I grew up in the UK, the child of immigrant parents. Hard work and education weren't really presented as options - they were just the expectation. I think that's shaped how I approach most things, including this.

I qualified as a specialist orthodontist, completing my doctorate at Bristol in 2020, and spent five years working across London before co-acquiring my own practice in late 2024. Ownership felt like the natural next step, but what I hadn't fully reckoned with was how different running a business is from being good at your clinical work. The two skills overlap less than you'd hope, and I found myself navigating strategy, operations, and people management largely in real time.

That gap is what brought me to Warwick. People I trusted kept recommending it - consistently and without much prompting - and the Global MBA made sense for where I was: the modular format worked around clinical commitments, the ranking was hard to argue with, and the international dimension genuinely appealed. Compulsory modules abroad, a cohort drawn from different industries and countries, the kind of network that takes years to build otherwise. It felt like the right programme at the right time.

The cohort has probably been the biggest surprise. I've made real friends - people from genuinely different worlds whose perspectives have shifted how I think, and who I expect to stay in touch with long after the programme ends. That wasn't something I was specifically looking for, but it's turned out to matter quite a lot.

Studying alongside ownership hasn't always been straightforward - there have been moments this past year when the demands of both have landed at the same time, and life hasn't always been tidy. What I've appreciated is that WBS understands this. The flexibility and support have been genuine, not just stated.

I haven't reached the Leadership module yet, but I'm probably more prepared for it than I would have been a year ago. Ownership has been its own education in that area, and I'm looking forward to bringing some of that experience into the room rather than approaching it purely theoretically.

What's next is growth - developing the practice, expanding what we offer clinically, and looking beyond it too. I've recently applied to the Warwick startup programme around a consumer health concept I've been developing, and I find myself increasingly drawn to the space where healthcare and entrepreneurship meet. The MBA is opening up thinking I hadn't expected when I started it.

My advice to anyone considering it: don't wait for things to settle down first. They won't. This programme is most useful when it's running alongside real decisions and real pressure - that's when it changes not just what you know, but how you think.