Dr. Ash Barve earned her Bachelor of Dental Medicine and Surgery in 1999, and her MMCi degree in 2019. She started her career as a practicing dentist in India and Thailand. After a brief period of working for scientific publications, she joined Cognizant in 2007, where she held various positions for 14 years. In January 2021 she joined Saama Technologies Inc., where she currently serves as Director of Customer Success.
What made you pursue the MMCi degree?
In the summer of 2018, I was considering how to take my career to the next level. I had a strong clinical background, and was looking for something to advance my management, research, and technology skills. The MMCi degree met my requirements: the combination of clinical informatics and business courses aligned perfectly with my experience. Other important and fascinating aspects were the composition and diversity of the cohort of students in the MMCi program, the amazing faculty and mentorship, the guest speakers from the industry, and the opportunities to attend workshop and conferences outside of the classroom.
The flexibility of the program was very important to me, with in-person learning on the alternate weekends, and the fact that it could be completed in just one year. I had a family and a full time job responsibility, and my husband, our daughter, and my managers at work were very supportive, so all the pieces came together. I was absolutely thrilled when I was accepted into the program; I still remember that day.
How has the MMCi degree helped you in your career?
The MMCi degree really changed me: I have been more confident and well-rounded as a subject matter expert. I could reach for higher responsibilities and critical roles within my organization. I could pivot easily into business and IT consulting.
I changed my job in 2021 and focused my career path on life sciences clinical analytics. In my new job, I work closely with business leaders from large pharma organizations. I deal primarily with clinical operations data and help solve business problems using natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning techniques, building scalable analytics solutions and thus empowering the business through data-driven decision making. I feel happy and satisfied in my work and am serving our clients better. I owe this to my MMCi degree and my mentors at Duke University.
What courses did you find the most valuable?
All of the courses were valuable and complementary to each other. There are three pillars of courses: Data, Clinical Informatics, and Management. I have been able to translate the core concepts I learned from the data courses, such as data elements, interoperability, and visualizations, to my current job role. The clinical informatics and business strategy courses are valuable with consulting and strategy. The management courses helped me to be successful and advance on the business ladder.
What advice do you have for prospective students?
Just go for it! The MMCi program is a very good investment, and you will reap the benefits for many years. It is unique and will position you strategically in your career growth. The MMCi staff, faculty, and mentors want you to succeed and will support you. After completing the program, the connection is alive and kicking: we attend webinars on an ongoing basis and get huge support from the Duke alumni network.