College Relations - Recent Grads (The 411)

Julie - Sr. Financial Analyst

St. Vincent College, BS Accounting
University of Pittsburgh Katz School, MBA candidate

Q: What first attracted you to MEDRAD?
A: I’d say I was first attracted to MEDRAD by the people, and I would say the people are actually what have retained me at MEDRAD. When I was in the interview process, it became very apparent to me that it was a very people-focused, very easy-going, friendly atmosphere. When I started at MEDRAD and as I’ve progressed through my career at MEDRAD, it’s continued to show that type of atmosphere. It’s a very friendly atmosphere. People are always willing to say hi and stop and talk to you. From the low-level production areas to the senior VPs, it doesn’t really matter who you are or where you’re coming from, everybody’s really willing to say, “Hi, how are you doing?” They get to know you as best as they can.

Q: How do you add value to MEDRAD?
A: I’d say that I add value to MEDRAD in my role in the CT SBU. I support a cross-functional team, meaning that my internal customers are the marketing group and the NPD group. So where I add value is from a financial support role, meaning that when they have questions on go-forward on their programs or just overall finance questions, I add value in that area. More recently, I’ve been getting more involved in a lot of strategic type of initiatives, so I’ll get pulled into meetings on, “Is this the right clinical benefit way we should be going? Should there be other alternatives that we’re looking into?” That’s what I truly enjoy about my job and where I’m finding that I’m really adding value now; getting more involved in the strategy side of the business as well as some of the finance, normal transaction type of stuff.

Q: How do you make a difference at MEDRAD?
A: I think that I make a difference at MEDRAD in my role because I support a cross functional team. Specifically, I’ve been working on a new product that’s going to be launching in the coming six months to a year. In my role, I support the marketing team and I support the new products team. So I’m helping to try to balance not only the NPD expense and understanding the cost pieces of the product that’s going to launch, but also the marketing perspective. Through my independent study at the Katz School I’m working in joint with MEDRAD and the Katz School to try to understand a marketing plan and a marketing pricing strategy for this project. I think it’s really been a good experience for me because I’ve gotten to see the new products side of it, how to develop a program and all the different pieces and the levers that go into it. But then from the marketing side, how are we going to get this to the end customer? It’s not only been beneficial for me, but for MEDRAD as a whole. I think it’s made a difference in my life, but it’s also made a difference at MEDRAD as well.

Q: Why choose MEDRAD?
A: Why would I choose MEDRAD? I guess I would turn that around and say, why wouldn’t I choose MEDRAD? The experience I’ve had at MEDRAD has been phenomenal. I think I’ve been a very big promoter of MEDRAD as a company. The thing that I like the most about MEDRAD is the people, obviously. It’s a very easy-going, very fun atmosphere. The people I sit around play jokes on each other and everybody’s having a good time. But at the same time, we play hard just as much as we work hard. It’s a give and take type of relationship. I don’t think I would really trade it for anything at this point and time because it’s been such a good experience for me.

Q: Can you talk about your career progression?
A: From a career progression standpoint, I’d say that I’ve been very fortunate at MEDRAD. I’ve gotten to see a lot of different areas. I actually started as an intern a few years back and I worked in the financial accounting group and worked on some tax projects at the same time. From there they created an opportunity for me while I was still in school to continue my internship and I worked in the credit and collections group, which allowed me to understand the sales process as well as how we account for accounts receivable, which was very good experience for me on my side. From there, I moved into a staff accountant role in the corporate accounting group as well and I worked on a bunch of different projects, specifically working on Sarbanes Oxley type of reporting requirements for internal controls. Then about a year after doing that, I had an opportunity to come into the CT SBU and serve as a financial analyst. Since then I’ve moved into the senior analyst role. Primarily my responsibilities are: I‘ve moved away from a lot of the transactional type of work and I’m more into strategic and financial evaluation type of role where I support marketing and NPD trying to make decisions and trade offs that not only will support the business, but also that are in the best interest of our customer base.

Q: What is your most memorable experience at MEDRAD?
A: I’d say probably my most memorable experience happened a few weeks ago. I’ve had a lot, but this one’s really stuck out in my mind. I had the opportunity to ride with our Pittsburgh field rep around Pittsburgh. From a finance perspective, I’m usually crunching numbers and helping on strategy and everything, but I never really get to see the products being used on patients and in the field. At the one institution that we went to, they took time and they actually allowed me to observe two of the procedures, but then they actually took me in the back room and showed me some of the cardiac procedures that they have been performing with our Stellant injector. It was great to hear the technologists rant and rave and say how great they really like our products and actually see the clinical benefits of what I’m trying to help produce, and to get new products in the field that will continue to enhance the clinical benefits in the future. You just never know if it’s going to be my family member that’s going to need that type of procedure, or a friend of mine, or even myself. So it’s nice to see that what I’m doing is helping to make a difference and I was very grateful for the field rep for giving me that experience.