Beedie School of Business at Simon Fraser University

“I always saw myself working beyond clinical
pharmacy. I felt that I could also shine on the business
side of healthcare. I knew that with my strong clinical
training an MBA would help open more doors and give
me the mobility I was looking for in my career.”

Morenike Akinyemi was looking for greater mobility early on
in her career. After spending two years working as a clinical
pharmacist at various Nigerian hospitals and pharmacies, she
traveled over 10,000 km to Vancouver from her home in Nigeria
to take her career to the next level. Morenike chose the MBA
to develop a business management toolkit to go along with
her strong clinical skills, and to prep for a successful transition
from patient care to the business strategy side of the healthcare
industry. Today she leverages her MBA skills, strategic mindset
and network at the Provincial Health Services Authority.

“I wanted to make a career change. I knew that if
I invested in myself with an MBA that it would
give me the mobility I was looking for to pivot
successfully into a new career.”

Phil VanLaar felt it was time to invest in himself. After spending
eight years working as a civil engineer at several top Canadian
engineering firms, he was looking to prepare for a successful
transition into another industry. He also wanted greater
career mobility into upper management. Phil chose the MBA
to develop a business management skillset to complement
his robust technical experience as well as to broaden his
professional connections beyond the civil engineering and
construction industry. Today Phil is using his MBA skills in a
new career working in management consulting at the Business
Development Bank of Canada (BDC).