Dr Martin Wale
Executive MBA, 2008

I started my MBA after 15 years as a medical consultant in microbiology and public health. Although at the time I was a Regional Director in a public sector organisation, I felt that my management skills and experience had been learned piecemeal, and lacked a framework of underpinning knowledge. I'd wanted to do an MBA for years, to broaden my understanding, give me more insight, and to enable me to make my input more effective.

It didn't work out quite as planned or expected. Rather than becoming more effective within my existing role, the MBA brought into focus a feeling of having outgrown the job, at a time when there were no suitable senior opportunities within the organisation. However, my broadening skill set opened doors elsewhere, and I was appointed, on secondment, as one of the first Fellows of the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement.

This opportunity worked synergistically, with knowledge and insight from my MBA feeding into improvement work for the Institute and within the wider NHS. Similarly, the issue of how knowledge generated by these new Fellows could be captured and shared within the NHS Institute provided the material for my management project. At the end of my Fellowship an opportunity arose for another secondment, at very short notice, into an Executive post in an acute hospital Trust - not a move I could previously have aspired to.

However, the UK public sector is a convergent world, where tight central management and close monitoring creates an environment where those with an unusual background or unusual skill set are often perceived as risky. I had long wanted to work in Canada, but had been thwarted by my professional medical qualifications, which were not mutually recognised. The MBA, coupled with my experience of improvement methodology, led to an opportunity at Vancouver Island Health Authority, which I will start in June 2009.

The journey through the MBA and other development opportunities was enjoyable and worthwhile. In terms of outcome, I now have less stability, less job security, and will be paid less. On the positive side, life is enormously more interesting and rewarding. My only regret is that I didn't do it sooner!