Meet Ivey’s MBA Class of 2020

Logan McGinn

Ivey Business School at Western University

ā€œAmbitious, outgoing nurse turned Resident Plastic Surgeon. Entrepreneur, motivator, professional student and part-time mermaid.ā€

Hometown: Sudbury, Ontario, Canada

Fun Fact About Yourself: I love going camping ā€“ tent, campfires, and time to unplug.

Undergraduate School and Major:

  • Laurentian University ā€“ Bachelor of Science in Nursing
  • Northern Ontario School of Medicine ā€“ Medical Doctor
  • Western University ā€“ Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (current ā€“ 4th year of 5)

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Plastic Surgery Resident ā€“ Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at Western University, London Health Sciences Centre and St. Josephā€™s Healthcare in London, Ontario

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: Being accepted into top-ranked choice in one of the countryā€™s most competitive subspecialties, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, was a pivotal success in my career. This program has helped shape the doctor I am today and the surgeon I am training to be. I have had outstanding and thoughtful mentors who have been exceptionally supportive of my career aspirations. I am passionate about becoming a Hand, Wrist and Reconstructive Surgery subspecialist. Initially in my residency, I had never considered becoming a researcher; I thought ā€œIā€™ll just read the latest and greatest in the next medical journal.ā€ It wasnā€™t long into residency when I was approached to partner in a research project focused on wrist surgery. My interest in the project and becoming a researcher completely took me by surprise. In fact, one of my biggest accomplishments within my research career to date has been being accepted to present two of my projects on the world stage in Berlin, Germany at the triennial International Federation of Societies for Surgery of the Hand (IFSSH) conference.

Describe your biggest accomplishment at Ivey so far: Personally, I have noticed how much more comfortable I have become giving oral presentations. Although it may not have been as apparent to many, public speaking has always been a huge fear for me! Coming to Ivey, I have been pushed through class contribution, class activities, and presentation assignments to really grow in this domain. I have had one-to-one coaching focused on presentation skills, both on stage and in the boardroom. These opportunities have truly made the difference in my ability to articulate my ideas with better clarity, confidence, and executive presence.

What quality best describes the MBA classmates youā€™ve met so far and why? Supportive! I cannot express this enough. I am absolutely thrilled to be surrounded by such a positive and supportive group of individuals. Wow! Our class celebrates one anotherā€™s victories and can depend on each other to work through personal, academic, and professional challenges. Numerous classmates have volunteered to conduct tutorial sessions for students requiring additional help in mastering challenging subject matter. The positive vibe within the class is contagious and inspiring.

Aside from your classmates, 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? Ivey graduates are known for being remarkably polished and confident. I wanted to be challenged outside my comfort zone in order to develop my executive presence and impact change within the healthcare industry. When I was initially contemplating pursuing an MBA, I had many coffee chats with Ivey MBA alumni who were also physicians. I was especially impressed by those I had known prior to completing their MBA at Ivey ā€“ something was different, in a very powerful way. They seemed more confident, articulate and thoughtful. There was a transformation that had happened. All Ivey alumni, genuinely and unanimously, emphasized this part of the program and I thought, ā€œThatā€™s something I want to be part of.ā€

What club or activity have you enjoyed the most at Ivey so far? Are we allowed to say wine night?! Every Thursday, our class gets together to enjoy wine and connect casually with the Wine and Culinary Club. Itā€™s a great way to get to know your classmates outside the classroom and build lasting relationships for years to come. You never know when you might need one anotherā€™s help in the future; itā€™s amazing to feel that I could pick up the phone and call anyone for advice on a project or to collaborate. Friends from around the globe are also fantastic for travel recommendations!

What led you to pursue an MBA at this point in your career? Previously as a nurse ā€“ and now as a physician ā€“ I have had the unique opportunity to view our publicly funded medical care system through different lenses. Although divergent at times, one common theme was apparent: the underrepresentation of frontline workers within the leadership team making organizational decisions. I decided to pursue an MBA to build the business and leadership skills required to have a seat at the table with management and bridge the gap between our leadership and clinicians.

Currently, in our publicly-funded Canadian healthcare model, we struggle with the economic sustainability of our system. We need clinicians to become involved in developing strategies for the future of our system and advocate for both the needs of patients and surgeons to deliver high-quality surgical care programs. I believe that there is an untapped opportunity to improve the efficiency and financials of our healthcare system through entrepreneurial strategies. With my prior experience as an entrepreneur and professional development within the MBA program, I am zealous to lead this change.

What other MBA programs did you apply to? None. I applied specifically to Ivey as I am concurrently completing my residency in London, Ontario. The proximity was convenient but even if it had not been it would have still been my top choice program.

How did you determine your fit at various schools? Not sure I can answer this ā€“ I only applied to Ivey.

What was your defining moment and how did it shape who you are? As an undergraduate nursing student, I launched a company called iSwim in my hometown of Sudbury, Ontario. We specialized in private swim and first aid instructional services. By our third year of business, we had successfully grown our client base to be the largest provider of seasonal swim instruction services in the region and I was managing six employees.

I truly believe that necessity is the mother of invention and I am living proof of it when I reflect on my experience developing iSwim. I was working full-time, Monday through Friday from 3:30-11:30 p.m., at the Canada Revenue Agency for a great wage to pay for nursing school while swimming for the varsity team. I was sleeping about five hours a night which was not amendable to achieving my goals in the pool. I thought how can I pay for school and use the skills I have? I was a competitive swimmerā€¦ and I had been a swim instructor for over four years. I started my initial plans in a scrap notebook that I continuously carried around to jot down my flow of ideas. I took a leap of faith, investing all my tuition savings to start iSwim. I grew the business from the ground up and remain very proud of my iSwim team to this day: each employee has grown from their summer job with iSwim into their current careers as educators and nurses.

iSwim completely shaped who I am today. This experience was the introduction to my passion for entrepreneurship that I potentially would not have otherwise realized until much later in life. I learned about the value of workplace culture and importance of motiving and investing in your team. It opened doors like medical school, residency in Plastic Surgery, and now my MBA. It shaped my leadership potential and, in retrospect, was one of the best times of my life. The energy and momentum of bringing the iSwim team together to showcase our best potential was invigorating and has pushed me to strive for this in other teams I have led over the years.

Where do you see yourself in five years? Finally graduated! By then, I will have been a professional student for 16.5 years of post-secondary education and completed subspecialty fellowships in hand and wrist surgery and microsurgical reconstruction. My goal is to obtain a position as a Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeon at an academic centre with the goal of becoming involved in clinical and administrative leadership duties aimed at improving the climate of our current health care system.

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