Data from the 2023 survey of MBA Global Management found that 69% of UCL MBA students and alumni achieve at least 1 promotion or job change following graduation from the programme and, for MBA alumna Patsy McNeil, the statistics are much higher.
Since graduating in 2022, Patsy - now Executive Vice President at Adventist Healthcare - has risen the ranks exponentially at her firm, and is currently second in command of a $1.1 billion healthcare system near Washington DC.
In this blog, Patsy shares her experiences studying the UCL MBA and notes how the flexibility of the programme was crucial for a busy professional working on an international time zone. She also takes us through her favourite modules on the programme, pivotal career moments that include operating in the healthcare industry during the COVID-19 pandemic, and why she says that studying the UCL MBA has been the best career decision she’s ever made.
tell us about your current role
I am the Executive Vice President, second in command and System Chief Medical Officer of Adventist Healthcare, a $1.1bn healthcare system near Washington, DC. I’ve recently been named in the Daily Record’s 2025 Healthcare Power List, and I am deeply appreciative of this acknowledgement of my hard work. I oversee the clinical operations of Adventist Healthcare which includes several hospitals, rehabilitation services, pharmacy, IT and the Physician Enterprise.
The clinical quality and safety of the patient care is managed and overseen by me, and all physician issues, medical staff organisation and strategy roll up to me as well. When I began the UCL MBA program, I was a Chief Medical Officer at one of the system hospitals, so my career has certainly evolved in the last few years.
how was your experience studying the ucl mba?
I really enjoyed the programme, and it fit into my life because my company, Adventist HealthCare, allowed me to attend online classes once per week during the workday. Being in the United States meant the time change fit into mid and late day classes. I did have to pace it out over several years because of the growing obligations that occurred during the time of my studies. This is not to even mention the covid pandemic which really challenged my ability to manage time properly, but I made it work.
I really enjoyed all of my classes. Data Analytics stands out as particularly enjoyable and the module that explored organisational psychology I really loved. Marketing really surprised me in how applicable it is to my work in creative ways. I’ve used a lot of the approaches taught in the class to improve the way the company engages physicians in the work of quality. All of the modules were interesting, even the one that focussed on entrepreneurship (which is not in my natural wheelhouse) was quite beneficial.
how has the ucl mba supported both your personal and professional development?
Professionally it has excelled my career exponentially such that I’ve gotten 3 or 4 promotions and am now second-in-command at the company I work for. This is far above what I expected or even aimed for in acquiring the MBA. Personally, though ostensibly aimed at career development, I’ve benefited enormously from the careers consulting and executive coaching services provided by the UCL MBA.
At critical junctions in my career, they both have given wraparound views of professional strategy that also enhanced insights on personal aspects of both who I am and who I wish to be as a leader. Lastly, I have friends who live all around the world now and in many different interesting industries. It really widened not only my world view but my cultural view and my friend group diversity.
what have been your career highlights so far?
So many! Though it certainly was tough, the pandemic really showed me how to use a lot of the tenants taught in the programme. Although a lot of personal sacrifice, worry and 18-hour days were spent in 2020 and 2021, my healthcare system ended the pandemic with an only 6% mortality rate within our covid inpatients at the pandemic height (pre-vaccine) as opposed to the 20% mortality rate that occurred nationally. This is what I am most proud of and this will always be a career highlight.
what advice would you give to a busy professional who is considering studying an mba?
Just go for it. Be clear on your goals but be open to really absorbing the wraparound detail. The way the UCL program,e opened both my worldview, and my leadership view was worth the effort. It has been the best career decision I’ve made, and I would certainly do it again.