Tiffany Wang, a PhD in Biomedical Sciences (BIMS) who recently completed her studies in Microbiology, Immunology, and Cancer Biology, will begin studying at McIntire this August. She is the first medical PhD student to pursue an M.S. in Commerce as part of the innovative BIMS PhD+ Dual-Degree Program, newly launched in collaboration between the Schools of Medicine and Commerce.
As a top applicant to the new program, Wang has been awarded a fellowship that covers 75% of expenses related to the cost of the M.S. in Commerce portion of her studies, including tuition, stipend, healthcare, books, and travel. The fellowship is made possible by donor and UVA alumnus David W. Goodman PhD (A&S ’93), CEO of Pharmascience Inc., whose philanthropic support has made the joint course of study possible.
The degree was created to provide medical PhD students with the essential business knowledge, practical skills, and insightful hands-on learning necessary to enter a position dealing with commercialization, entrepreneurship, and management in the biomedical arena. Wang says she plans on applying the knowledge she acquires at the Commerce School to start her post-academic career at a startup or a smaller company that would afford her the opportunity to take a hands-on approach and an active role from the start.
“I really enjoyed the project management aspect of working in a lab more than benchwork and liked having undergrads or other trainees, so I looked for other opportunities that would allow me to pivot away from doing research at the bench but still stay within the science realm,” she says.
Having first learned of the opportunity to enroll in the new program during the fifth year of her PhD studies, she is looking forward to learning at McIntire, as she believes it will provide her with the flexibility within her career path to “move into management and business development roles within the pharma industry.”
Wang will begin at McIntire in the M.S. in Commerce’s Marketing & Management Track. She’s enthusiastic about the prospect of combining business strategy with the skills she developed during her PhD program.
“I’m looking forward to building a strong business foundation, so I’m quite excited—and a bit nervous—for the Integrated Core Experience, where I can soak up broad business knowledge,” she says in reference to the graduate-level version of the McIntire School’s innovative hallmark program that provides an enterprise-wide view of business.
Coursework in the highly ranked McIntire M.S. in Commerce degree program includes consulting; global strategy and systems; strategic cost management; financial accounting; marketing and quantitative analysis; organizational behavior; and communication. In addition to course content, case studies, and integrative projects that provide students with hands-on experiences working with real-world businesses on issues they face, students take part in the Global Immersion Experience (GIE). The GIE is composed of a foundational course in global finance, followed by overseas travel with McIntire faculty to an ever-changing list of destinations, where students learn how economic, social, political, and cultural dynamics drive global businesses and organizations across the world.
