P&Q’s 2026 Best In Class Awards: Duke Fuqua, Healthcare

Nearly everyone becomes a patient eventually, which is why almost every business eventually runs into healthcare. Leading in the industry, though, means understanding far more than medicine. Business, technology, policy, and patient care constantly intersect, and the challenges leaders face are rarely simple. Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business has spent nearly a century learning to navigate that complexity, teaching students to approach healthcare from every angle and to lead through its constant change. That is why Fuqua earns the Healthcare award in this year’s P&Q Best In Class honors.

Fuqua’s healthcare education dates back nearly 100 years. When Duke Hospital opened, it needed leaders who understood how to run healthcare organizations, so the university launched a training program focused on hospital management. Over time, that program expanded across the health sector before moving to Fuqua about 40 years ago.

Location helps, too. Fuqua sits in the heart of a strong healthcare ecosystem, with Duke Health right on its doorstep, giving students a firsthand look at care and innovation happening inside a working system.

“We’re in a great place to educate healthcare leaders,” says David Ridley, faculty director of the Center for Health Sector Management at Duke Fuqua.

BUILT BY ITS ALUMNI

Fuqua’s healthcare focus has been built and sustained by the people who came through the program themselves. Alumni of the school’s healthcare management program in the 1970s went on to become successful leaders and, over the years, important supporters of the school. Many chairs of Fuqua’s Board of Visitors have been healthcare leaders as well, keeping the school tightly connected to the industry.

That network continues to shape the student experience.

“Alumni hire students, advise them, and help them understand the industry,” Ridley says. “That combination of professional success and the generosity of ‘Team Fuqua’ gives our students a great network.”

YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE A HEALTHCARE STUDENT

At Fuqua, you don’t have to be set on a healthcare career to explore the field. Plenty of students simply want to understand an industry they know will surface somewhere in their working lives. The Center for Health Sector Management gives them a place to do it, and MBA students can also pursue the HSM Certificate. In recent years, 25% of daytime MBA students and 12% of Executive MBA students have earned it.

About half of all Fuqua students take Ridley’s life sciences course, and roughly half of those aren’t pursuing the certificate at all.

“They recognize that healthcare will matter in their careers, even if they don’t work directly in the sector,” Ridley says. “They might become consultants with healthcare clients, or bankers evaluating biotech investments, or CEOs who need to choose health insurance for their employees.”

The reach of healthcare at Fuqua mirrors the industry itself. Even students who never plan to work in it directly are likely to encounter it somewhere along the way.

“Some bring years of industry experience. Others bring fresh questions that challenge assumptions,” Ridley says. “When you put them in a classroom together, they learn from one another, and both groups become better prepared to lead.”

A CULTURE OF INVESTING IN ONE ANOTHER

For students who do want to pursue healthcare directly, Fuqua offers plenty of ways to get involved beyond the classroom. And with so many students interested in the field, healthcare employers are drawn to campus, where students attend industry events, connect with recruiters, and lean on one another.

“Students help each other prepare for recruiting visits,” Ridley says. “They organize events to share industry knowledge and practice interviews. Our second-year students are especially generous with their time and advice for first-year students. One of the things I value most about Fuqua is how much people invest in one another.”

That support matters most in an industry where there is always something new to learn.

“Healthcare matters to people’s lives, and it’s always changing,” Ridley explains. “Technology advances, lawmakers change the laws, regulators change the rules, and businesses adapt. There’s always something new to understand.”

While individual healthcare companies see their own ups and downs, the sector has proven relatively resilient through economic downturns, and Fuqua is preparing students to be among those who adapt and stay strong.

All of which is why Fuqua’s approach stands out. Nearly a century of experience, a close connection to Duke Health, a strong life sciences community, and an engaged alumni network give students plenty of ways to understand the field, and to become leaders with the knowledge, connections, and perspective to keep pace with an industry that never stops changing.

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