With more than one attractive offer, Eleni Champagne found her choice between Health Care MBA programs “agonizing”.

After earning her undergraduate degree in economics, the former gymnast worked in an internal consulting position for STERIS Corporation in Cleveland, then in marketing strategy for the company’s surgical solutions business. Her experience led her to realize not only that she wanted to focus her career on health care but “that I wanted to be closer to the patients, in a hospital setting.”

As she weighed her options, the Pennsylvania native says, “I was worried that the [Vanderbilt] program might be too small.” Gradually, she realized that “Owen is where I felt most comfortable and had the most opportunities for my interests.”

The health care specialization at Vanderbilt, she says, “was the most well-rounded program I found, with a particular focus on providers. The support associated with the program, from the faculty to local companies to the city of Nashville, was unparalleled. This is the city for health care, and I wanted to learn here.

“And the Vanderbilt community was the best fit for my goals and personality. The people I met were easy to talk to, smart and willing to help.”

She describes her first year as a “welcoming, eye-opening experience, both inside and outside the classroom. I enjoyed learning the hard truths of health care, the softer side of leadership, the inner workings of operations and the hidden side of financial statements,” Eleni says.

During her time at Owen, Eleni accepted a summer internship with Deloitte Consulting and then returned to Deloitte Consulting after graduation. She now works within the health care industry and better understands the challenges faced by health care systems.