Alifia Waliji-Banglawala

With a job she loved and a brand-new department to oversee, Alifia wasn’t sure it was the right time to get her MBA. Why rock the boat? But then last summer, she took part in Questrom’s one-week Pharmacy Leadership Institute and thought to herself: “Why am I not here?” Alifia says it was like pushing a recharge button.

“I realized Questrom would provide me with a lot of ways to help innovate and create my new department.”

Alifia is a seasoned pro. She’s spent her entire professional career in the pharmaceutical industry. Today, she’s the director of Pharmacy Services for Care Dimensions Hospice and Palliative Care, the largest nonprofit provider of hospice care in Massachusetts, serving over 90 communities in the North Shore and the Greater Boston region. In her new role, she’s overseeing the creation of a pharmacy department that will complement Care Dimension’s holistic approach to end-of-life care.

With Questrom at the top of her list, Alifia began weighing her MBA options. She wanted a program that would offer the right work/school/family balance, but she also wanted one that would challenge her to become a force for positive change in her industry. When she heard about Questrom’s first-ever Online MBA (OMBA), she knew it was the perfect fit.

“I kept hearing about how the Online MBA was disruptive and innovative, and that’s exactly what I wanted to do,” says Alifia. “Maintaining my current position at my nonprofit organization and helping them move forward made Questrom the best option out there— and to have it provided by basically one of the greater learning institutes in the Boston area? It was a no brainer.”

As her MBA journey is just getting started, Alifia is most excited to learn how healthcare fits into the financial world. “Healthcare has been very slow in adapting to digital change over the years, and I think that with the way the OMBA curriculum is set up, it will really be groundbreaking.”

Alifia likes how the Online MBA’s curriculum is built around integrated themes that drive business today. The module called Creating Value for Business and Society is of particular interest because, she says, “as pharmacists, we’re always trying to prove our value in the healthcare field, and to learn how to do it digitally will be really helpful.”

“I’m so excited to be part of the inaugural class,” adds Alifia. “I think it’s going to be so rewarding to complete this program, while at the same time furthering my career.”