“So that’s what you do!” – Working as a consultant at Prognos

How long have you been with Prognos and what did you do before?
I joined Prognos in early 2018. Before that, there were very different stages in my life. Before I came to Prognos, I changed location or my job every one to three years. After graduating from high school, I trained as a midwife and then worked in the profession for eight years. I worked in Dublin in a large maternity hospital, in a midwifery practice, and at a small hospital in rural Lower Bavaria, then in Munich and Berlin. Sometimes I worked freelance, sometimes I was employed, and sometimes a combination of the two. Because working conditions and the compatibility of my job with my private life became increasingly difficult, I studied health sciences and graduated with a master’s degree in public health.

During and after my studies, I first worked at the EPatient RSD (a market research company specialising in digital health topics) and at the IGES Institute. At the IGES Institute, I mainly worked on expert reports on midwifery care in Germany and on topics such as the benefits of statutory health insurance.

As a consultant, you work on many different projects. Do you remember your first project at Prognos?
Yes, very well. It was the “Overall Evaluation of the Innovation Fund,” a fairly extensive project. I was able to learn a lot of new methodologies and at the same time contribute my insider knowledge as a health care professional when it came to the perspective of patients and service providers in the health care sector. The project was recently completed (in German).

As part of the projects, you often work with colleagues from different locations. How do you organise your joint project work?
In addition to e-mails and calls, we regularly connect to status meetings via webcam. We discuss the current status of the project and plan the next steps together. I also like to meet colleagues from the same location in the office. The exchange within our interdisciplinary teams is an enriching experience. I’m always learning something new.

The tasks involved are as different as the projects. Which activities shape your daily routine?
Depending on the project and the project status, my tasks vary greatly. Some of the projects are evaluations that run over several years. Recurring tasks include, for example, the creation of questionnaires, the planning and execution of qualitative interviews, literature searches, the analysis of documents, or the writing of reports together with colleagues.

And which gadget or tool could you not be without at work?
My notebook. After my calendar it is my second memory aid for my work.

In addition to work, breaks are not to be overlooked. How do you spend your breaks at the Berlin location?
I like to have lunch with colleagues outside the office building; there is a large selection of places to eat in the vicinity of the office. Between times, I like to drink a coffee in the lounge and have a read of the newspapers there – I rarely get time to do that at home.

Thank you very much for the report and the insight into your daily work, dear Verena!

Verena Stengel’s profile

Note: Verena Stengel has since been promoted to project manager and has moved to the Prognos office in Munich for personal reasons.

Also of interest:

The day-to-day work of Jannis Lambert, project manager at Prognos

Valentin Würth’s insights into the traineeship at Prognos

Dr Stefan Moog, data analyst at Prognos