Meet IMD’s MBA Class Of 2018

Joyce Tsuchiya Melo

IMD

Describe yourself in 15 words or less: A fearless, challenge-seeker with a passion for doing good in this world.

Hometown: Presidente Prudente, São Paulo, Brazil

Fun Fact About Yourself:A fanatic animal lover, I moved to Switzerland with my dog and my cats for my MBA. 

Undergraduate School and Major:

Federal University of São Paulo:

Medicine (2003-2008),

Ophthalmology Residency (2009-2011),

Cornea and Cataract fellowship (2012-2013)

Employers and Job Titles Since Graduation:

Instituto Paulista de Estudos e Pesquisa em Oftalmologia, Medical Coordinator

Beneficência Portuguesa de São Paulo, Chief of the Medical Residents in the Opthalmology Program.

Benvista Oftalmologia, Cornea and Cataract Surgeon

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: During my cataract fellowship, I led the biggest live surgery event ever made in Brazil thus far. For two days, we broadcast through a satellite link a total of 40+ surgeries from our operating rooms at the university to the venue where the ophthalmology department was holding the yearly symposium. I was in charge of coordinating eight partners from the medical device industry, guest surgeons, assistants, nursing staff and patients. I ended up having to make some very difficult choices, like cutting the microphone of a very influential surgeon – in my defense he was invading the timeslot designated to a sponsor – but the event was a big success and we even had a second version of it the following year.

Looking back on your experience, what one piece of advice would you give to future business school applicants? Take it one step at a time and be yourself. Until actually deciding to pursue an MBA, it had never occurred to me to research what the process of applying looked like. I still remember the feeling of being overwhelmed when I was reading about the GMAT, the essays and the ‘oh–so-dreaded’ assessment day at IMD. There were so many levels of challenge that it was useless to fret about them all. I started with the GMAT, and I realized that all I needed was repetition, doing as many exercises as possible, until it became second nature and the patterns started to jump out at me. After that, it was on to the essays. For those, all you need are good stories and brutal honesty. It is very important that when you finish, you see yourself in those lines because that’s what you’re going to defend in front of the admissions committee.

After all of that, the assessment day ended up being not so dreadful after all. IMD emphasizes teamwork, so I had the most amazing colleagues I could have asked for. In retrospect, I think that I had a lot of fun through the whole process. Because of the way the whole selection is designed, it helped me to have clarity about my motivations and expectations.

What was the key factor that led you to choose this program for your full-time MBA and why was it so important to you? IMD is an exclusive experience. It’s almost like a club. And alumni take this club thing very seriously; they will always try to make themselves available to a prospect, they share their stories, insights and tips for living in Switzerland. And after you are admitted, they will make sure you feel part of the family. And because there’s only 90 of us each year, we get to know each other and the faculty gets to know us. When you’re on campus you get that warm feeling of familiarity.

So, it doesn’t come as a surprise that apart from traditional topics such as accounting, finance and marketing, IMD takes leadership development to another level. Every candidate has a leadership coach and an analyst, which made the program feel much more tailored to my needs. To me, it was very important that I could keep being myself through all the process, and you can’t do that without profound personal development.

What would success look like to you after your first year of business school? I came all this way for a career change. If by next year I have laid solid foundations by acquiring the hard and soft skills and by creating meaningful relationships, I will consider myself successful.