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Estimating # of doctors or hospitals

Analytical
New answer on Aug 10, 2021
2 Answers
639 Views
Anonymous A asked on Aug 09, 2021

In such cases, is it fine to ask for ratio of doctors to patients (for eg..1 doctor per 10 patients etc.)..is there an easier way to estimate such cases?

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Ian
Expert
Content Creator
replied on Aug 10, 2021
#1 BCG coach | MBB | Tier 2 | Digital, Tech, Platinion | 100% personal success rate (8/8) | 95% candidate success rate

Hi there,

No, it is almost never fine to ask for any numbers during market sizing (with few exceptions).

The entire point of market sizing is to break the problem down into things that you, as an individual, feel comfortable estimating.

The “easier” way to estimate is to set up the problem based on things you already losely know…for example, have you ever been to a hospital? You can visualize rooms etc. Have you lived in a town/city before? How many hospitals were there and how big were they?

Leverage your own knowledge! This comes from your own experiences AND daily reading (which you should be doing)

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Sophia
Expert
replied on Aug 10, 2021
Top-Ranked Coach on PrepLounge for 3 years| 6+ years of coaching

Hello,

You shouldn't be asking for data in market sizing questions. However, don't worry too much about this as the interviewers will be looking to assess how you approach the problem, not the precise numbers that you come up with - i.e. they will be more interested in seeing that you are trying to use the number of patients per doctor as a data point, rather than what you estimate this number to be. 

I echo Ian's advice in how to approach a market sizing question you are stuck on - use your real-world experience and anything you may have seen in the news as a basis to come up with numbers that would seem plausible to you. 

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