Taiye Opabunmi

Columbia Business School

“Soccer-loving, fantasy enthusiast, resilient learner, and lover of diverse experiences.”

Hometown: Ibadan, Nigeria

Fun Fact About Yourself: I am a twin and I come from a long line of twins: my grandmother, great-grandmother, and great-great-grandmother were all twins. My mother was born after a set of twins.

Undergraduate School and Major: University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MD)

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, Trauma and Orthopaedics Clinical Fellow

What makes New York City such a great place to earn an MBA? New York City (NYC) is a highly advantageous ecosystem for pursuing an MBA for so many reasons. As a central hub for a range of diverse industries such as healthcare, finance, technology, fashion and more, the city provides an invaluable conduit for students to directly engage with top industry leaders and accomplished adjunct faculty members. Beyond the evident networking advantages, NYC is enriched by an array of major corporations and startups, offering students the opportunity for in-semester internships – hands on experience that will seamlessly complement classroom learnings. Lastly, New York City’s cultural diversity of food, art and entertainment are opportunities for personal exploration towards a well-rounded and immersive MBA experience for students to embrace away from their academic pursuits.

Aside from your classmates and location, what was the key part of Columbia Business School’s MBA curriculum programming that led you to choose this business school and why was it so important to you? As a physician aiming to gain expertise in healthcare business, Columbia Business School’s Healthcare and Pharmaceutical Program (HPM) and its distinguished faculty significantly caught my attention during my business school evaluation. The program’s curriculum, featuring courses like Healthcare Management, Design and Strategy, Economics of Healthcare and Pharmaceutical. It also features Professor Chan’s U.S. Healthcare System: Structure and Strategies course, along with the involvement of accomplished adjunct faculty members such as Taylor Sewell—a pediatrician and a patient experience strategist. These advantages strongly resonated with my aspirations, making the Columbia MBA program a compelling choice for me.

What has been your first impression of the Columbia Business School MBA students and alumni you’ve met so far. Tell us your best CBS story so far. While I haven’t created a remarkable CBS story just yet, I’m eagerly anticipating the many experiences that lie ahead. Nevertheless, I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the incredible level of support I’ve received. From connecting with eager first-year students for insightful CBS discussions to reaching out to alumni on LinkedIn, I’ve found everyone to be willing to carve out time and lend a helping hand.

What course, club or activity excites you the most at Columbia Business School? I am excited about this new path for me. Regarding courses, I look forward to taking Healthcare Venture Capital and Private Equity: HCIT and Services. This will help me grasp the complexities of investing in the healthcare ecosystem and understand the unique challenges associated with healthcare ventures.

I hope to fall in love with Golf while I am here and would be looking to the Golf Club for help with this. I am also excited about travelling opportunities with my colleagues. I didn’t travel much before the MBA, so I look forward to racking up those miles as part of this formative adventure.

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far? Relocating to the UK and working in the NHS after initial setbacks stand as my biggest accomplishment. I am incredibly proud of how this move turned out. It was initially fraught with initial trepidation from unfamiliarity with local teams, processes, and guidelines, not to mention a failed exam attempt. Overcoming these setbacks took hard work and time However, this experience further reiterates to me, the profound rewarding nature of resilience and adaptability when faced with new challenges.

What do you hope to do after graduation? Post-graduation, I hope to work with healthcare institutions and technology companies, as a consultant or investor, to strengthen healthcare systems and patient care with digital technology. Ensuring the relevance of digital technology to patient and clinician groups, I aspire to leverage digital technology to address efficiently and effectively key clinician and patient pain points.

What other MBA programs did you apply to? Duke, Stanford, and Wharton

What advice would you give to help potential applicants gain admission into Columbia Business School’s MBA program? Know your story and research the school beyond the website – engage with current students and ask for introductions to students who are currently navigating the path you aspire to pursue.

DON’T MISS: MEET COLUMBIA BUSINESS SCHOOL’S MBA CLASS OF 2025