Adjusting to being an MBA Student

  • Thread starter JohnCarterIIIDO
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JohnCarterIIIDO

So I'm curious if anyone out there can tell me a little bit about adjusting to being both a medical student and a MBA student..... how did you relate to all the corporate and business people when you have a primarily clinical and science background?

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So I'm curious if anyone out there can tell me a little bit about adjusting to being both a medical student and a MBA student..... how did you relate to all the corporate and business people when you have a primarily clinical and science background?
Same question here. I will be doing an MD/MBA program next year, had no idea this forum was here. Cool. Will visit often.
 
I guess you have to read in advance business books before heading out to the MBA class. Graduate degrees do not often go back to the basic topics as the instructors will expect that all of their students have undergone the basics.
 
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Come up with a health business-related issue that you'd like to tackle. For example, perhaps it's a quality improvement issue. How do you increase the efficiency of a heart attack diagnosis in the ER?

Or, you could look at health care resource utilization. Does it make business sense to spend thousands of dollars for end-of-life care in the ICU?

Work on a project and you'll find that the MBA experience is much more relevant when you apply those concepts in health care.

When you view the world of health care through the lens of a business executive, you'll find that many of these medical "business" issues are similar to the challenges/problems/ issues that corporate executives face.
 
Find a professor or two at your business school who has a background or an interest in health care and is working on projects relevant to your interests. This is an excellent way to begin thinking of ways to apply your MBA to the health care field.
 
Must be an interesting, albeit exciting experience. I'm MD/MBA as well and looking forward to finally transitioning into a completely different environment. Might have some more MBA specific info at the MD MBA Association forums http://www.mdmbas.com/Forums/
 
as an ivy mba, I'd advise yall to start prepping ur livers nao in anticipation of upcoming "networking events."

but seriously, it depends on the schools and their focus. are they more quant heavy? management? strictly case method? beefing up ur excel skillz won't hurt and will put you towards the middle of the pack.

I'd imagine u guys will get stigmatized and shoehorned into biotech/medical type stuff/projects- r u okay with that? honestly getting into VC/PE stuff down the road is where the beaucoup bucks lie so maybe you should try to resist being pigeonholed.... if you get a mandatory internship gun to do it at mckinsey, goldman, on a buy side/sell side/trading floor of a big bank, ratings agency, foreign market trading, etc. Something different... don't just be the "health care guy" because then that is the only type of stuff they will ever think of you for.

I'm happy to answer specific questions. But honestly a lot of the classes and material will be pretty fun, easy and straightforward. Way more group work than in typical science classes or I'd imagine in med school.
 
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