realising their career goals. In an exclusive session, Siddharth shared his PGP experience and career journey so far, reflecting on his ISB days, learnings and key takeaways from the programme. Here is a summary of the session. Life Before ISB: I did my undergrad at The National Institute of Fashion Technology (Delhi), spending four years studying apparel manufacturing & marketing. Upon graduating, I moved into the consulting world with apparel manufacturing itself, working on projects across various geographies with UNDP including setting up factories in India & Pakistan. However, I realised early in my career that consulting was not something I was enjoying. If you break down consulting, there are two processes. One is selling a project and the second is project execution. I really enjoyed the sales process – understanding clients’ needs, pitching a solution to them, and finalising the deal. Hence, I wanted to be in a sales or business development role. I was exploring new opportunities and through my professional network early from the consulting days, a suitable opening came up at STAR TV Network. Though it was a very different experience since I had never been in media, the network was looking for a candidate from diverse backgrounds. They wanted some fresh thinking into the organisation and were looking for people who were not from the specified background. That worked in my favour and that’s how my journey in media and sales began. After completing close four years at the network, I started thinking about my next career move. That was also the time when Star TV, which has always been ahead of its time, started recruiting top-tier B-Schools. I saw recruits from ISB and IIMs joining and doing great in the organisation. So I found pursuing MBA as the right fit. I started looking for different B-Schools in India and abroad, understanding their curriculum and what will it add to my life. Reasons to choose ISB: During my research, I spoke to ISB alums in my network and outside. I met a few ISB alums at Star TV as well and they spoke very highly of the school. So obviously ISB became one of the top choices I had in mind. I also mulled over gaining international exposure with an MBA from abroad. Apart from that I also looked at IIMs, especially IIM-Bangalore which actually looks at candidates with prior experience. These were the options I had in mind by the time I gave my GMAT and applied for all. Eventually I decided to pursue PGP and that is how my one-year journey at ISB began. ISB was one of my top choices while applying for an MBA because of multiple factors. A lot of people I spoke to at that time, which I still agree with, believed that the growth in India in the next fifteen to twenty years will be immense. It will be faster than any other market – be it APAC, EMEA, or the US. From cost point of view, it made a lot more sense because my return investments were far better with ISB. The time investment was half of any regular MBA. There were schools with close to one-year timeframe such as NUS but then the cost was coming out too expensive even with the financial aid that I could get. Hence ISB became my first choice. Life at ISB: When I joined ISB, a lot of people told me that it would the best year of my life. In the hindsight, it probably was one of the best. As a school, ISB gives you the freedom to make your own choices and supports you all the way from the time when you get in the school to making it as a career leader. It is the school that is known for helping people make careers transitions in desired roles. There are always highly sought-after roles in every period. For example, product management is quite lucrative currently. Back in the day when I was in school, everyone wanted to be in consulting. ISB helps you fulfill those career aspirations as well. Apart from placements, diversity is a huge differentiator at ISB. There is so much diversity in the people that you meet and people with the same interests that your interactions with them carve out what your experience will be like. On-campus, we were divided into different sections with about eighty people in each section. This becomes your immediate family on campus as you spend a lot of time with them in classrooms & a lot of interactions post-classrooms as well. Whether it is some planned activity, study groups, or sports, there is a high level of engagement & focus on the co-curricular part of PGP as well. For example, I believe the photography club at ISB is one of the best photography clubs in any B-School. On professional aspects of things, the clubs at ISB help a lot. I wanted to try out my head at digital marketing and understand how to speak the marketing language. So I joined the Marketing and Communications Council, a student-run body that helps marketing activities of the main ISB course & ISB community. ISB has outreach programs for alums and on-campus activities. I started working on that along with the social activities. In terms of curriculum, the programme provides complete freedom to choose your path. Out of the eights terms at ISB, the first four are compulsory terms that set the foundation for the basic business principles. One may come from different backgrounds, but the core curriculum lays down the foundation upon which you can build your specialisations in the rest of the terms. In electives, one gets enough plenty of options to learn and build specialised skills. I wanted to pursue sales & marketing and went ahead with it. One can also pick up two electives. Apart from the core, I wanted to explore subjects that could help me in my corporate journey. I wanted to explore strategy & finance as I had never studied finance. The batch mates from your group also guide you in the decision-making process. A batchmate of mine advised me by saying, “If you don’t study finance now, when will you do it later in life? And since it is an elective, you can take that risk. Even if you get a ‘C’, it won’t matter. What matters is your learnings from it. What matters is that you are trying to learn.” In hindsight, grades really don’t matter. Learnings are the key takeaway. Placements at ISB: The placement at ISB is a fairly straightforward process. It goes by so fast towards the fifth or sixth semester when you start sitting for placements and companies start visiting campuses. It was very clear to me that I didn’t want to apply for consulting and was looking for sales, marketing, corporate strategy roles, or leadership programmes. During placements, there is a fixed process and it goes day-wise and goes by really fast. It is well organized and you have the choices to apply suitably. The companies you apply to provide all the details beforehand for you to make your choice. Once you make that choice, I think it is just a matter of getting your shortlist right, preparing for the interview, and cracking the interview when the day comes. I got selected to the Aditya Birla group on campus. They have a leadership program where I was class of 2013 as an entry class for the organisation. I along with four batchmates from ISB joined the programme. Life After ISB: The Leadership Program at Aditya Birla Group provided great scope to switch between career roles. I was always interested in sales and marketing and the programme helped me explore these roles across various organizations that the group encompasses. Additionally, the different training modules provide a lot of learning. The mentoring you get adds immense value to your life. Some of the learnings from the programme come to use even today. I worked with the group for around four years and then an alum from my network reached out with an opportunity at Google. The organisation was looking for someone from B-School background along with prior experience in media. That’s where my previous experience with Star TV Network came in handy and I was able to land a role in the organisation. It has been a great opportunity to work with Google. I have grown immensely within the organisation and that has been possible due to the one-degree away alumni network from ISB community. There are a lot of ISB alums here at Google. In fact, there is a joke around the organisation to create a separate batch for ISB. We are across all officers in India and globally. Be it the Bay Area, Dublin, Singapore, or any other part of the world, an ISB alum is just around the corner. That is how widespread the network is. All in all, that has been my journey so far. – Siddharth Shekhar, Industry Head at Google |
Jan 20, 2022
Jan 21, 2022
| FROM ISB Admissions Blog: ISB is known for helping people make careers transitions in desired roles. – Siddharth Shekhar |
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Siddharth Shekhar currently serves as Industry Head at Google and leads the Telecom, Media & Entertainment functions in the organisation. An ISB Alum from PGP Co’13, Siddharth has over a decade of experience across different roles and organisations including Star TV Network and Aditya Birla Group. A seasoned marketeer with a passion for sales, he is also an active member of the ISB community, helping students and aspirants in realising their career goals. In an exclusive session, Siddharth shared his PGP experience and career journey so far, reflecting on his ISB days, learnings and key takeaways from the programme. Here is a summary of the session. Life Before ISB: I did my undergrad at The National Institute of Fashion Technology (Delhi), spending four years studying apparel manufacturing & marketing. Upon graduating, I moved into the consulting world with apparel manufacturing itself, working on projects across various geographies with UNDP including setting up factories in India & Pakistan. However, I realised early in my career that consulting was not something I was enjoying. If you break down consulting, there are two processes. One is selling a project and the second is project execution. I really enjoyed the sales process – understanding clients’ needs, pitching a solution to them, and finalising the deal. Hence, I wanted to be in a sales or business development role. I was exploring new opportunities and through my professional network early from the consulting days, a suitable opening came up at STAR TV Network. Though it was a very different experience since I had never been in media, the network was looking for a candidate from diverse backgrounds. They wanted some fresh thinking into the organisation and were looking for people who were not from the specified background. That worked in my favour and that’s how my journey in media and sales began. After completing close four years at the network, I started thinking about my next career move. That was also the time when Star TV, which has always been ahead of its time, started recruiting top-tier B-Schools. I saw recruits from ISB and IIMs joining and doing great in the organisation. So I found pursuing MBA as the right fit. I started looking for different B-Schools in India and abroad, understanding their curriculum and what will it add to my life. Reasons to choose ISB: During my research, I spoke to ISB alums in my network and outside. I met a few ISB alums at Star TV as well and they spoke very highly of the school. So obviously ISB became one of the top choices I had in mind. I also mulled over gaining international exposure with an MBA from abroad. Apart from that I also looked at IIMs, especially IIM-Bangalore which actually looks at candidates with prior experience. These were the options I had in mind by the time I gave my GMAT and applied for all. Eventually I decided to pursue PGP and that is how my one-year journey at ISB began. ISB was one of my top choices while applying for an MBA because of multiple factors. A lot of people I spoke to at that time, which I still agree with, believed that the growth in India in the next fifteen to twenty years will be immense. It will be faster than any other market – be it APAC, EMEA, or the US. From cost point of view, it made a lot more sense because my return investments were far better with ISB. The time investment was half of any regular MBA. There were schools with close to one-year timeframe such as NUS but then the cost was coming out too expensive even with the financial aid that I could get. Hence ISB became my first choice. Life at ISB: When I joined ISB, a lot of people told me that it would the best year of my life. In the hindsight, it probably was one of the best. As a school, ISB gives you the freedom to make your own choices and supports you all the way from the time when you get in the school to making it as a career leader. It is the school that is known for helping people make careers transitions in desired roles. There are always highly sought-after roles in every period. For example, product management is quite lucrative currently. Back in the day when I was in school, everyone wanted to be in consulting. ISB helps you fulfill those career aspirations as well. Apart from placements, diversity is a huge differentiator at ISB. There is so much diversity in the people that you meet and people with the same interests that your interactions with them carve out what your experience will be like. On-campus, we were divided into different sections with about eighty people in each section. This becomes your immediate family on campus as you spend a lot of time with them in classrooms & a lot of interactions post-classrooms as well. Whether it is some planned activity, study groups, or sports, there is a high level of engagement & focus on the co-curricular part of PGP as well. For example, I believe the photography club at ISB is one of the best photography clubs in any B-School. On professional aspects of things, the clubs at ISB help a lot. I wanted to try out my head at digital marketing and understand how to speak the marketing language. So I joined the Marketing and Communications Council, a student-run body that helps marketing activities of the main ISB course & ISB community. ISB has outreach programs for alums and on-campus activities. I started working on that along with the social activities. In terms of curriculum, the programme provides complete freedom to choose your path. Out of the eights terms at ISB, the first four are compulsory terms that set the foundation for the basic business principles. One may come from different backgrounds, but the core curriculum lays down the foundation upon which you can build your specialisations in the rest of the terms. In electives, one gets enough plenty of options to learn and build specialised skills. I wanted to pursue sales & marketing and went ahead with it. One can also pick up two electives. Apart from the core, I wanted to explore subjects that could help me in my corporate journey. I wanted to explore strategy & finance as I had never studied finance. The batch mates from your group also guide you in the decision-making process. A batchmate of mine advised me by saying, “If you don’t study finance now, when will you do it later in life? And since it is an elective, you can take that risk. Even if you get a ‘C’, it won’t matter. What matters is your learnings from it. What matters is that you are trying to learn.” In hindsight, grades really don’t matter. Learnings are the key takeaway. Placements at ISB: The placement at ISB is a fairly straightforward process. It goes by so fast towards the fifth or sixth semester when you start sitting for placements and companies start visiting campuses. It was very clear to me that I didn’t want to apply for consulting and was looking for sales, marketing, corporate strategy roles, or leadership programmes. During placements, there is a fixed process and it goes day-wise and goes by really fast. It is well organized and you have the choices to apply suitably. The companies you apply to provide all the details beforehand for you to make your choice. Once you make that choice, I think it is just a matter of getting your shortlist right, preparing for the interview, and cracking the interview when the day comes. I got selected to the Aditya Birla group on campus. They have a leadership program where I was class of 2013 as an entry class for the organisation. I along with four batchmates from ISB joined the programme. Life After ISB: The Leadership Program at Aditya Birla Group provided great scope to switch between career roles. I was always interested in sales and marketing and the programme helped me explore these roles across various organizations that the group encompasses. Additionally, the different training modules provide a lot of learning. The mentoring you get adds immense value to your life. Some of the learnings from the programme come to use even today. I worked with the group for around four years and then an alum from my network reached out with an opportunity at Google. The organisation was looking for someone from B-School background along with prior experience in media. That’s where my previous experience with Star TV Network came in handy and I was able to land a role in the organisation. It has been a great opportunity to work with Google. I have grown immensely within the organisation and that has been possible due to the one-degree away alumni network from ISB community. There are a lot of ISB alums here at Google. In fact, there is a joke around the organisation to create a separate batch for ISB. We are across all officers in India and globally. Be it the Bay Area, Dublin, Singapore, or any other part of the world, an ISB alum is just around the corner. That is how widespread the network is. All in all, that has been my journey so far. – Siddharth Shekhar, Industry Head at Google |
Jan 21, 2022
Jan 27, 2022
Jan 28, 2022
Jan 28, 2022
| FROM ISB PGP Admissions Director Blog: PGPMAX is a perfect blend of a course which helps professionals grow into leaders |
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DJ Mathews is a Chartered accountant and Company Secretary with 20 years of professional experience with PepsiCo, Grant Thornton, and Lurgi AG. In the career span of over two decades, Mr Mathews has handled diversified leadership roles in major MNCs in various sectors, with a focus on driving process change efforts, Merger and Integration, strengthening financial controls, improving Financial reporting processes and enhancing business expansion along with compliance and fiscal efficiency. A PGPMAX Alum from the Class of 2017, Mr Mathews is a Gold Medallist (Scholar of Excellence & Dean’s List) from ISB. He currently serves as Director – Assistant Controller for PepsiCo’s Sub-Sahara Africa (SSA) Business and is based out of Cape Town. We had the opportunity to connect with him recently to talk about his PGPMAX experience, ISB days and other contemporary topics. Here is a summary of the interaction. Tell us about yourself, your current organisation and role, and your professional journey so far. I am a Finance professional, Chartered Accountant and Company Secretary. I am an ISB Alum from PGPMAX Co’2017. I work at PepsiCo, the global food & beverage conglomerate with a turnover of over 70 billion dollars a year with presence in almost every country in the world. In terms of my current role, I am the Assistant Controller for PepsiCo’s Sub-Sahara Africa (SSA) Business which generates close to annual 2.5 billion dollars in revenue for the company. SSA is one of the largest business unit of PepsiCo outside of US. PepsiCo recently acquired a listed organisation in South Africa called Pioneer Foods and a major part of my role here is to drive the control integration of the acquired company. From a career journey, it’s 20 years of diverse experience in Finance, Supply chain & Market equipment management and its largely with PepsiCo where I have spent 17 amazing years. I started my career with Grant Thornton in the Audit space and then moved to Lurgi AG for a Project accounting role. Post that; it’s been PepsiCo all the way – worked in 11 different roles in the last 17 years. PepsiCo is one of the best places to work and quite a people-oriented company which lets its people work in a myriad of roles every two years. I was fortunate enough to move into various roles in Finance (Commercial, Operations, Planning, Franchise, Copacking, Controls, Reporting) and got to work even in Supply chain & Market equipment management. That my professional journey so far which has been amazing in terms of learning and growth and I look forward to continuing this amazing run. What inspired you to join the PGPMAX programme? Why ISB? Why PGPMAX: Around 2015, I realised there was a need for me to pursue higher studies because the world was changing rapidly with disruption in traditional business models, the start-up culture was on the boom and technology had evolved pretty fast in the last decade. I wanted to stay relevant in the ever-evolving fast-paced world. With my finance background and being at middle level of management, I wanted to learn the skills of business strategy, management & leadership. Hence, I zeroed it down to executive MBA and started looking for courses in top B-Schools around the world. Why ISB: There were a couple of reasons that led me to pursue PGPMAX from ISB. First of all, ISB is a Top Ranked B-School in India. Not just in terms of rank, but also the faculty the school provides; the school not only has a great faculty on campus but also has professors visiting from all over the world which helps in gaining a global perspective on various contemporary subjects. Secondly, the infrastructure and resources the school ushers are phenomenal along with a fantastic curriculum. The 24 courses one goes through during the programme are a mix of leadership, management, strategy and other highly relevant subjects. The programme is structured in a manner where a working professional can manage by taking 7 days off every five weeks. The admission process is also quite smooth which is more based on your experiences than any past scores. And lastly, the international immersion during the programme where you get to visit Kellogg & Wharton which is fantastic. These reasons led me to choose PGPMAX. What would you say is the right time to pursue PGPMAX? Higher Education: We all need to continuously upskill/upgrade ourselves to stay relevant specially in today’s times when we are witnessing major changes across the world. When an individual feels that he is missing the skills that is required to stay competitive in the changing world, that’s the time for higher education. In terms of PGPMAX: The way the course is designed, and classes are taught, I believe one should have enough experience in their core functional/operating areas. For example, when I came to ISB I had done my core operating roles which were commercial finance & operating finance and was moving towards mid-senior level leadership. I was able to relate to the case studies taught during the course because of my prior experience. That, in my opinion, is the sweet time to pursue PGPMAX. If I must put it into years, I would say at least 10 years of experience is minimal to extract the most out of PGPMAX. Where do you think you were headed in your career before you took the course? How has the overall ISB experience affected the direction? I was already working with a global company, but I realised that I had gone slightly off-track with the choice of some of my roles which as a result slowed my growth. I wanted to upgrade my skills to fast track my Career journey. That’s the reason I took the course. When I was pursuing the course in 2017, I was handling the Finance of one of PepsiCo’s bottling franchise operations in India. From there, within few months into the course, I moved into the mainstream of the organisation; I became Internal Controls Head for PepsiCo India. Hence, the course not only helped me to move back into core finance but also to finance leadership position in PepsiCo India. Since then, I have moved to a role in our sector – PepsiCo’s Head office for Asia, Middle East & Africa. I was Responsible for Financial (US GAAP) reporting for AMESA (Africa, Middle East, South Africa) and APAC (Australia New Zealand, China, Asia Pacific) Sector valued at $6 Billion. Then in 2020, I moved into my current role of Assistant Controller wherein I am responsible for all control matters coming from existing SSA PepsiCo business and newly acquired entities. So, in a nutshell, PGPMAX brought me back to core finance and leadership position in India; then helped me move into AMESA & APAC sector and finally to international business management. I don’t think my career trajectory would have been the same had I not pursued the course. Tell us about your ISB days, specifically about the course and the faculty. What ISB memories do you connect with most profoundly? PGPMAX is a perfect blend of a course that helps professionals grow into leaders. To say this course is “rigorous” will be an understatement. While it requires you to go to campus for just one week after five weeks, but you are fully engaged in the course for the entirety of the programme. You need to read subject material; go to campus; attend classes; give exams, come back & complete your assignments; and much more. The programme requires your undivided attention. I have high regard for the way PGPMAX is taught. So, my fond memories are around the way I learned during the course. From a faculty perspective, ISB has world-class professors with top-notch credentials and teaching methods. It was a great experience to learn from professors who bring such a wealth of knowledge to the class. Class diversity was another great factor that induced great value to the learning experience. We had batchmates from a myriad of industries and brands including Coca-Cola, Microsoft, IBM, KFC, Google etc. The classroom and peer interactions are where you learn the most and that enriches your overall ISB experience. The international immersion was another highlight during our time. My profound memory is of the first term which sets the tone for the programme and was figurative “baptism by fire”. The course starts with such rigour and has the most difficult subject at the start itself. I guess it was deliberate to make us understand that the course isn’t a cakewalk and gives a flavour of what is to come. The tight deadline assignments, examinations, late-night group study sessions – all of it added to the academic rigour and take you back to college times. However, the support system (Classmates, Professors, family) helps you sail through it. What is your philosophy of a good leader? What nuances of leadership did you pick up during the programme worth applying in your professional life? Leadership is an innate quality in every individual and one can be a leader in any position. You do not have to be on top of the corporate ladder to be a leader. You can be a leader in your own space, driving the agenda, managing your responsibilities, and navigating tough situations. To become a good leader, it is highly important to demonstrate authenticity. That is where one can start commanding respect. One should remain true to their personality and should emphasise their own character. Follow your heart and people will start following you. At PGPMAX, I picked up on the leadership aspect called “eating the frog” – Focussing on the most important/difficult part of any project and doing that first. I apply that principle in my daily job and finish the most important/difficult part first which ensures the rest of the project journey is easy, as that gives both momentum and a sense of accomplishment. That is something, among many other learnings, I picked during my time at ISB. What are the new challenges business leaders face in the wake of the current global pandemic? How has business leadership evolved in these unprecedented times? We are living in a world which is volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous. The pandemic has only accelerated the disruption that has been mounting for quite a few years. Our interactions/engagements are getting more and more virtual. I believe, keeping the most important asset of an organisation which is the “People” engaged in these new environments is something leaders are mulling and working upon. These challenges have been met beautifully by most of the leaders so far. Apart from that, managing interpersonal interactions, striking a balance between work & personal life and developing a new hybrid model of working will be the new challenges in the coming times. How significant is PGPMAX during the pandemic? Should one pursue an executive education programme such as PGPMAX in these times? The changing world and staying relevant in these times were the main reasons for me to pursue PGPMAX. That remains true even during the current pandemic and any other uncertainty that is to come. In fact, pandemics should be a trigger point for professionals to upskill themselves to ensure that they / businesses stay relevant in these uncertain times. Programme like PGPMAX helps professionals apply their learnings to implement unconventional ideas/business models for these uncertain times. What does it mean to you to be part of the ISB Alumni community? The value you have derived and how has it benefited you? The best part of ISB Alumni is the help you can get at any time on the professional & personal front. For every problem that ISB alum has, there is an ISB Alum in the community with the solution and is eager to help. I believe the larger support comes from your cohort with whom you have interacted the most. They are truly “friends for life” and continue to encourage, guide and support you at all points of your career. What is it that keeps you buoyed and relevant? What do you cherish doing in your spare time? From the relevance and buoyance perspective, I truly believe in the philosophy that our former CEO Indra Nooyi “All leaders need to be life-long students”. One should always learn in every situation, environment and setting. I guess curiosity is something that keeps me buoyed and relevant. On the personal front, I like to spend time with my family in my spare time. I also spend time reading, mostly management books. I recently finished reading “Make Your Bed” by William H. McRaven which is a fantastic read. If you must encapsulate ISB experience in just one line, what would that be? Though it is difficult to summarise in one sentence, I guess it would be “Perfect Investment in Self”. I must state PGPMAX is the best investment I have made into myself and in Pepsi style; I can say “Yehi hai right choice baby.” -DJ Mathews, Class of 2017, Director – Finance, PepsiCo |
Jan 28, 2022
| FROM ISB Admissions Blog: PGPMAX is a perfect blend of a course which helps professionals grow into leaders |
|
DJ Mathews is a Chartered accountant and Company Secretary with 20 years of professional experience with PepsiCo, Grant Thornton, and Lurgi AG. In the career span of over two decades, Mr Mathews has handled diversified leadership roles in major MNCs in various sectors, with a focus on driving process change efforts, Merger and Integration, strengthening financial controls, improving Financial reporting processes and enhancing business expansion along with compliance and fiscal efficiency. A PGPMAX Alum from the Class of 2017, Mr Mathews is a Gold Medallist (Scholar of Excellence & Dean’s List) from ISB. He currently serves as Director – Assistant Controller for PepsiCo’s Sub-Sahara Africa (SSA) Business and is based out of Cape Town. We had the opportunity to connect with him recently to talk about his PGPMAX experience, ISB days and other contemporary topics. Here is a summary of the interaction. Tell us about yourself, your current organisation and role, and your professional journey so far. I am a Finance professional, Chartered Accountant and Company Secretary. I am an ISB Alum from PGPMAX Co’2017. I work at PepsiCo, the global food & beverage conglomerate with a turnover of over 70 billion dollars a year with presence in almost every country in the world. In terms of my current role, I am the Assistant Controller for PepsiCo’s Sub-Sahara Africa (SSA) Business which generates close to annual 2.5 billion dollars in revenue for the company. SSA is one of the largest business unit of PepsiCo outside of US. PepsiCo recently acquired a listed organisation in South Africa called Pioneer Foods and a major part of my role here is to drive the control integration of the acquired company. From a career journey, it’s 20 years of diverse experience in Finance, Supply chain & Market equipment management and its largely with PepsiCo where I have spent 17 amazing years. I started my career with Grant Thornton in the Audit space and then moved to Lurgi AG for a Project accounting role. Post that; it’s been PepsiCo all the way – worked in 11 different roles in the last 17 years. PepsiCo is one of the best places to work and quite a people-oriented company which lets its people work in a myriad of roles every two years. I was fortunate enough to move into various roles in Finance (Commercial, Operations, Planning, Franchise, Copacking, Controls, Reporting) and got to work even in Supply chain & Market equipment management. That my professional journey so far which has been amazing in terms of learning and growth and I look forward to continuing this amazing run. What inspired you to join the PGPMAX programme? Why ISB? Why PGPMAX: Around 2015, I realised there was a need for me to pursue higher studies because the world was changing rapidly with disruption in traditional business models, the start-up culture was on the boom and technology had evolved pretty fast in the last decade. I wanted to stay relevant in the ever-evolving fast-paced world. With my finance background and being at middle level of management, I wanted to learn the skills of business strategy, management & leadership. Hence, I zeroed it down to executive MBA and started looking for courses in top B-Schools around the world. Why ISB: There were a couple of reasons that led me to pursue PGPMAX from ISB. First of all, ISB is a Top Ranked B-School in India. Not just in terms of rank, but also the faculty the school provides; the school not only has a great faculty on campus but also has professors visiting from all over the world which helps in gaining a global perspective on various contemporary subjects. Secondly, the infrastructure and resources the school ushers are phenomenal along with a fantastic curriculum. The 24 courses one goes through during the programme are a mix of leadership, management, strategy and other highly relevant subjects. The programme is structured in a manner where a working professional can manage by taking 7 days off every five weeks. The admission process is also quite smooth which is more based on your experiences than any past scores. And lastly, the international immersion during the programme where you get to visit Kellogg & Wharton which is fantastic. These reasons led me to choose PGPMAX. What would you say is the right time to pursue PGPMAX? Higher Education: We all need to continuously upskill/upgrade ourselves to stay relevant specially in today’s times when we are witnessing major changes across the world. When an individual feels that he is missing the skills that is required to stay competitive in the changing world, that’s the time for higher education. In terms of PGPMAX: The way the course is designed, and classes are taught, I believe one should have enough experience in their core functional/operating areas. For example, when I came to ISB I had done my core operating roles which were commercial finance & operating finance and was moving towards mid-senior level leadership. I was able to relate to the case studies taught during the course because of my prior experience. That, in my opinion, is the sweet time to pursue PGPMAX. If I must put it into years, I would say at least 10 years of experience is minimal to extract the most out of PGPMAX. Where do you think you were headed in your career before you took the course? How has the overall ISB experience affected the direction? I was already working with a global company, but I realised that I had gone slightly off-track with the choice of some of my roles which as a result slowed my growth. I wanted to upgrade my skills to fast track my Career journey. That’s the reason I took the course. When I was pursuing the course in 2017, I was handling the Finance of one of PepsiCo’s bottling franchise operations in India. From there, within few months into the course, I moved into the mainstream of the organisation; I became Internal Controls Head for PepsiCo India. Hence, the course not only helped me to move back into core finance but also to finance leadership position in PepsiCo India. Since then, I have moved to a role in our sector – PepsiCo’s Head office for Asia, Middle East & Africa. I was Responsible for Financial (US GAAP) reporting for AMESA (Africa, Middle East, South Africa) and APAC (Australia New Zealand, China, Asia Pacific) Sector valued at $6 Billion. Then in 2020, I moved into my current role of Assistant Controller wherein I am responsible for all control matters coming from existing SSA PepsiCo business and newly acquired entities. So, in a nutshell, PGPMAX brought me back to core finance and leadership position in India; then helped me move into AMESA & APAC sector and finally to international business management. I don’t think my career trajectory would have been the same had I not pursued the course. Tell us about your ISB days, specifically about the course and the faculty. What ISB memories do you connect with most profoundly? PGPMAX is a perfect blend of a course that helps professionals grow into leaders. To say this course is “rigorous” will be an understatement. While it requires you to go to campus for just one week after five weeks, but you are fully engaged in the course for the entirety of the programme. You need to read subject material; go to campus; attend classes; give exams, come back & complete your assignments; and much more. The programme requires your undivided attention. I have high regard for the way PGPMAX is taught. So, my fond memories are around the way I learned during the course. From a faculty perspective, ISB has world-class professors with top-notch credentials and teaching methods. It was a great experience to learn from professors who bring such a wealth of knowledge to the class. Class diversity was another great factor that induced great value to the learning experience. We had batchmates from a myriad of industries and brands including Coca-Cola, Microsoft, IBM, KFC, Google etc. The classroom and peer interactions are where you learn the most and that enriches your overall ISB experience. The international immersion was another highlight during our time. My profound memory is of the first term which sets the tone for the programme and was figurative “baptism by fire”. The course starts with such rigour and has the most difficult subject at the start itself. I guess it was deliberate to make us understand that the course isn’t a cakewalk and gives a flavour of what is to come. The tight deadline assignments, examinations, late-night group study sessions – all of it added to the academic rigour and take you back to college times. However, the support system (Classmates, Professors, family) helps you sail through it. What is your philosophy of a good leader? What nuances of leadership did you pick up during the programme worth applying in your professional life? Leadership is an innate quality in every individual and one can be a leader in any position. You do not have to be on top of the corporate ladder to be a leader. You can be a leader in your own space, driving the agenda, managing your responsibilities, and navigating tough situations. To become a good leader, it is highly important to demonstrate authenticity. That is where one can start commanding respect. One should remain true to their personality and should emphasise their own character. Follow your heart and people will start following you. At PGPMAX, I picked up on the leadership aspect called “eating the frog” – Focussing on the most important/difficult part of any project and doing that first. I apply that principle in my daily job and finish the most important/difficult part first which ensures the rest of the project journey is easy, as that gives both momentum and a sense of accomplishment. That is something, among many other learnings, I picked during my time at ISB. What are the new challenges business leaders face in the wake of the current global pandemic? How has business leadership evolved in these unprecedented times? We are living in a world which is volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous. The pandemic has only accelerated the disruption that has been mounting for quite a few years. Our interactions/engagements are getting more and more virtual. I believe, keeping the most important asset of an organisation which is the “People” engaged in these new environments is something leaders are mulling and working upon. These challenges have been met beautifully by most of the leaders so far. Apart from that, managing interpersonal interactions, striking a balance between work & personal life and developing a new hybrid model of working will be the new challenges in the coming times. How significant is PGPMAX during the pandemic? Should one pursue an executive education programme such as PGPMAX in these times? The changing world and staying relevant in these times were the main reasons for me to pursue PGPMAX. That remains true even during the current pandemic and any other uncertainty that is to come. In fact, pandemics should be a trigger point for professionals to upskill themselves to ensure that they / businesses stay relevant in these uncertain times. Programme like PGPMAX helps professionals apply their learnings to implement unconventional ideas/business models for these uncertain times. What does it mean to you to be part of the ISB Alumni community? The value you have derived and how has it benefited you? The best part of ISB Alumni is the help you can get at any time on the professional & personal front. For every problem that ISB alum has, there is an ISB Alum in the community with the solution and is eager to help. I believe the larger support comes from your cohort with whom you have interacted the most. They are truly “friends for life” and continue to encourage, guide and support you at all points of your career. What is it that keeps you buoyed and relevant? What do you cherish doing in your spare time? From the relevance and buoyance perspective, I truly believe in the philosophy that our former CEO Indra Nooyi “All leaders need to be life-long students”. One should always learn in every situation, environment and setting. I guess curiosity is something that keeps me buoyed and relevant. On the personal front, I like to spend time with my family in my spare time. I also spend time reading, mostly management books. I recently finished reading “Make Your Bed” by William H. McRaven which is a fantastic read. If you must encapsulate ISB experience in just one line, what would that be? Though it is difficult to summarise in one sentence, I guess it would be “Perfect Investment in Self”. I must state PGPMAX is the best investment I have made into myself and in Pepsi style; I can say “Yehi hai right choice baby.” -DJ Mathews, Class of 2017, Director – Finance, PepsiCo |
Feb 1, 2022
| FROM ISB PGP Admissions Director Blog: Can healthcare go the “Uber” way? |
|
[img]https://blogs.isb.edu/healthcare/files/2022/02/Uberization-of-Healthcare.jpg[/img] A growing number of startups classify themselves as “patient aggregators” on similar lines as “taxi aggregators”. While the founders and the investors behind these projects would vouch for the benefits and value that these projects add to healthcare delivery, there’s are certainly some unanswered doubts and apprehensions. AMPH Co 2022 students [url=https://www.linkedin.com/in/drkarun/]Dr. Karun Singla[/url] and [url=https://www.linkedin.com/in/sudhakar-singh-8503858/]Sudhakar Singh[/url] invited experts and industry leaders to share their opinions and insights on the rapidly growing and evolving “uberisation of healthcare” in the AMPH Discussion Circle hosted by the Max Institute of Healthcare Management. [b]Key insights from the discussion [/b] [list] [*]Uberisation of healthcare is happening rapidly and it is a potentially disruptive trend.[/*] [*]There is a broad opinion that healthcare in India is broken in more than one way.[/*] [*]There is an unmet need when it comes to the patient’s journey from the doctor’s consultation to discharge from the hospital, more so in cases where surgery is required.[/*] [*]Patient aggregators like Pristyn Care, Glamyo, etc. claim to smoothen the patient’s journey.[/*] [*]While taxi aggregators like Uber created value for both the customer and the provider, healthcare is a more complex ecosystem with multiple stakeholders (4Ps – patients, providers, payers and policymakers) and the processes might not be as linear as a cab-hailing service.[/*] [*]Unlike other services, where you can feel, try and use/reject, healthcare is sensitive, emotive and leaves no scope for error lest it results in harm.[/*] [*]While it may be worthwhile to aggregate pre and post-hospital services, how these aggregators deal with actual care delivery remains to be seen.[/*] [*]Doctors and healthcare providers feel short-changed as the addition of a new stakeholder to the value chain takes away a big chunk of revenue from the hospitals and doctors with the aggregators retaining the lions’ share of the revenue.[/*] [*]Another concern, which is significant, is the safety and confidentiality of patient data.[/*] [*]Patient centricity remains the holy grail for the success of such ventures.[/*] [*]As long as the focus is on “value” and not on “valuations”, we are in for exciting times ahead.[/*] [/list] Moderated by the students of AMPH Co 2022, the Max Institute of Healthcare Management hosts the AMPH Discussion Circle on the third Sunday of every month on its LinkedIn page. [b][url=https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6888352665445658624]Click here[/url][/b] to go to this discussion thread. |
Feb 2, 2022
| FROM ISB Admissions Blog: Can healthcare go the “Uber” way? |
|
[img]https://blogs.isb.edu/healthcare/files/2022/02/Uberization-of-Healthcare.jpg[/img] A growing number of startups classify themselves as “patient aggregators” on similar lines as “taxi aggregators”. While the founders and the investors behind these projects would vouch for the benefits and value that these projects add to healthcare delivery, there’s are certainly some unanswered doubts and apprehensions. AMPH Co 2022 students [url=https://www.linkedin.com/in/drkarun/]Dr. Karun Singla[/url] and [url=https://www.linkedin.com/in/sudhakar-singh-8503858/]Sudhakar Singh[/url] invited experts and industry leaders to share their opinions and insights on the rapidly growing and evolving “uberisation of healthcare” in the AMPH Discussion Circle hosted by the Max Institute of Healthcare Management. [b]Key insights from the discussion [/b] [list] [*]Uberisation of healthcare is happening rapidly and it is a potentially disruptive trend.[/*] [*]There is a broad opinion that healthcare in India is broken in more than one way.[/*] [*]There is an unmet need when it comes to the patient’s journey from the doctor’s consultation to discharge from the hospital, more so in cases where surgery is required.[/*] [*]Patient aggregators like Pristyn Care, Glamyo, etc. claim to smoothen the patient’s journey.[/*] [*]While taxi aggregators like Uber created value for both the customer and the provider, healthcare is a more complex ecosystem with multiple stakeholders (4Ps – patients, providers, payers and policymakers) and the processes might not be as linear as a cab-hailing service.[/*] [*]Unlike other services, where you can feel, try and use/reject, healthcare is sensitive, emotive and leaves no scope for error lest it results in harm.[/*] [*]While it may be worthwhile to aggregate pre and post-hospital services, how these aggregators deal with actual care delivery remains to be seen.[/*] [*]Doctors and healthcare providers feel short-changed as the addition of a new stakeholder to the value chain takes away a big chunk of revenue from the hospitals and doctors with the aggregators retaining the lions’ share of the revenue.[/*] [*]Another concern, which is significant, is the safety and confidentiality of patient data.[/*] [*]Patient centricity remains the holy grail for the success of such ventures.[/*] [*]As long as the focus is on “value” and not on “valuations”, we are in for exciting times ahead.[/*] [/list] Moderated by the students of AMPH Co 2022, the Max Institute of Healthcare Management hosts the AMPH Discussion Circle on the third Sunday of every month on its LinkedIn page. [b][url=https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6888352665445658624]Click here[/url][/b] to go to this discussion thread. |
Feb 3, 2022
Feb 4, 2022
Feb 4, 2022
| FROM ISB PGP Admissions Director Blog: Closing the gap in Cancer care |
|
[img]https://blogs.isb.edu/healthcare/files/2022/02/shutterstock_566528557.png[/img] February 4 is not just another date in the calendar. It’s World Cancer Day, the day when we all come together to contribute to a change in our little ways. “The butterfly effect refers to the fact that an action, as insignificant as a butterfly flapping its wings can ultimately result in a typhoon halfway around the world!” – The Chaos Theory Empowering, isn’t it? The advent of Covid-19 taught us one thing – we are stronger when together and each one of us is capable of bringing about a change. It has also shown us that, collectively, we can fight any disease, even Cancer. World Cancer Day is about spreading cancer awareness but more importantly, it is about getting the whole community involved in a fight against it. Small efforts can go a long way in overcoming the barriers of early detection, treatment and care for the patients. [b]The magnitude of the problem[/b] A report by the National Cancer Registry Programme, India cites that about 1.4 million new cancer cases were diagnosed in India in 2021 alone. That is twice the number of Covid-19 cases in the state of Telangana alone over the past two years! [b]How do we curb this growth year on year? [/b] 1. Follow a healthy lifestyle: Exercise every day and eat right. 2. Stop smoking and encourage everyone around you to do the same. 3. Stay away from tobacco, smoke or smokeless. 4. Control your drinking and never mix alcohol with smoking. 5. Be conscious of the environment where you work and live; it should be free of pollutants. 6. Get a regular health check-up, especially if you are above 50 years of age. 7. If you have a family history of breast, ovary, stomach, colon or any such cancer, get yourself screened regularly. All you need is half a day, once a year. 8. Educate your family, friends, and community that cancer is not a death sentence. More than 70 per cent of cases are curable if detected early. Remember that a normal life after cancer treatment is possible. [b]What can you do?[/b] All efforts, minor or major, can help spread the awareness around Cancer treatment and push people to shed their inhibitions and reach out for help. An effort as small as sharing a social media post can give someone a second chance at life. [b]World Cancer Day 2022[/b] The theme for this year’s World Cancer Day is ‘Close the care gap’. Inequality exists in healthcare everywhere around the world and more so in a country like ours. When compared with the West, about 80 per cent of cancer cases are detected in late stages in India, which leads to the highest death rates. This can be explained through the inadequacy of the 5As of healthcare (accessibility, affordability, acceptability, approachability, and appropriateness) in Cancer treatment. Even though many private players are delivering the highest quality of care at the best cure rates and with the latest treatment protocols and technology, inaccessibility, unaffordability and unacceptability by the majority of the Indian population – middle-class and rural – remain some of the major challenges on ground. [b]The way forward[/b] The use of information technology, the latest technologies such as artificial intelligence and uberisation of care can help make the treatment available to the patients at their fingertips. Through telehealth, a qualified oncologist can consult patients and treat them remotely even in the most remote and inaccessible areas. I believe a location-based service for Cancer care where care is made available to the patient at a hospital near them instead of them going to the hospital can work wonders in curbing the problem. This World Cancer Day, let us join hands and #closethecaregap through our small actions and defeat Cancer. Together we can, and we will conquer it! [b]This article is authored by [url=https://www.linkedin.com/in/drvijaykaranreddy/]Dr. Vijay Karan Reddy[/url], Consultant, Apollo Cancer Institute & AMPH Co 2022 student and edited by [url=https://www.linkedin.com/in/vandanayadav15/]Vandana Yadav[/url], Manager, Max Institute of Healthcare Management, Indian School of Business.[/b] |
Feb 4, 2022
| FROM ISB Admissions Blog: Closing the gap in Cancer care |
|
[img]https://blogs.isb.edu/healthcare/files/2022/02/shutterstock_566528557.png[/img] February 4 is not just another date in the calendar. It’s World Cancer Day, the day when we all come together to contribute to a change in our little ways. “The butterfly effect refers to the fact that an action, as insignificant as a butterfly flapping its wings can ultimately result in a typhoon halfway around the world!” – The Chaos Theory Empowering, isn’t it? The advent of Covid-19 taught us one thing – we are stronger when together and each one of us is capable of bringing about a change. It has also shown us that, collectively, we can fight any disease, even Cancer. World Cancer Day is about spreading cancer awareness but more importantly, it is about getting the whole community involved in a fight against it. Small efforts can go a long way in overcoming the barriers of early detection, treatment and care for the patients. [b]The magnitude of the problem[/b] A report by the National Cancer Registry Programme, India cites that about 1.4 million new cancer cases were diagnosed in India in 2021 alone. That is twice the number of Covid-19 cases in the state of Telangana alone over the past two years! [b]How do we curb this growth year on year? [/b] 1. Follow a healthy lifestyle: Exercise every day and eat right. 2. Stop smoking and encourage everyone around you to do the same. 3. Stay away from tobacco, smoke or smokeless. 4. Control your drinking and never mix alcohol with smoking. 5. Be conscious of the environment where you work and live; it should be free of pollutants. 6. Get a regular health check-up, especially if you are above 50 years of age. 7. If you have a family history of breast, ovary, stomach, colon or any such cancer, get yourself screened regularly. All you need is half a day, once a year. 8. Educate your family, friends, and community that cancer is not a death sentence. More than 70 per cent of cases are curable if detected early. Remember that a normal life after cancer treatment is possible. [b]What can you do?[/b] All efforts, minor or major, can help spread the awareness around Cancer treatment and push people to shed their inhibitions and reach out for help. An effort as small as sharing a social media post can give someone a second chance at life. [b]World Cancer Day 2022[/b] The theme for this year’s World Cancer Day is ‘Close the care gap’. Inequality exists in healthcare everywhere around the world and more so in a country like ours. When compared with the West, about 80 per cent of cancer cases are detected in late stages in India, which leads to the highest death rates. This can be explained through the inadequacy of the 5As of healthcare (accessibility, affordability, acceptability, approachability, and appropriateness) in Cancer treatment. Even though many private players are delivering the highest quality of care at the best cure rates and with the latest treatment protocols and technology, inaccessibility, unaffordability and unacceptability by the majority of the Indian population – middle-class and rural – remain some of the major challenges on ground. [b]The way forward[/b] The use of information technology, the latest technologies such as artificial intelligence and uberisation of care can help make the treatment available to the patients at their fingertips. Through telehealth, a qualified oncologist can consult patients and treat them remotely even in the most remote and inaccessible areas. I believe a location-based service for Cancer care where care is made available to the patient at a hospital near them instead of them going to the hospital can work wonders in curbing the problem. This World Cancer Day, let us join hands and #closethecaregap through our small actions and defeat Cancer. Together we can, and we will conquer it! [b]This article is authored by [url=https://www.linkedin.com/in/drvijaykaranreddy/]Dr. Vijay Karan Reddy[/url], Consultant, Apollo Cancer Institute & AMPH Co 2022 student and edited by [url=https://www.linkedin.com/in/vandanayadav15/]Vandana Yadav[/url], Manager, Max Institute of Healthcare Management, Indian School of Business.[/b] |
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