Student Spotlight: Dr. Matt Young Helps Those Harmed by the Healthcare System

“Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you’ve imagined.” – Henry David Thoreau. 

The ethos of pursuing one’s dreams and helping others along the way has been a guiding force for MBA Student Dr. Matt Young, M.D., J.D., CMQ, Esq.

Dr. Young certainly is realizing his dreams. He has already achieved national recognition in the fields of patient safety and healthcare quality, has been named a National Quality Scholar by the American College of Medical Quality, serves as a peer reviewer for the Journal of Patient Safety, has published in multiple medical texts, and, in his spare time, is a classically trained concert pianist. 

His next adventure? He is now one of the trial lawyers at the nationally renowned law firm Ross Feller Casey LLP, where he represents patients, families, and their loved ones who have been catastrophically harmed by the healthcare system, a cause that is extremely close to his heart. 

After Dr. Young graduated from Harvard Medical School, he became the eighteenth doctor in a family of doctors spanning three generations and two continents. However, after he lost his own father to medical malpractice, Dr. Young went to Harvard Law School, where he received his JD degree, and became an attorney and patient safety advocate. During his medical and legal training, he would learn that medical errors are one of the leading causes — if not the leading cause — of death and disability in the United States. “My father died as a result of medical malpractice, which has been shown to be one of the major causes of morbidity and mortality in our country. Now, I get to fight for so many families like my own who have suffered harm at the hands of our healthcare system,” he said.

Dr. Young describes Ross Feller Casey LLP as one of the best law firms in the country when it comes to representing plaintiffs in medical malpractice actions. “Their reputation, record-setting results, integrity, and team of talented lawyers and doctors make them an incredible powerhouse for plaintiffs. I look forward to helping catastrophically injured patients hold the healthcare system accountable. Ultimately, the pen is mightier than the scalpel.”

Dr. Young believes Quantic was definitely one of the nudges he needed to pursue this next chapter. “Plaintiffs’ work is in many ways an entrepreneurial endeavor. The Quantic MBA program gave me the courage and skills to make this daunting and dramatic career transition in the middle of a global pandemic. From a curricular perspective, it has great modules on key topics like entrepreneurship, marketing, and business strategy, the sunk cost fallacy, and calculating opportunity cost, which all factored into my decision to forsake my medical career and instead take care of patients in a very different but immensely important way.”

There was also an overflowing amount of Quantic peer support from his classmates. “I posted to our class’s Slack and asked my classmates for advice, and they gave me amazing advice and support about making this career change. I was getting real life and career advice from really accomplished people from three different continents and time zones all coming from diverse industries who had made multiple career changes themselves.” 

Overall, Dr. Young has been thrilled with the energetic and entrepreneurial spirit of the Quantic experience. “I thought the most valuable education I would ever get would come from spending 11 years at Harvard and getting those three degrees from their college, med school, and law school, at the cost of being saddled with a hefty amount of student loan debt; but never did I think that one of the most invaluable and transformative experiences would come in the form of a free online MBA. Without a doubt, my Quantic MBA experience has been just as valuable as the education I received at Harvard. Studying with Quantic has been an incredibly invaluable and rewarding experience and has helped me formulate a new vision for myself on how best to leverage my medical and legal training to help others.”

We are so excited to see how Dr. Young’s next chapter unfolds as he brings his powerful personal narrative and unparalleled professional training into the courtroom to fight for families harmed by the healthcare system. We are sure that as he goes confidently in the direction of his dreams, he will help countless patients and families find justice and peace.