Dr. Sangeeta Bhuyan

HKU Business School

“Doctor, wife, daughter, and MBA candidate.”

Hometown: New Delhi, India

Fun Fact About Yourself: I love to drive with my husband as navigator. It’s like meditation and some of the most memorable road trips have been Great Ocean road, Australia, Queenstown to Milford Sound, New Zealand, and Highway 1 in California. Someday I wish to drive through the Andes in South America and the Atlantic road in Norway.

Undergraduate School and Major:

Major Endodontics, Chaudhry Charan Singh University, India

General Dentistry, Maharishi Dayanand University, India

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Faculty Research Associate, School of Dentistry, HKU

Aside from your classmates, what was the key part of the MBA curriculum or activities that led you to choose this business school and why was it so important to you? There were a few factors that contributed and the biggest one is location. Hong Kong has long been known as the bridge between the east and the west. It’s a world city, a global financial hub, and has a unique personality. HKU business school has deep-rooted network within the HK community and this is demonstrated by all the workshops and guest lectures that have been carried out by the career development team. It has extended my network and opened exciting career pathways. Additionally, it has enabled me to continue my family life in Hong Kong, without having to move (save on the opportunity cost).

What quality best describes your MBA classmates and why? Humility. Everyone is quite humble despite an international background or having worked at prestigious companies and having studied at respectable universities. They know a brand does not define who they are.  They are open to new experiences. They can be agreeable yet not afraid to challenge. They are also willing to listen and express themselves, which makes collaboration easy.

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: For a dental specialist, technology is never a big part of the job. However, when I joined Hong Kong University as a research associate for Dr. Botelho, I was given the challenge to modernize dental education. I had to learn coding and digital content creation, understand drivers of learning and storytelling and create various digital toolkits for e-learning of undergraduate dental students. The students benefitted from a better understanding of concepts, as learning and faculty were not limited to the classroom anymore but accessible from anywhere and anytime. With Dr. Botelho, we ended up publishing 6 papers in international peer-reviewed journals with about 20 citations so far.

What has been the biggest surprise in your first three months of business school? The resilience of program and faculty. It is 2020 and it has been a year of tough challenges globally and for Hong Kong. What surprised me is the leadership and faculty of HKU. They have been resilient and have supported the students to create a safe and risk-free learning environment. From hybrid to face-to-face classes, the professors have been able to bring energy and care in equal amounts to keep the students engaged and support effective learning. Kudos to the administration office for supporting students abroad and students in quarantine and not make them feel left out.

What led you to pursue an MBA at this point in your career? I have practiced as a dental specialist, contributed to the community as an anti-smoking campaign worker, and researched on modern methods of dental e-learning over the last 10 years. With Covid-19 affecting everyone around the globe, I felt as a healthcare practitioner I should be able to help in policy design and creating safe environments for everyone. This MBA will enable me to develop skills such as structured problem-solving and provide me with the opportunity to take leadership and work with diverse teams towards a common goal. I hope to switch careers to health care consulting by the time I conclude my MBA.

What other MBA programs did you apply to? HKU and HKUST

What do you see yourself doing ten years from now? I hope to be playing with my children. On the professional front though, I hope to lead a small team in health care strategy think tank or possibly running my own business- a dental tourism firm where patients can come for not only dental treatment but also to relax and enjoy natures’ bounty in the state of Orissa.

DON’T MISS: MEET HKU BUSINESS SCHOOL’S MBA CLASS OF 2021