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Academic Expertise
Master the business of healthcare
Become a well-rounded strategic leader ready to take on complex challenges in the business of healthcare, life sciences, private equity and entrepreneurship.
Today’s healthcare landscape is complex: A highly-regulated industry. Pandemics. Drug pricing. Good (and bad) actors. But with challenges come opportunities to create and capture value.
Led by healthcare economist Professor Craig Garthwaite, the HCAK program combines the foundational training of an MBA with a focus on the business of healthcare that is necessary for long-term success as a leader.
Who we are
An academically rigorous curriculum
Foundational classes, such as Healthcare Strategy, blend fundamental managerial skills with deep industry exposure. Advanced classes, such as Value Creation and Capture in Healthcare or Pharmaceutical Strategy, apply concepts learned to real-world challenges that you'll face. As a capstone to the HCAK pathway, you'll hone your skills with either an experiential or in-the-field course, such as Healthcare Strategy Consulting Lab or Medical Technology Financing and Commercialization.
Additionally, Kellogg offers an MBA program in partnership with the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, as well as opportunities for residents, fellows and attending physicians at Northwestern Medicine and other hospitals around the country to earn their MD-MBA as part of their medical training.
Dedicated faculty
You'll get the full power of deeply involved professors and reputable experts in business, economics, finance, management and policy who will engage, challenge and guide you as you sharpen your healthcare business and leadership acumen. You'll develop critical skills and understand how strategic decision-making can contribute to business success. Practitioner faculty come from companies such as Microsoft, Oak Street Healthcare and Bain Capital.
Healthcare-specific pathways
Our specific pathways – healthcare, entrepreneurship and strategy – will expose you to what it takes to be an innovator and entrepreneur in today's healthcare field. Broad course offerings, independent studies and support activities span multiple departments. Kellogg alumni currently working in healthcare entrepreneurship serve as personalized mentors.
Support for inventors, entrepreneurs and startups
Our unique culture fosters innovation by encouraging collaboration across the entire Northwestern community. If you have an invention or startup idea that you want to move to the marketplace, the Innovation and New Ventures Office offers critical mentoring and support. The InQbation Fellows Program will pair you with other MBA students and PhD graduates for a summer so you can concentrate on achieving your startup or entrepreneurship goals. And the Zell Fellows Program mentors a select number of MBA candidates each year who are interested in starting a new venture or acquiring an existing one.
Explore Healthcare at Kellogg
Kellogg healthcare by the numbers
1,200+
Kellogg alumni who work in the healthcare industry as of 2022
200+
healthcare C-suite execs who are Kellogg alumni
1,175+
number of healthcare companies where Kellogg alumni work
88+
healthcare CEOs who are Kellogg alumni
11%
of students in HCAK are women
Annual healthcare events
HCAK has several longstanding events and opportunities for industry partners to attend and engage with our expansive network. You can find more of these offerings at our events page.
Collaborative, immersive healthcare experiences
The breadth of coursework and experiences were enriching and rewarding on their own, but the diverse professor and student perspectives are really what makes the HCAK program so motivating and unforgettable. Learning and growing in this environment has equipped me with the knowledge, capabilities and mindset to excel as I continue my career in biopharma.
Delphine Sengun ’21
One-Year MBA
Learn from the best in healthcare faculty
Kellogg faculty fuse timely and sophisticated academic research with practical, hands-on healthcare experience to teach, guide and mentor you for success.
Faculty Director, Healthcare at Kellogg (HCAK) Professor of Strategy, Herman Smith Research Professor in Hospital and Health Services Management
Interests: Health economics; Pharmaceutical industry; Public finance; Political economy
Walter J. McNerney Professor of Health Industry Management; Faculty Director of PhD Program; Professor of Strategy
Interests: Industrial organization and the economics of information; Business strategy; Medical economics; Health services policy analysis
Associate Professor of Management & Organizations
Interests: Professionals, knowledge workers and experts; organizational change & innovation; strategy; strategy implementation; strategic human capital; healthcare
Adjunct Lecturer in Healthcare at Kellogg
Adjunct Professor in Healthcare at Kellogg
Clinical Associate Professor of Strategy; Executive Director, Healthcare at Kellogg
Associate Professor of Operations
James Allen Professor of Operations
Deputy Dean of Kellogg
Harold T. Martin Professor of Marketing; Director of the Center for Market Leadership
Adjunct Lecturer in Healthcare at Kellogg
Adjunct Lecturer in Healthcare at Kellogg
Adjunct Lecturer in Healthcare at Kellogg
Adjunct Professor in Entrepreneurship
Adjunct Lecturer in Healthcare at Kellogg (HCAK)
Clinical Professor of Strategy; Director of Entrepreneurship Programs at Kellogg; Faculty Director of the Zell Fellows Program; Director of the Levy Institute for Entrepreneurial Practice
Clinical Professor of Operations
Research Assistant Professor and Lecturer in Kellogg's Sustainability and Social Impact Program
Adjunct Professor in Healthcare at Kellogg
Visiting Professor in Healthcare at Kellogg
Juliet Sorensen
Clinical Associate Professor of Law, Northwestern School of Law
Clinical Professor of Marketing; Associate Chair of the Marketing Department
Healthcare thought leadership
These under-the-radar transactions have driven up the price of anesthesia by about 30 percent.
5 minute read
While significant barriers remain—including regulatory uncertainty and the difficulty of scaling a labor-intensive treatment method—industry leaders see a path forward.
9 minute read
A healthcare economist answers questions about pharmaceutical innovation, costs, and more.
60 minute watch