Getting funded for an MBA post-MD?

[periodic]

Hey all,

I?m considering applying for my school?s MD-MBA program when it gets up and running and was wondering about other options.

I?ve heard about some ways to have an MBA funded during residency or after. What are the options? I know the Fulbright may do it during med school or after, but is there an RWJ or other program as well for management training? Will departments sometimes fund you?

If it matters, my interests are health policy and possibly management of care delivery organizations.

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[mward04]

Hey all,

I?m considering applying for my school?s MD-MBA program when it gets up and running and was wondering about other options.

I?ve heard about some ways to have an MBA funded during residency or after. What are the options? I know the Fulbright may do it during med school or after, but is there an RWJ or other program as well for management training? Will departments sometimes fund you?

If it matters, my interests are health policy and possibly management of care delivery organizations.

just curious...what school are you talking about?

if you want to do an mba during residency, make sure that your training program is very supportive of this. For the most part, residency programs will not fund you nor will they be supportive of this. I've heard that some fellowship programs will pay for you to get the graduate degree of your choice i.e. MPH, MBA etc. Another possibility is the RWJ which you mentioned, I've heard that they would fund you for this and you better believe there is a program for health policy.

My personal preference is to get the MBA during med school. It only takes 1 year, you can "grow up" in medicine with the perspective of both an MD and an MBA, you are less likely to have family responsibilities and you are still in that school mode. Is there a reason you'd prefer to do it after med school?

Another way to get business school paid for is to do very well on your GMATs. At my school, at least coming from the med school (and I'm pretty sure this applies to other applicants as well), if you get a high enough GMAT ~700, b-school is paid for.

Also curious, if you are interested in Health Policy, what would be your reasons to do the MBA instead of the MPH?

 

[periodic]

Thanks for responding, Michael.

I?ll be starting at Harvard in the fall. Their joint program should be starting my second year, and I?ve been told that it should be possible to apply then.

The reasons for my question were the notions that the MBA, during or after residency, A) could be funded and B) could be more instructive when I have more clinical experience.

I am interested in health policy, but I?d like to approach it as a clinician with management experience...the ability to see the small and big pictures in healthcare, if that makes sense.

I?ve worked for the government on Medicare policy research for a year, with many PhD?s and MPH?s and we contracted often with MD?s and MD-MPHs. An MBA seems more versatile and fitting, since I?d like to learn more about econ/finance, management, and policy. I know the difference can be small between an MPH with a focus in management and an MBA, but the program starting at Harvard is going to have a lot of energy going in and the opportunity to work with leading physician-managers.

Lastly, I?m also considering an MPP at the Kennedy School. I know it?s quite different from an MBA, and I?m going to talk to many people when I start to find out which program (MBA or MPP) fits me best.

That?s my reasoning as of now...thanks again for your insight.

 

[mward04]

Thanks for responding, Michael.

I?ll be starting at Harvard in the fall. Their joint program should be starting my second year, and I?ve been told that it should be possible to apply then.

The reasons for my question were the notions that the MBA, during or after residency, A) could be funded and B) could be more instructive when I have more clinical experience.

I am interested in health policy, but I?d like to approach it as a clinician with management experience...the ability to see the small and big pictures in healthcare, if that makes sense.

I?ve worked for the government on Medicare policy research for a year, with many PhD?s and MPH?s and we contracted often with MD?s and MD-MPHs. An MBA seems more versatile and fitting, since I?d like to learn more about econ/finance, management, and policy. I know the difference can be small between an MPH with a focus in management and an MBA, but the program starting at Harvard is going to have a lot of energy going in and the opportunity to work with leading physician-managers.

Lastly, I?m also considering an MPP at the Kennedy School. I know it?s quite different from an MBA, and I?m going to talk to many people when I start to find out which program (MBA or MPP) fits me best.

That?s my reasoning as of now...thanks again for your insight.

I think you'll get more policy out of an MPH but your reasons for the MBA also make sense. Since my school is not an official dual degree, I can't comment on the synergy of the 2 degrees, but I would imagine that when you have a fully integrated and supported dual degree, you will get more healthcare injected into the curriculum.

The biggest question, it seems like, is when to do the MBA. It sounds like (and correct me if I'm wrong) you've been told to wait on doing the MBA until during/after residency because you'll have more clinical experience then. Correct? While that is true, that's something you're going to have to balance with other life issues. You are fortunate in the sense that you have some work experience which will help put the MBA in context. However, you will have to balance the pros and cons of the MBA during med school vs. after. You can see what I wrote above and also take a look at MD-MBA.org:
http://www.md-mba.org/applying.html#A

Ultimately, I don't know about any residency programs funding your MBA (with the possible exception of Penn). You might want to call around/talk with residency directors and find out now before it gets too late. Definitely let us know what you find!

I don't know how much this will help so I apologize if I couldn't answer your question fully

 

[ortho-mdmba]

On funding during residency, most programs are just NOT down with sending you to b-school however I know two (my exact sample size) people who have done so and had it funded by the dept. One, a surgery resident, used the required two years of basic science research to get an MBA. The other extended their ortho residency.

My guess is that the programs most likely to consider this are those that are very MD/MBA friendly (Duke, Penn, UCLA etc). Also, the the residencies that have some built in "free time" for research or so... based on my examples above.

In short, the chances are small. Do it as a dual degree program at Harvard, it'll be one extra year of tuition. As the first class doing it, they might have some extra scholarships to entice you further.... doubt you need to be anyway.

As far as MPH, MPP, MBA... my bias is towards MBA or MPP for policy. I just feel the MPH is largely useless (MY PERSONAL OPINION) as a far as teaching you something new, radical and/or different. I looked into the MPP at Harvard and almost applied (if you are interested in just policy I'll go this route). Anything else, do the MBA.

 

[mward04]

Some ranting first.... So the biggest class of MD/MBAs that I know of currently is Duke at 8. Harvard is going to start out at 12 then, according to a recent HBS alumni newsletter might go up to 20.... that's 10% of their medical school class!!!! Always the one to do it BIG and flood the market

12-20! That's ridiculous!

 

[periodic]

Thanks a lot, guys. I am leaning towards doing a MPP or MBA as a dual-degree rather than later but wanted to get some more info.

Personally, I agree with you ortho-mdmba...for what I?m interested in, an MPH doesn?t promise to teach me as much that?s different and new. I think the diversity of classmates, professors, and courses in an MBA or MPP program would beat out an MPH for me. I do need to figure out whether I?m just interested in policy or not, though.

20 seems a little insane. Even 12 seemed likes stretching it to me, given the sizes of other MD-MBA classes. Is that alumni newsletter article online and linkable?

 

[Primate]

As for the original question, I got my MBA funded (pre-MD/PhD) 1/2 by merit scholarship from the school and 1/2 from an assistance-ship (worked for the Dean). It can be done, but you have to both really search out the opportunities and then compete hard for the $$ (not unlike just about anything else worthwhile).

Keep looking, there may be opps like this around that you didn't even know about (they're typically not very public as the the admin likes to throw the $$ to specific candidates, but usually everyone is eligible). These type of $$ are also typically independent of area of interest.

Just some thoughts,
P