Renee Botelho is collaborative and trusted healthcare leader with experience developing, planning, and executing healthcare provider strategies, including large-scale capital initiatives at the #1 and #2 hospitals in the world. She is currently leading activation of several strategic initiatives at NewYork-Presbyterian. She most recently is contributing to Mayo Clinic’s strategy in Rochester, Minnesota as a thought partner and chief of staff to executive leadership. She formerly served as an American expat in England leading the award-winning team activating Cleveland Clinic’s entry into Europe – Cleveland Clinic London’s 184-bed hospital and first outpatient clinic. She is highly skilled in stakeholder management, written and verbal executive communication, leadership and team development, business strategy and strategic planning. She has a proven track record of consistent delivery against project milestones and deliverables. She creates and fosters environments for others to excel and puts forward team and others for development opportunities. She enjoys working in uncertain and changing environments.
Q: What was your CHE experience like? What were you involved in during your undergraduate years?
A: I was a PAM major at Cornell, and I stayed a PAM major throughout my undergraduate years, focusing on Health Care Policy. I really enjoyed how multidisciplinary my major was – I was able to take transportation policy, health policy, microeconomics, and more which helped me gain knowledge about different subjects. My professors were very adaptable. In my time at Cornell, Obamacare passed and professors started to focus more on health policy which gauged my interest in healthcare. A professor of mine named Dr. Rick Geddes was a great and approachable professor at Cornell. I took his transportation policy courses and did research with him pertaining to water infrastructure financing programs. I really liked how intimate CHE was and the opportunities it provided to connect with professors, students, and others. I was a part of the equestrian team for 2 years. I did a semester abroad my junior year and got into Cornell’s accelerated Bachelors/Master of Health Administration so I no longer continued with the equestrian team.
Q: What resources provided by Cornell guided you the most in your career exploration as an undergraduate student?
A: The Cornell Career Guide, particularly the Resume Words sheet, is very helpful. I still use the Resume Words Sheet today. Professors were my number one resource in my career exploration during my time at Cornell. I connected with professors such as Dr. Julie Carmalt. I also utilized Cornell’s alumni network, allowing me to connect with alumni who were in places and industries that I wanted to be in.
Q: Do you have advice for students on how to gain experience in their fields of interest?
A: Don’t be afraid to reach out to alumni. Alumni are here and willing to help you. You can ask alumni for anything, from advice to connections to job offerings and internships. We have experience, and we know what it was like to be an undergraduate at Cornell, so we are willing to help you. My second piece of advice is to keep an open mind and be open to exploring. You can change; you don’t have to stick to one thing, whether that be a career, an interest, a profession, or anything.
Q: Do you have any advice for undergraduate students who are trying to figure out what they want to do in the future? What advice would you give to your undergraduate self?
A: Not knowing what you want to do in the future is totally ok. Cornell really encourages the idea of “any person, any study” and lifelong learning. Do not worry about making the right choice, think about making choices right. It is very easy to be fearful about making the wrong decisions, but I would definitely encourage students and my undergraduate self to be open and put themselves in a position to try new things. I would tell my undergraduate self to just put the next foot forward. It is easy to worry about making the wrong decision and comparing yourself to others, so just emphasize the importance of not comparing yourself to others and focusing on the things you like.
Q: How was the transition from undergraduate to graduate school? Can you talk more about your experience(s)?
A: For me, and some of my peers, it was a pretty straightforward and pretty smooth transition. Because of the variety of courses that I took prior to graduate school, it allowed me to come into graduate school with some knowledge. I did the accelerated Bachelors/Master of Health Administration program at Cornell so I was already acclimated to the Cornell courses. As an introvert and a senior, the first semester was a bit tough socially, especially because of the many networking events and trying to balance spending time with my fellow seniors and connecting with others in my Sloan cohort. Aside from that, the transition was good.
Q: Do you have any advice for those interested in going to graduate school?
A: I would definitely encourage those interested in graduate school to see where alumni have gone after graduating from the graduate program(s) you are interested in. Graduate school is not only for academics but also for the alumni network. Really take the time to explore what alumni do and where they go.
Q: Are there skills or internships that you think students should focus on right now, which could be advantageous in multiple professions in the future?
A: Pertaining to skills, I would say to master Excel, learn as much as you can about financial accounting, and try to get as much knowledge about things as you can. Excel can help you with organization and analysis and you can use it to your advantage. Excel is very useful and definitely helps complete tasks efficiently and optimize time. Learning about financial accounting is important and necessary for anywhere you work. It is important to learn the basics such as reading and understanding profit and loss statements and balance sheets. Finances are crucial to the success of any organization therefore it would make you an asset to learn those things. Lastly, I would recommend getting as much knowledge on a subject as possible. If your institution provides courses about particular subjects, gain as much niche knowledge as possible. For example, when I was doing my Master of Health Administration at Cornell, I learned about hospital bond finance in one of my Practitioner Lead Intensive Courses (PLICs). I would not say that there is a particular internship that students should focus on. However, I would say that consulting is typically good, especially if you do not want to do it long-term, because it grants the opportunity to get a lot of experience in a short period. Finding ways to be involved are very important and I would highly recommend doing so. You can also do externships and part-time jobs during school to not only make money and get experience but also demonstrate well-roundedness.
Q: What is your work like? Could you tell me more about yourself?
A: I serve as the Director of Project Management and Activation at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and I work on three main projects. One of my primary projects is working, in conjunction with Columbia University, on building a medical site to ensure that patients have quality service and medical imaging technology from the initial meeting. Another main project is creating a “hospital at home” clinic. My last primary project is working on emergency management; equipping facilities with the capability to care for patients despite natural disasters, outages, wars, and other crises.
I am originally from Upstate, NY but I moved around a lot for work purposes. I am currently in NYC, where I work for NewYork-Presbyterian. I enjoy moving to different places. I have a 3-year-old German Shepherd / Pit Bull mix dog. I am a member of the Sloan Program Alumni Board, and I love that I am able to give back to Cornell.
Q: What is something you learned at Cornell that you exercise at work everyday?
A: I exercise curiosity everyday. Cornell taught me to be curious about different disciplines and different ways to think which is very applicable to my work.