Few people have the determination to match that of José Bernardes, who has just graduated with an MBA from Birkbeck University (part of University College London). He has also been named as the highest-scoring post-graduate student in his year – a fantastic achievement! The MBA course, studied part-time in evenings after work, was fully funded by Healthshare, to further Josés management skills.
José committed to the MBA in the 2018/19 academic year, before the word ‘pandemic’ was uttered anywhere other than among medical professionals.
The part-time course initially involved traveling to the Birkbeck campus in London twice per week for classes after work. However, due to the pandemic, teaching became virtual, allowing José to study from the comfort of home.
José’s high-scoring 20,000 word dissertation explored the impact of COVID-19 on the adoption of communication technologies in primary care, for example appointments by video calls and innovative systems such as Healthshare’s LISA. His project won the university’s prestigious Dissertation Award.
Supported by the business, José completed a qualitative study, interviewing Healthshare employees at all levels of seniority to avoid a biased management-level view. His findings were indeed that COVID-19 had a big impact on a digital shift, however, he has been invited by the university to take his studies further and research whether these changes will be sustained or rolled back. Eventually, he hopes to publish his final piece in a management journal.
We caught up with José on this great news:
“I’m so pleased to have been given this opportunity, which wouldn’t have been possible without Healthshare support. In addition to the financial backing, my manager and the wider business also supported me by helping me shape my hypothesis and making the data-capture possible within business time. I am very grateful.
“I’d also like to thank everyone who contributed to my qualitative study via questionnaires and interviews. Sharing your valuable thoughts and experiences with me enabled me to pull this valuable piece of research together.”
Congratulations, José! We look forward to seeing where you take your research next.
