Help me determine my dual degree

[tyrtuga]

I have a decently large range of goals but I don't know what exactly I want to pursue on top of my MD.

Here are my goals:
1. Open a medical practice (maybe a neurosurgeon)
2. Train people! Elite science based sports training!
3. Write books. Write articles. Magazines. Have really cool creative content that allows me to educate/influence on a broad scale.
4. Change lots of people's lives and have a huge influence. Possibly run for office and go into politics.

Degree options:
MD
MD/MBA
MD/JD
MD/MPH
MD/PhD (no idea in what)

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[referee3]

:troll:

 

[tyrtuga]

I am really not trolling. My parents are telling me to pursue an MBA but some people say a JD will offer my the most flexibility.

 

[Rainbow Zebra]

I am really not trolling. My parents are telling me to pursue an MBA but some people say a JD will offer my the most flexibility.

MBAs usually have 2-3 years of experience before starting an MBA program. Unless you have "real world" working experience, nix the MBA, as you'll be in class without much to add, and will be marked down accordingly - - per my Mom who has an MBA and is a Healthcare Finance Executive. She thinks MD/MBA is nuts, unless you are a true non-traditional.

 

[TxC]

I plan to spend one extra year to get my MBA during med school and I have no real world experience other than a summer auditing internship.

I have a friend doing his BS/MBA and I've asked if he ever felt like he was at a disadvantage w/o any real world experience and he said no.

I really think having a business mindset will help you as a physician; dealing with insurance companies and the government is not fun.

 

[Rainbow Zebra]

I plan to spend one extra year to get my MBA during med school and I have no real world experience other than a summer auditing internship.

I have a friend doing his BS/MBA and I've asked if he ever felt like he was at a disadvantage w/o any real world experience and he said no.

I really think having a business mindset will help you as a physician; dealing with insurance companies and the government is not fun.

Maybe at a non-top 10 program. At U of Michigan, the MBA programs won't look at you without 2-3 years work experience.

 

[deleted577188]

omg lmaooooo

 

[referee3]

I am really not trolling. My parents are telling me to pursue an MBA but some people say a JD will offer my the most flexibility.

Are you in high school?

Don't mean to be rude, but you goals are all over the place. You need to ask yourself why you want to be a doctor and weigh your response against all this other stuff you "want" to do. Medicine is extremely time consuming and will not allow you the opportunity to do all (or likely, any) of these other things.

Also, MD/JD is a waste (search other threads). MD/MPH would be beneficial for entering into hospital administration one day. And of course MD/PhD is one of the most common combo's, but you have to be serious about doing research (even more so than clinical medicine) to consider this route.

 

[Microglia]

MCAT/GPA/Years of Research/Years of full time work experience?

Those will determine what's available to you as of now.

As to what you should aim for: those are all very different paths. A lot of the goals you haven't aren't the easier to tie together, for example being a neurosurgeon and a sports trainer. Hard to align those. You could be a neurosurgeon who specializes in traumatic brain injury? Writing books could be done on the side with that, too. But know that requires 4 years of college, 4 years of med school, and 7ish years of residency. Do you really want to add another degree to that?

 

[DrBowtie]

Only goal number 1 requires an MD.

 

[justadream]

MBAs usually have 2-3 years of experience before starting an MBA program. Unless you have "real world" working experience, nix the MBA, as you'll be in class without much to add, and will be marked down accordingly - - per my Mom who has an MBA and is a Healthcare Finance Executive. She thinks MD/MBA is nuts, unless you are a true non-traditional.

What's the typical career path to become a Healthcare Finance executive and what exactly do they do?

 

[raiderette]

MD/MBA is becoming more common. I plan the same thing, but my in-state option is a top 20 school.

 

[jqueb29]

An MBA is completely unnecessary if you are starting your own practice. Just get either a business or economics degree in undergrad.

 

[raiderette]

A lot of us have science degrees. Getting a minor is too late. I hope to use my MBA to open urgent care clinics.

 

[justadream]

A lot of us have science degrees. Getting a minor is too late. I hope to use my MBA to open urgent care clinics.

How is an MBA useful at all in this regard?

MBA's don't teach you how to run a business. And MBA's come with huge costs.

You'd probably be much better off taking the money you would have spent on the MBA towards the capital needed to start an urgent care clinic (btw: any figures on how much this is?)

 

[Shaq]

Don't apply md phd. That degree path requires a bit more commitment and focus to science than You might have at this stage

 

[Rainbow Zebra]

What's the typical career path to become a Healthcare Finance executive and what exactly do they do?

Mostly have an MBA, but you start as an analyst in either a central administrative area, or in a department, and work your way up. Not much "clinical" folks in the finance realm. Not a good use of MD's time to devote to financials. You can teach them what they need to know at a high level, they don't need to know the details of how a general ledger works.

 

[raiderette]

How is an MBA useful at all in this regard?

MBA's don't teach you how to run a business. And MBA's come with huge costs.

You'd probably be much better off taking the money you would have spent on the MBA towards the capital needed to start an urgent care clinic (btw: any figures on how much this is?)

An MBA would help me because I don't intend to run one urgent care clinic but to create a brand. Forecasting, start-ups, pure entrepreneurship is what I am looking for. It is an extra year of my life, but there are a few programs that would allow me to still get MD in 4 years. If I do a 5 year program then I can also take time to do research, making me a more desirable candidate for residency.