Jim Dyer

Indiana University, Kelley School of Business

“Proud girl dad, husband, healthcare leader, and a sport and fitness enthusiast.”

Hometown: Arlington Heights, Illinois

Fun Fact About Yourself: Growing up in the Chicagoland area during the Jordan era, I had hoop dreams from an early age. I came to the sad realization that the NBA wasn’t in my future due to my limited athleticism. My dream of pursuing professional sports ended up coming full circle, when I became a physical therapist, and I was able to work with athletes from wide array of sports in the orthopedic outpatient space.

Undergraduate School and Major:

Undergraduate: Illinois State University — Major: Biological Sciences

Graduate: Bradley University — Major: Doctor of Physical Therapy

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Select Medical — Center Manager

In the second half of the year, you will be completing an Academy devoted to areas like Marketing, Finance, Operations, Digital Enterprises and more. Which Academy interests you the most and why? I am most interested in the Consulting Academy. I have worked as a treating clinician since 2015 and witnessed significant changes to the healthcare landscape during my time managing orthopedic outpatient facilities. I see significant opportunity in learning the skillset a consultant utilizes to be at the forefront of the change that is occurring in the U.S Healthcare System.

Aside from your classmates, what was the key part of Indiana Kelley’s MBA programming that led you to choose this business school and why was it so important to you? I must summarize these key parts as they all equally weighed into my decision to join Kelley. The driving variables that led me to Kelley were its excellent reputation for helping students switch careers, success with placement into the consulting realm, and excellent resources for families.

As a physical therapist, I knew the most direct path to pivot into consulting was to attend a top tier full-time MBA program. Kelley’s Academies have excellent resources for consulting which gave me complete confidence in leaving the workforce to pursue this goal. Returning to school with a wife, a 2-year-old daughter and a 4-month-old daughter made family support a high priority. Kelley has excellent resources for spouses, partners and children including Kelley Kids Club and Kelley Partners Club. Spouses and significant others have the opportunity to join any of the clubs through the school, so they are able to network and find great resources to navigate their next chapter as well. I knew in order to pursue my professional goals it was important to find a place that was equally memorable for my wife and children.

What course, club or activity excites you the most at Indiana Kelley? I am most excited about the Consulting Club where I can further develop my skillset professionally and meet with other students pursuing similar interests. I am also excited to join Kelley Kids and Kelley Partners, so my wife and daughters can create lifelong connections and memories.

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: My biggest professional accomplishment is my recent Dean’s Fellowship from Kelley School of Business for full tuition offered to students based off their academic and professional achievement. It represents a culmination of my efforts in all my various roles and positions over the years. This designation represents and summarizes years’ worth of effort, from earning my Doctor of Physical Therapy degree in 2015, to attaining two promotions in five years, to serving on various COVID-19 related projects during the pandemic, I couldn’t be more grateful for the opportunity to purse my MBA at Kelley. I look forward to utilizing this incredible opportunity to continue to grow both personally and professionally to achieve future goals. I couldn’t be more grateful for faculty and staff at Kelley, friends, family, and co-workers along the way who made this possible.

How did COVID-19 change your perspective on your career and your life in general? Before giving my perspective, I think it’s important to share my experience during the pandemic so there is a stronger understanding of where my perspective comes from.

I moved to the state of Indiana a few months prior to the pandemic. At the beginning of April 2020, I was hospitalized for eight nights with COVID-19. After receiving clearance to return to work, I was able to serve on various COVID-19 related projects for my employer. This included working under emergency legislation in Saginaw, Michigan at a critical care hospital, and overseeing COVID-19 Testing at a million square foot Amazon Fulfillment Center in Whitestown, Indiana. During all of this, my amazingly strong wife watched our one-year-old daughter while excelling in her full-time position and working remotely without childcare. In all these different environments, and through retrospective reflection, we felt incredibly grateful to have our health, an opportunity to give back and serve directly in various roles positively impacting the lives of people who were less fortunate through these difficult times.

Professionally, COVID-19 only accelerated the changes occurring in the healthcare system which further fueled my desire to pursue an MBA to be at the forefront of these changes and improve the quality of our healthcare system.

What led you to pursue an MBA at this point and what do you hope to do after graduation? I initially planned on pursuing the MBA a year earlier. However, I had the unique opportunity to serve on various COVID related projects for my employer and felt it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, so I delayed attending for a year. My desire to pursue an MBA came from the significant changes I lived through working as a clinician in the healthcare landscape during my five-and-a-half years as a physical therapist. I had the opportunity to manage various orthopedic outpatient clinics for the largest physical therapy companies in the country. Between mergers and acquisitions, legislative changes to healthcare, and continuous changes from insurance payers, I saw a stronger need to further develop my business acumen if I wanted to make an impact on the healthcare system on a larger scale. Through my clinical experience, I felt like the full-time format to pursue an MBA with a goal of pivoting to a consulting firm would create the most opportunity to make an impact on some of the larger changes occurring to improve our healthcare system.

What other MBA programs did you apply to? University of Michigan, Notre Dame, University of North Carolina

What advice would you give to help potential applicants gain admission into Indiana Kelley’s MBA program? My advice for other applicants would be this: Don’t develop imposter syndrome like I did. Every single person I have talked to comes from a different background with different experiences in different stages of their life. Share your story in the application process of how your experience makes you unique and how that will positively contribute to the program. My approach with applying to Kelley specifically was to share my personal story and what I felt my strengths were. From there, I would articulate where the gaps in my skillset were that I was hoping to improve while at Kelley. I would also recommend reaching out to the university to connect with staff, professors, current students or recent alumni to gain further perspective on the fit. Kelley did an excellent job of demystifying the process and being extremely open to connect to minimize stress on applicants.

DON’T MISS: MEET INDIANA KELLEY’S MBA CLASS OF 2023