Trinity EMBA Students Leave the Classroom to Help Frontline Workers

Trinity Business School at Trinity College Dublin's Executive MBA students recently helped develop a new service for frontline workers and others affected by COVID-19 in Ireland as part of their Company Projects Module.

MyMind, an Irish organization supported by Slaintecare and the HSE, provides access to free mental health support services through its online platform for those affected by the pandemic.

Trinity’s Company Project initiative aims to help the school’s EMBA students gain experience in new industries and organizations, and MyMind offered EMBA students an opportunity to utilize their varying expertise to solve an immediate, real-world business problem.

Trinity tries to match different students’ strengths to optimize different projects, and the group of six EMBA students on the MyMind project certainly brought their own unique skills to the table. For example, one team member – Vinod Malik – is a doctor, whereas other team members brought their skills in marketing or IT, meaning all bases were covered for this project to be successful.

The students TopMBA spoke to were very excited to get involved with such a worthwhile initiative, making it so much more than a module.

Caroline Curtis said: “We got a lot of exposure to MyMind and a chance to really get involved. We talked to external counsellors, undertook an online anonymous survey, gathered a lot of data and we looked at peer review modules for implementation.”

She added she was able to get a deep understanding of mental health, and the innovative move of going online: "During the pandemic, we were literally living through it. I think as a result, people will be more open to online counselling. I think regulation will change.”

Kevin Fallon said he learned a lot about social enterprises and the way they are funded and organized through the project. He said: “As someone who works in the IT industry, I looked at MyMind’s technological solution, including online capabilities.

“Krystian Fikert (MyMind CEO) is certainly tech-savvy and I was really impressed with the way he has driven the implementation of a functional and scalable solution on Microsoft’s Azure Cloud platform. MyMind are doing things in the right way for the organization to grow and be successful.”

Vinod Malik said: “When you are working on the frontline as a physician, you’re not too far from the scene and the effect Covid-19 was having on patients and healthcare professionals.

“Globally all of us have been pushed into a situation where we have witnessed a lot of raw trauma and experienced things which we would not have experienced cumulatively over a number of months or years.

“You’re seeing a lot of morbidity and mortality in a short amount of time which does effect ones mental health, so by anticipating future needs to address mental health issues, the avenues offered by MyMind were innovative and impactful social endeavors. The irony of being part of this project was knowing the need and the way to address it, where the value derived would be impactful seeing it from both sides.”

According to the participants, there has been a significant uptake in MyMind’s services since COVID-19, and the service has subsequently adapted quite a bit since its launch in January 2020. Caroline said: “MyMind pivoted very quickly to provide online counselling and I think that they were well placed for it, particularly their inhouse bespoke technology.”

During the pandemic, Vinod told us other diseases and mental health issues have been sidelined: “There are people in communities all over the world wrestling with their mental health and given the constraints of COVID-19, having an avenue to discuss and have your mental health addressed makes sense.

“As we live in a time of digital connectivity, COVID-19 has facilitated the adoption of disruptive technologies and MyMind is an example where uptake of services in the form of e-Mental health can bridge the gap for people with mental health issues by offering a window to communicate.”