Getting the most out of Kellogg

By Ryan Ghosh ’26 MBA

The leap was worth it.

When I arrived at Kellogg in fall 2024, I left behind a role at a leading pharmaceutical company that I genuinely valued. It was a difficult decision, but I wanted to challenge myself, broaden how I thought about business and deepen my understanding of how healthcare innovation reaches patients.

Having graduated in summer 2026 — with an MBA and a Business of Healthcare Certificate — I can say the experience exceeded every expectation.

Not only did I find myself, but I also found a professional home within the incredible Healthcare at Kellogg community: leading logistics for the Kellogg Business of Healthcare Conference (KBHC), participating in Healthcare Deep Dives in Boston and China, traveling with my Hawryluk Scholars cohort and leading a career trek.

“I leave with a broader perspective, a stronger sense of how I want to lead and friendships I will carry far beyond Evanston.”

The Healthcare Deep Dives were probably some of my favorite academic experiences. What made them unique was the combination of the classes themselves, access to incredible healthcare leaders and Kellogg alumni and getting to learn alongside people from across Kellogg programs. I connected with students from the Executive MBA, Evening & Weekend MBA and MD-MBA Programs — many of whom were already working in different parts of healthcare. I enjoyed just sitting down at a table where I might not know anyone and learning what people did and what they were interested in. Some of those conversations turned into friendships and relationships that continued well beyond the Deep Dive weekend.

Kellogg Business of Healthcare Conference

The KBHC is one of eight student-led conferences at Kellogg each year.

I was involved with the conference during both years of my MBA. My first year, I was a director on the logistics team. It gave me a chance to learn how the conference works behind the scenes and collaborate with conference speakers, sponsorship, marketing and other teams. It was enormously gratifying to support a conference that brought together nearly 500 people along with many accomplished speakers from various areas of the healthcare industry. 

My second year, I was excited to take on a larger role as the logistics lead, responsible for leading a team of directors alongside the logistics vice president.  I had to delegate tasks, keep everyone on track, coordinate with the other conference teams, Kellogg staff and external partners. Ultimately, I had to make sure everything came together on the day of the conference.

It was a significant leadership experience for me, especially given the scale of the conference. I had led projects professionally before Kellogg, but I hadn't managed people directly. I learned to delegate without micromanaging, balance workloads and foster a team environment where people felt motivated and supported. 

Healthcare Certificate

Developing a deeper understanding of healthcare was one of my main reasons for pursuing an MBA, so the Business of Healthcare Certificate was a natural fit. When I was applying to Kellogg, there was already a healthcare specialization and an impressive list of healthcare and life sciences courses that drew me to the school.

Professor Craig Garthwaite’s Healthcare Strategy course was foundational for me. It was an information-dense 10 weeks that helped connect the dots across the U.S. healthcare system. We looked at the incentives and tradeoffs facing patients, providers, payers, pharmaceutical companies, government and other stakeholders. Having worked in healthcare for years, the course forced me to think about the system much more holistically and about some of the difficult tradeoffs we make as a society.

Learning off campus

Attending Culture Camp and KWEST Turkey and organizing/emceeing cultural events such as Diwali and Bollywood Bash made me step outside my comfort zone. I shared my multicultural background — my dad is Indian and my mom is American — and felt encouraged to bring my full self to Kellogg. 

Culture Camp was one of my very first experiences at Kellogg, before classes even started. Spending a couple of days by a beautiful lake in Wisconsin, our small group did various activities focused on identity and how people with different backgrounds see the world. As one of the few Americans in the group, it was a fitting introduction to Kellogg because it immediately put me around people I may not have met otherwise and encouraged us to share elements of our culture, to be curious about each other and to seek different perspectives. 

KWEST Turkey reinforced that in a different way. It was one of my favorite experiences at Kellogg, and one where I made some of my closest friends. Traveling internationally with nearly 30 people, everyone keeps their backgrounds, jobs, schools, ages, relationships, etc. secret from one another until the “Big Reveal.”  This creates an environment where you get to know people without a lot of labels that normally define us. 

Later, I led a KWEST trip through Portugal alongside four incredible friends and helped create a memorable introduction to Kellogg for 25 incoming students. It was a full circle moment and easily one of my most rewarding experiences from Kellogg. 

Into the wilderness

As a Wilderness Club leader, I brought classmates together through kayaking, whitewater rafting, surfing, hiking and other adventures. 

The Wilderness Club felt very natural to me because I genuinely love being outdoors. During my first year I participated in numerous activities. During my second year, I became a leader on the Water Team. Living in Chicago, where it can sometimes be harder to get into nature, I loved being able to create an excuse for classmates to get away from school, recruiting and everything else going on and do something completely different together. 

Learning from leaders

At Kellogg, I learned from professors who challenged me to think differently about leadership, strategy, economics, storytelling, healthcare and more. I am especially grateful to Craig Garthwaite, Kevin McTigue, David Besanko, Suzanne Muchin, Brian Uzzi, Sébastien Martin and Andy Pasternak.

More than any individual class, what I valued most was being repeatedly pushed to look at business problems through completely different lenses.

Leaving with a new perspective

I was honored to receive the Dean’s Service Award for my contributions to the Kellogg community. The recognition was especially meaningful because I arrived at Kellogg with plenty of imposter syndrome, sometimes wondering whether I truly belonged among so many accomplished classmates. Over time, I became more comfortable trusting myself, taking chances and contributing in ways that felt authentic to me.I leave with a broader perspective, a stronger sense of how I want to lead and friendships I will carry far beyond Evanston.

A special thank-you to my family for always being in my corner, and to Josie Molina, my girlfriend, who always supported me throughout this transformative MBA experience and was highly involved in the Kellogg community herself during our two years together in Evanston. I’m proud to be a Kellogg graduate, and I’m grateful to my classmates, professors, staff, alumni and the broader Kellogg community who have generously shared their guidance throughout this journey. 


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The views and opinions expressed in this post are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the position of the Kellogg School of Management or Northwestern University.