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From hospitality to hospitals
A career in healthcare may not seem an obvious choice for a hospitality graduate. Indeed, when Maria Josefine Superti-Furga started her bachelor’s at EHL, she assumed she would go on to work at a big hotel. However, during her time at the school she found she relished the challenge of finding creative solutions to customers’ problems, something that is equally necessary in healthcare. The subsequent COVID-19 pandemic – the biggest heathcare problem of our times – sparked Josi’s interest in the work of tech firms in the healthcare industry. “It's a field where so many things are happening right now,” she says. “That’s when I started to realize how much I wanted to be part of that and how I would like to be able to shape the healthcare industry [through] the eyes of a hospitality alumna.”
Why did you choose to take your master’s at SDA Bocconi?
Because it tackled three very important things that were interesting to me. It was about finding digital solutions to make patient care more effective. At the same time, it was also [about] hospital management, which I saw very much connected to hospitality management. The other thing is global health, and aspects like nutrition. That's where I really found a lot of tangible things that were connecting healthcare and hospitality.
What’s the link between hospitality and healthcare, for you?
In the end, we have the same goal. I mean, if it's a guest or a patient, we always try to make a good experience where they feel welcomed. When you are a patient, it's often a time where you're very vulnerable. That's when it's even more important to see them as a human and to try to give them a service that is as if they would be in a hospitality environment.
What can a hospitality student bring to the healthcare sector?
When you discuss with people that are different to you, it always [achieves] the best outcomes. I was trying to really emphasize this during my [master’s] interview and telling them they might have a lot of students that have very similar backgrounds and that's why I'm hoping to spark some interesting conversations. Of course, I have a hospitality business background. In order to provide good healthcare, you have to also have a good business plan so you really understand how to make your business profitable in the future. Only when you have that can you provide good healthcare, because you have a sustainable environment.
How important is your network for your career?
When you talk to your network it just helps you to shape your thoughts and your point of view on different things. The more people you talk to... they have maybe different ideas, and that's when you can really shape your future and understand what you want to do and what you wouldn't like to do.
Do you still network with EHL alumni?
Definitely. There is a big group in Vienna and we are meeting quite regularly. Sitting with like-minded people that all have great ideas, it's interesting. That's what I love about my alumni network, from both universities. It's really about talking in an environment, perhaps with a glass of wine, and then some ideas just come to life.
And now you work for DocFinder. What is that and what do you do there?
Docfinder is the biggest healthcare platform in Austria. We're [creating] a place where patients and doctors can get to each other. It's finding the right doctor for the right patient. This is giving empowerment to the patient because they can really choose what kind of doctors are close by. As a product manager, I am trying to combine what the market needs and what the development team is able to do. Then, in my development meetings, trying to tackle these pain points and find a solution.
What’s your biggest wish for your career going forward?
To make an impact, to help patients have a better experience, to make [healthcare] more efficient and more accessible. I don't know yet in which way this will be. It might be to open up a hotel which is then a hospital. This is also what excites me, that there are so many possibilities and opportunities out there.
Check out the full list of student profiles and their diverse career paths.