Bosede Afolabi | Master of Science in Clinical Service Operations

After two decades in medicine, Bosede Afolabi, MD, FHRS, had built a career defined by precision and innovation. A board-certified cardiologist and electrophysiologist based in Florida, she specialized in complex arrhythmia ablations, device implantation, and structural heart interventions. But the COVID-19 pandemic exposed a gap she could no longer ignore.

“We had a lot of issues managing our hospital—many of them operational,” she recalls. “Even though we were all willing and able to work, there were problems that directly impacted patient care. Surgeries were canceled, chemotherapy was rescheduled, and departments shut down for infectious disease purposes.”

Despite her years of experience, Bosede realized that she did not have the tools to address these kinds of challenges. “After COVID, I just felt like I needed to diversify my knowledge portfolio,” she says. “It became very obvious that we needed to start being more holistic about merging operations with patient care.”

She began by reading widely about hospital management and systems thinking. “I didn’t think an MBA would help me deal with my operations problem,” she says. “I needed something that would look at the financial feasibility of various pathways for health care delivery and also keep the clinician in the loop as part of that process.”

When Bosede came across the Master of Science in Clinical Service Operations program at Harvard Medical School, she was excited to discover that it encompassed both aspects. Before long, she found herself attending virtual information sessions with Harvard faculty and alumni. The personal, positive feedback that she received from the people in the program was a key factor in her decision to apply.

Now in her second year, Bosede is balancing her studies with full-time clinical practice—a juggling act made possible by the program’s flexible, part-time format. “A lot of us are working physicians,” she says. “We have neurosurgeons, oncologists, and critical care doctors in our cohort. Some classmates are in Australia and Hawaii, waking up at 3 a.m. to take classes.”

The coursework, she says, quickly exceeded her expectations. “I didn’t realize how in-depth it would be. We take three or four courses a semester. I didn’t think that was going to be robust enough, but I am pleasantly surprised at how in-depth each topic ends up being.”

These classes have opened her eyes to many aspects of patient care, including how she communicates. “You’d think that physicians communicate all the time, but are we communicating effectively?” she asks. “I learned that talking to a patient is not the same as talking with a patient.” It’s a small distinction, but it changed Bosede’s understanding of the patient’s experience beyond the examination room.

Bosede also recalls a module that examined patient experience data, something she once dismissed as administrative noise. “I used to toss those emails about patient satisfaction surveys,” she admits with a laugh. “Now I see how things like parking, appointment reminders, and clinic flow impact patient outcomes. It’s about seeing the system as a whole.”

The program’s greatest strength, she says, lies in its real-world relevance. “We learn directly from people who’ve led through crisis. One of my favorite sessions was with the CFO of Brigham and Women’s Hospital, who shared how they turned the hospital’s finances around after the pandemic. It wasn’t a TED Talk; it was someone who had actually done it.”

Those lessons learned are already influencing her day-to-day work. “I’ve started thinking differently about everything from budgeting to lab scheduling,” she says. “Physicians are used to focusing on what’s clinically necessary, not what’s financially sustainable. The program is teaching me how to balance both.”

Bosede’s capstone project focuses on supply chain efficiency in cardiovascular care, a topic that emerged from her own hospital’s recent vendor mergers. “We’ve had multiple companies consolidate, which has created redundancies and inefficiencies in our supply chain,” she explains. Her research is centered on merging overlapping product lines within the cardiovascular supply chain to reduce waste, streamline procedural flow, and identify cost-saving opportunities.

Even with her years of clinical experience, Bosede says that the Clinical Service Operations program continues to surprise her. “We just started our finance courses, and I’m finally understanding why certain administrative decisions get made. I used to wonder why I couldn’t build another lab when the old one felt outdated, but now I see the broader picture of costs, margins, and sustainability.”

That new lens, she adds, has made her a better doctor. “The program has deepened my empathy. For instance, I used to be frustrated when patients complained about a $15 copay. Now I realize that $15 at my clinic might be one of six copays they pay that month. It adds up.”

She’s also thinking about the future of her field. “Cardiology is already technology-driven, but artificial intelligence is about to change everything,” she says. “As an electrophysiologist, 90 percent of my mapping work already depends on AI. The question is: how do we integrate these tools responsibly and equitably? This program gives me the frameworks to start answering that.”

She encourages other clinicians to consider the program, but only after some years of experience. “It’s a program for people who’ve been in the trenches and are ready to lead. The more experience you bring, the more you’ll get out of it,” she says. “Identify the problems you want to solve before you start. If you come in with focus and purpose, you’ll walk away with the tools to make a real impact.”

Written by Bailey Merlin