FROM ZERO TO HERO IN 10 MONTHS
How UC Davis MSBA Practicum helped me get a jumpstart in the Data Science Industry
If someone had told me a year ago that within 6 months I would be leading a team of students to deliver analytical solutions for a top healthcare provider in the US, I would have laughed them out of the room. But that is exactly what I am doing today. As part of the UC Davis MSBA, Practicum project, I am the Project Manager and Lead Data Analyst for California Pacific Medical Center. My duties involve improving business operations for their Cancer Research center through data processing, analysis, and visualization.
The practicum project (one of the biggest selling points of the program for me) consists of two components — the classroom session teaches students how to be professionals and take ownership of their projects and the practical aspect which allows us to engage with companies to solve real-world business problems. It runs through the entire 10 months of the course and has been instrumental in helping students develop competitive skills needed to excel in the job market.
Six professional capabilities that I strengthened through our practicum:
1. A good start is important to take you through the finish line
An important lesson I learned from the practicum project, is to define the scope, requirement, and expected outcomes of the project. I cannot over-emphasize the significance of effectively kick-starting a project. Getting these aspects of the project sorted out is like answering a question about your life goals in a job interview — Where do you want to be in the short and long term? What do you expect out of your life? What factors or constraints you will need to consider when you are making important choices?
Our team learned this the hard way. When we started, we were not clear about either the business, process, or outcomes. Our client had an abstract idea of what, but no concrete thought about how. By the end of the first quarter, we started to discover requirements and expected outcomes. After several discussions with the client data management and visualization team, we were able to speed up the analysis from a slow jog to a full sprint in the coming weeks. Currently, our analysis and findings are heading towards promising results because of the clear objectives and requirements.
2. Working in an unknown industry:
Though the university allowed students to put in their preferences for a given list of clients and projects, the final practicum teams and industry partners were selected by the college. Our project involved developing a pharmacogenomics platform for precision medicine in Cancer Research. It would not be too farfetched to say that on day zero, I had never even heard of such a requirement before. I was clearly ill-equipped to start the project, let alone see it through completion. However, the practicum classes gave us resources on how to interact with the business to unearth key insights and develop a project scope.
3. Project Management:
The practicum allowed us to be students as well as consultants for the client. This unique structure allowed us to be self-monitored, where the onus of creating goals, setting timelines, assigning tasks, and providing final deliverables were all led by students. Being the project manager for our team, I learnt how to effectively:
a. Communicate with our MIP (MSBA Industry Partner, or client)
b. Create a list of action items and divide them among teammates,
c. Prioritize tasks,
d. Get quick feedback from the end-users
4. Teamwork:
Something that I looked forward to when I decided to pursue a Master’s in Silicon Valley was the exposure to talented people and cutting-edge technology. The practicum team members consisted of 2 people from China, 1 from the US, and me from India. Apart from belonging to different countries we each also have different education and work experience. The practicum allowed me to transcend these boundaries and gain experience in navigating a global work environment.
Great teams are a boon. They not only make your work life better, but studies also show that 81% of employees rate peer collaboration positively. Some benefits that derived from teamwork are:
a. Conflict resolution skills: When you work in a team, some conflicts are inevitable. But these conflicts help you learn to work with different personalities, bond further with your teammates, and improve together.
b. Increased efficiency: Learning how to delegate properly is a key factor in achieving targets and completing tasks on time, with minimum errors. Identifying and understanding your strengths and those of your teammates makes your team a well-oiled machine.
c. Individual growth: There may be no “I” in team but being part of a team helps you grow. By sharing information and cross-training each other, having each-others back, each individual member of the team flourishes.
d. High workplace wellbeing: Teamwork is essential especially since it affects your happiness. Since we spend a major portion of our adult lives working, this contributes to a key factor in our mental health as well. One of the most fascinating and interesting facts about teamwork is that it can scale up team members’ emotional wellbeing by a staggering 80%. And when a 20% productivity boost originating from employee happiness is added to this, the power of teams is a force to be reckoned with.
5. Data Science:
The MSBA course is 10 months long with a comprehensive curriculum aimed to equip students with the necessary skills to get their foot in the door for data science roles. Students learn Advanced Statistics, Machine Learning, Data Management, Data Visualization, and Cloud Computing among a host of other specialized topics. While the coursework allowed us to learn the skills, the Practicum allowed us to internalize them.
What is an MBBS degree if you have never treated a patient, similarly, it was when I successfully implemented ETL transformation, ran python scripts to automate calculations, and uploaded the database into Amazon Web Services Cloud for the client, I felt more like a data scientist. Practice makes perfect, and the Practicum allowed us to keep working on our technical skills such that each of us feels confident in handling tasks assigned to us in our future jobs.
6. Resilience:
Any student graduating in the class of 2020–21, should be proud. We have had to face the COVID pandemic, missed networking, and college opportunities, and tough competition from experienced hires for even entry-level positions. The practicum gave us the boost needed to continue making valuable contributions to client organizations.
Practicum has given me the confidence to enter unknown territory, succeed in the field, and lead by doing. In the last couple of months of my practicum, I aim to strengthen my skills and take full advantage of this opportunity to brand myself in the job market.
In a world ridden with COVID, the practicum has also allowed us to be in continuous contact with industry and the real world. The practicum team has remained constant through the course, where teammates are friends, and our MIP is also our mentor. The Practicum is set to be one of my most cherished memories of MSBA.
