News

Dr. Shubha Shastry runs the nephrology service line for Rochester Regional Health—one of the largest hospital systems in Western New York. She is, by training, a Ph.D. physiologist who went on to earn a medical degree. Shastry is also one of 27 professionals who walked across the stage in May as part of RIT's online Executive MBA graduating class. It’s a group that looks like a cross-section of the Rochester economy: physicians, engineers, bioscientists, and C-suite professionals from nonprofits, manufacturing, and tech. Shastry entered the program through a Saunders College of Business partnership with Rochester Regional Health , which began in 2024. The cohort started with 17 physicians; 15 of whom finished the 12-month executive education certificate. Including Shastry, five went on to complete the full MBA. During her first year, she bonded over what she had in common with her peers. In the second year, the biggest change for her was the widening of the room, as she joined other students that came from the banking, manufacturing, and tech worlds. “We would have discussion posts, and we'd sort of learn about things like AI—AI in banking, if one of my colleagues was in banking, or AI in manufacturing,” Shastry said. “I found that really interesting, to see how some of the same concepts that we apply in medicine are applied in different industries.” Two courses stood out during her time at RIT. The first was a class that dealt with negotiations, walking students through frameworks for understanding the motivations of the people across the table, from leadership to patients. The second course was on leadership, where the class talked about the skills and qualities that make good leaders. Those skills became real for her sooner than she expected. She came into the program as a senior physician, but by the time she finished, she'd been promoted to Service Line Division Head of Nephrology—the head of her specialty across eight hospitals in the network. “It taught me a lot about what being a leader is,” said Shastry. “But it also showed me what kind of leader I don't want to be.” That kind of unexpected pivot is a pattern recognized by Saunders College of Business professors. Molly McGowan , who co-directs the EMBA program with Rick Lagiewski , personally conducts the executive coaching sessions every Saunders EMBA student receives. That leadership development thread, she said, is one of the things that separates the program from its competitors. “I've heard this line a few times from students,” McGowan said. “‘I expected to come in and get better at business or finance. I didn't expect to come out having a deep dive into myself and who I am as a person and as a leader, and how I want to spend my life and my career and grow as a leader.’” Shastry’s motivation in pursuing the degree, she said, came from a problem she’s watched play out in her industry for years. Oftentimes, providers and businesspeople sit on opposite sides of decision making, balancing the needs of patients and their providers with keeping a place financially viable. “Sometimes people who have purely a business mind might recommend cuts or things without really having a solid understanding of how it might affect patient care,” Shastry said. “My goal in getting this was to be able to influence decisions by really understanding both the business side and the patient care side. I really wanted to be the one at the table helping to make those decisions.” Sharpen the Saw, June 4 Education never ends for Executive MBA students. Sharpen the Saw is RIT’s annual professional development event for EMBA students, alumni, and business leaders, returning June 4 with keynote speakers, leadership sessions led by alumni, and networking opportunities.