From Finance to Digital Health: Meng Chieh's Path into Healthcare Innovation
Meng Chieh Lee
MSc Healthcare Innovation & Data Science
What happens when a finance graduate decides to pivot into digital health? MengChieh Lee, Class of 2023, shares how the MSc in Health Management & Data Intelligence at emlyon business school helped her find her direction - and her career.
Meng Chieh Lee graduated from the MSc in Health Management & Data Intelligence - the program now known as the MSc in Healthcare Innovation & Data Science. The curriculum has evolved to reflect the growing convergence of data science and health innovation, while preserving the same core commitment to interdisciplinary, practice-based learning.
In an era defined by constant change, some choose to step beyond familiar trajectories and carve out new opportunities at the intersection of disciplines. Meng Chieh Lee did exactly that. With a background in economics (Jinan University), she made the deliberate decision to transition into digital health management during her graduate studies - a path that proved both challenging and deeply transformative.
She has built on her experience as an intern on the Financial Transformation Performance Team intern at bioMérieux, one of the world's leading in vitro diagnostics companies. We sat down with her to understand how she got there, what the program gave her, and what she would say to someone standing at the same crossroads she once faced.
Why leave Finance for Healthcare?
For Meng Chieh, the pivot wasn't impulsive. It was strategic. "The decision to transition into Digital Health Management was driven by my desire to apply my economics background to a field with tangible social impact," she explains. "My undergraduate training in economics cultivated strong structured thinking and data analysis skills - capabilities essential for understanding complex systems and optimizing resource allocation. At the master's level, I wanted to combine this foundation with practical digital tools to address efficiency challenges within the healthcare industry."
What she found at emlyon was a curriculum that made that combination feel natural. "The program's greatest strength lies in its interdisciplinary approach, integrating management science, data analytics, and healthcare industry knowledge - enabling me to understand the core challenges of digital health from multiple dimensions."
A curriculum designed to build and deepen existing knowledge
One of the first things Meng Chieh noticed was how closely the courses echoed the foundational concepts she had learned during her previous studies. Courses like International Economy of Health - which examines healthcare economic models, health policies, and payment systems across different countries - allowed her to apply analytical frameworks she had built during her undergraduate studies directly to new territory. "This enabled me to apply the economic analysis frameworks acquired during my undergraduate studies to understand supply-demand dynamics, government intervention, and insurance mechanisms in healthcare markets," she says.
Similarly, The Pharmaceutical Ecosystem, which explores business models, market structures, and innovation investment analysis within the pharmaceutical industry, felt immediately relevant. "I found these courses both accessible and insightful," she notes. "My economics background provides me with distinct advantages in cost analysis, financial management, and data-driven decision-making, all of which are crucial for Digital Health Management."
Among the courses that proved most instrumental, she highlights Data Governance, Digital Transformation in Healthcare, and Python Programming. "The Python course not only enhanced my data processing and analytical capabilities but also empowered me to apply data science methods more effectively in optimizing digitalization within the healthcare sector."
A key project bridging theory and realworld practice
If there is one experience Meng Chieh points to as a turning point, it's the Transforming Early Makers (TEM) project - a hands-on initiative that challenged student teams to apply their learning to a real healthcare problem. Her team developed an application designed to monitor exercise frequency for cardiac patients, helping them maintain regular physical activity post-surgery to reduce the risk of secondary procedures.
Within the team, she served as CFO - responsible for project budgeting, fundraising, and financial management. "This role allowed me to integrate my prior financial knowledge with the practical needs of the healthcare industry. We needed to calculate the application's development costs, formulate a sustainable business model, and analyze potential markets and return on investment."
The project also demanded research that crossed disciplinary boundaries. "We were tasked not only with data collection and analysis but also with conducting in-depth research on healthcare industry knowledge - such as examining European countries' health insurance systems and analyzing different national healthcare payment models - to ensure our solutions could adapt to diverse market needs."
The experience reinforced a key insight that now shapes how she approaches her career: "Digital health management extends beyond technical considerations - it encompasses economic viability, market strategy, and patient needs."
The value of a diverse cohort in a healthcare program
One of the things Meng Chieh emphasizes most is the composition of her cohort. "My classmates come from a remarkably diverse range of backgrounds - dentistry, pharmacy, bioengineering, nursing, finance, healthcare management, computer engineering, and more - and many bring substantial professional experience. This diversity enriches our classroom discussions immeasurably, as each person approaches digital health challenges from their unique disciplinary perspective."
That diversity, she explains, has direct professional value. "Those with computer science backgrounds excel at technical implementation, while peers from healthcare backgrounds can articulate pain points in clinical workflows from an operational standpoint." Working alongside them strengthened her collaboration and cross-disciplinary communication skills - and helped her build what she describes as "a valuable cross-disciplinary professional network - a foundation that will undoubtedly support my future career development."
Meaningful academic guidance in the healthcare sector
On the faculty side, Meng Chieh singles out one professor who left a lasting impression: Bruno Versaevel, who also served as her thesis supervisor. "What made his guidance particularly valuable is his dual background in healthcare and economics - which allowed me, under his supervision, to better integrate my undergraduate economics knowledge and develop a deeper understanding of the economic logic underpinning the healthcare industry." His course, The Pharmaceutical Ecosystem, was among the first she took in the program, and it proved immensely helpful in orienting her quickly within a new field.
From the classroom to bioMérieux
The skills Meng Chieh built throughout the program translated directly into her internship. Throughout the TEM project and various courses, she frequently used Microsoft tools - including Excel VBA - which later proved invaluable in a professional setting. "I leveraged these tools to develop automated workflows for the finance department, reducing manual work and improving efficiency. The hands-on components of the curriculum not only enhanced my technical skills but also better equipped me to meet the digital transformation demands of the healthcare industry."
Her story is not just one of career transitions. It's a demonstration of what the MSc in Healthcare Innovation & Data Science at emlyon business school is designed to train: professionals who can think across disciplines, work at the intersection of data and healthcare, and deliver results in environments that don't fit neatly into a single field.
Her advice for students from nonclinical backgrounds
Trust that your existing knowledge is an asset, not a gap. The program is built precisely for people who bring different lenses to healthcare - and the combination, as s
Interested in a career in healthcare innovation? Learn more about the MSc in Healthcare Innovation & Data Science at emlyon business school.