BALSA Team wins 2023 Midwest Healthcare Case Competition

We were excited to catch-up with Ochroma, who competed and won first prize in the Midwest Healthcare Case Competition (MHCC), held this past October. The team was made up of BASLA members Jackie Garcia, Haihui Zhu, David Price, Ph.D., and Ritvik Ranjan. Additionally, BALSA members Yuanyuan He and Garrett Eason, Ph.D. served on the organizing committee to arrange a widely successful second year of the MHCC. We sat down with Ochroma to learn about their MHCC experience and what they took away from the competition!

What excited you most about the opportunity to compete at this year’s MHCC?
Jackie Garcia:  I learned about the MHCC earlier in the year and it sounded like it would be really unique experience from traditional BALSA cases. It offered the chance to get exposure to a new type of case and over a really short timeline. The case itself was something really relevant and so the timeliness of the material was really exciting to be a part of.
 
David Price: I really liked the experience because networking is a nightmare and this was a unique opportunity for both getting to network and also getting to showcase what value you can offer – it was a really good contrast to what you normally do in networking events.
 
Can you give us a glimpse on the case you were working on at MHCC?
David: The general idea was how can we deliver equitable access to healthcare treatments.
 
Haihui Zhu: The actual prompt we were presented with included a whole long list of questions and our ultimate presentation focused on answering those questions in a compelling way. This is what we did most successfully - clearly delivering solutions to these questions.
 
Jackie: I will say that the prompt was not very clear at the outset. The approach we used was how we thought about interpreting the prompt and really keeping in mind who the audience and clients were. From there we could focus on our solution and rather than spending a lot of time on market or competitor research we cut right through to focus on the recommendation and solution slides. This is really what set us apart from the rest of the competition who didn’t focus as much on the actual recommendations.
 
How did you all come together to work on your solution, dividing and then bringing together the different work streams?
Jackie: Dave, our team lead, did a good job guiding us and building up a list of items to delegate and working out who needed to do what. Something that really helped us was making a slack channel that allowed us to work really continuously. For example, at some point I proposed an okay solution but not a great solution. On slack, we iterated and pivoted that solution from good to great really quickly. We only had one week, so time was really a constraint.  Other teams were meeting every night but by having a good communication channel, we gained efficiency. When it came time to draw up slides, Haihui had a good idea to compile all our slides in a shared PowerPoint deck. We were all focused on efficiency.
 
David: Another idea we had was to meet together before the prompt was released to get acquainted. Then, again, on the night of the prompt release, we met to get a brainstorm going. As Jackie mentioned, we tried to only have one night’s worth of background research before starting to compile our whole set of solutions.
 
Haihui: One other thing is that to maximize our efficiency and guarantee our outcome, we had a day or two to finalize our proposals in the competition. So we used this time to make our solution more valid and then the day before the deadline we spent a few hours really tackling the end product.
 
What were some of the other challenges you faced and how would you suggest next year’s teams to think about approaching them?
David: If I was speaking with someone competing in next year’s MHCC, I’d say don’t waver or doubt your solutions, you just have to go with it and use your problem solving skills to convey and convince the judges of your reasoning. My recommendation would be to just keep moving forward.
 
In addition to the case, the MHCC offers a strong networking opportunity. Who were you able to connect with and how did it influence your thoughts on your careers?
Jackie: There were two networking sessions – the first is in the semi-finals and the second was after the semi-finals. A whole number of companies were there – for example Eli Lilly, Genentech, and Charles River Associates. The first was open to quarter finalists and the second was a little more exclusive. The first one was really helpful for me because there were a lot of rooms where you could often talk 1-on-1 with industry experts within companies. They really helped orient me to the industry and the strategy positions within those companies.
 
David: I agree with Jackie, the most helpful part for me was to understand the corporate structures within those companies to understand where all the jobs you see online actually sit. For instance, at Eli Lilly there are two tracks, so it was helpful to hear from people on each track and what the people on each track are interested in for helping me figure out what areas I might best be suited for. 
 
What advice do you have for other student consultants who may be interested in future MHCC?
Haihui: I would recommend interested BALSA members to just go for it – try it out – there’s no harm in competing and you really shouldn’t be nervous by it. Although most teams have 5 members, we had a great team of 4. It made me realize that a team of 3 or 4 BALSA members would do just great, as long as you communicate well with each other. BALSA training prepares you quite well for the competition.
 
David: I would say it’s a really enriching experience. The networking aspect alone is well worth the experience. My advice for BALSA members is to have the confidence in your work – BALSA exposes you to all the skills you need and so this is really putting that training into practice.
 
Jackie: I was on the fence because of the time commitment, but I ultimately reasoned that it was only a week or two, and so it wouldn’t be too much time. I would definitely do it again if I had the chance – a great opportunity to get face time with a lot of people inside these companies we read about every day. Also, seeing how other people approached the prompt gave me a lot of confidence in my own skills. Finally, it was really helpful in clarifying whether to pursue consulting, business development, or all the careers we really don’t have exposure to as students and trainees.
 
Thank you Ochroma for your time. As a last question – and the question BALSA members really want to know – what is the inspiration behind the name “Ochroma”?
David: It is the genus of the trees commonly know as Balsa Trees!