For two Kellogg MBA students, healthcare is more than a passion — it’s personal

The Fellowship for Value-Based Care Leadership at Oak Street Health allows emerging physician leaders within the company to develop their expertise while earning their MBA through the Kellogg Evening & Weekend Program. In this first installment of a two-part series, we speak with two current fellows participating in this unique partnership between Kellogg and Oak Street Health, a fast-growing network of primary care providers that specializes in serving older adults. 

Michael Chen ’24 MBA and Christiana Shoushtari ’24 MBA aren’t your typical business school students. Like their peers, you can find them crunching for exams and collaborating on group projects across strategy, marketing, analytics and other course topics. But outside the classroom, they are working on critical projects that can improve health outcomes for seniors. And, as physicians themselves, they are also seeing patients in Chicago clinics. We sat down with these remarkable students to understand how business school and their fellowship experience are transforming their careers and shaping their perspectives on an increasingly complex industry.  

Learning the business of healthcare 

Chen went through medical residency during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Studying internal medicine, he cared for patients at various levels of illness, but he quickly learned that those from disadvantaged groups were disproportionately impacted by the pandemic. “We did the right thing, getting tests done, prescribing medication. But when I discharged patients, I didn’t know if they could afford to follow up with us or get the medication they needed,” he says.  

That realization ultimately led him to pursue his MBA. “I felt I was practicing medicine in a silo; I wasn’t getting a full picture. To better help my patients, I needed to learn about the business of healthcare.”  

For Chen, the fellowship offered by Oak Street Health has been illuminating. Last fall, he and Shoushtari participated in the Healthcare Deep Dive, a unique course that brings together students from all of the Kellogg MBA programs to learn from leading experts and renowned faculty members. “Learning about healthcare strategy has provided a framework about different players within healthcare. It has been interesting to find out about players I never knew existed,” he says. 

As a part of the fellowship, Chen and Shoushtari participate in regular lectures. The expert healthcare faculty at Kellogg includes Craig Garthwaite, Amanda Starc, Paul Campbell and Kaveh Safavi. 

Like Chen, Shoushtari pursued a career in medicine because of her desire to help people. She also studied internal medicine and wanted to go into primary care. “After I completed medical school, I had my eyes on Oak Street Health. I wanted to work with communities that are underserved and don’t have primary care access,” Shoushtari says. “I also wanted a structured path that led to a leadership position, and the fellowship provides structure and mentorship. As a physician you don’t always get to learn the business aspect of medicine.”   

Prior to medical school, Shoushtari spent several years in the federal government, including Capitol Hill and Department of Health and Human Services. “I learned early on you have to understand the entire healthcare landscape — not just the political aspects, but also the economic ones, too.” 

The best of both worlds 

As fellows, both students see patients three days a week and work on special internal projects or venture projects the other two days, providing them with what they say is a perfect balance of learning and service. Both are working in underserved communities in Chicago — Shoushtari in the Garfield Park neighborhood and Chen in Chinatown — and they say that experience is one of the most rewarding parts of the fellowship. 

The venture projects allow them to take a closer look into a critical issue facing the healthcare industry. Shoushtari’s project is focused on finding a better way to identify loneliness in the patient population. “I love the challenge of working through how to address this issue, since there is no clear solution.” she says. “Venture projects have been an invaluable opportunity. We interact with leaders at Oak Street Health, and that wouldn’t have happened without the fellowship.” The venture projects are overseen by Kellogg healthcare faculty.

“This experience has been rewarding and challenging,” says Chen, who mentions that when he began his work with Oak Street Health, he had to learn a new dialect. “The population in Chicago is more Cantonese speaking than the Mandarin that I am used to growing up in New York. I’ve been listening to podcasts and learning more. It is great to take care of a community that I am passionate about.”  

His venture projects have allowed him to explore a wide variety of topics. “A lot of my patients with lower back pain are really unwilling to go to physical therapy. This is partly because they are unsure if the physical therapist will be able to speak their language,” Chen says. “I am wondering if our patients can benefit from online physical therapy. I am also exploring how we can improve provider onboarding. Internal projects are great because they give you context for why you practice medicine.”  

A personal connection

Seeing America’s health system up close and personal led both Chen and Shoushtari down the path of becoming a healthcare professional. 

Says Shoushtari, “When my mom was diagnosed breast cancer, being in the medical space, I realized that one doctor can make a difference. It’s about the personal touch. It feels very rewarding to know why you are doing the work you are doing.” Also a cancer survivor, Shoushtari says health care providers can make a huge difference. 

Chen shares a similar story. An experience with his grandfather opened his eyes to some of the changes the healthcare industry desperately needs.  

“I went into medicine because my grandpa was dying of a devastating stroke,” he says. “I was in the ICU with him for nine days, going through an emotional rollercoaster, and I wouldn’t wish that on anyone. It’s been my mission to prevent that from happening to any of my patients. It is a way for me to give back to my community.” 

Aligning value-based care with the future of medicine 

Under the value-based care model, which is core to Oak Street’s mission, healthcare providers are paid based on patients’ health outcomes rather than on the services the provider delivers. This approach incentivizes preventive care, mental health, overall wellness and more one-on-one time between patients and their doctors. Chen admits he didn’t know much about value-based care prior to the fellowship.  

“The program at Oak Street Health is innovative,” he says. “I hadn’t learned much about value-based care until the end of my residency. Value is keeping patients as healthy as possible as long as possible so they can spend time with their loved ones doing the things that they enjoy.”  

As he puts it, “Too often you go to the doctor, and you don’t know what happens next. I’ve started thinking more about the broader picture of social determinants of health. Oak Street Health really takes that to heart. This has been a great part of my medical journey.”  

Shoushtari became interested in value-based care because it has given her the opportunity to address some of the chronic issues facing healthcare systems, specifically high costs, outcomes and access to care.  

“I had no experience with value-based care before this fellowship,” she says. The program “has given me time to dive deep into my patients and better understand who they are. I really get to know them and spend more time with them than usual. The Oak Street model allows them to reinvest in things like behavioral health, transportation, podiatry — this all helps in better serving the patient.”