getting mba during residency

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cloudyroom

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just got my gmat score back and i'm very pleased (700+). i plan on going to b-school during my 2nd and 3rd year of gas residency. does anyone know anyone else whose done this or have a reason why it wouldn't be possible? i plan on doing residency in nyc (sinai/columbia) or boston (bid/bwh) and going to columbia/harvard for b school. so far the b schools seemed very interested but i wanted to know how hectic the last 2 years of anesthesia are. so far from what i've been hearing people are working 50-60 hours a week.. seems totally doable.

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just got my gmat score back and i'm very pleased (700+). i plan on going to b-school during my 2nd and 3rd year of gas residency. does anyone know anyone else whose done this or have a reason why it wouldn't be possible? i plan on doing residency in nyc (sinai/columbia) or boston (bid/bwh) and going to columbia/harvard for b school. so far the b schools seemed very interested but i wanted to know how hectic the last 2 years of anesthesia are. so far from what i've been hearing people are working 50-60 hours a week.. seems totally doable.

Why do you think you need/want an MBA as an anesthesiologist? What do you plan to do with it?
 
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I would not do both at the same time. It seems that you are interested in an executive MBA program that would be primarily nights and/or weekends. Many of your corporate colleagues in such a program have 9-5 jobs that allow this type of education. During residency, even as CA-2 and CA-3, you will work some nights and weekends. You will have little control over your schedule and have constant conflicts between MBA classes and residency.

During residency your primary objective is to learn your specialty. Realize that this will require some reading and preparation ourside of the OR. You should also take time for yourself (and family/friends). I think your goal to do both simultaneously is unrealistic. Ask any current resident in anesthesia at the programs you are considering. I would not tell any program director about your plan, as they will either discourage it or question your motivation for anesthesia (... this applicant must only be interested in $$$). That being said I admire individuals in medicine who can bring outside experience to medicine (MBA, JD, PHD, etc.) If you are truly interested in this pathway I would not do residency and MBA school at the same time.
 
spasm-

agreed. i spoke w/ a friend of mine who is a vp @ accenture and he said that top b school require a lot of work anyway. that being said i think it will be best to do residency then follow it up w/ b school.. and i can do locums for $ during b school.

thanks for the input.
 
spasm-

agreed. i spoke w/ a friend of mine who is a vp @ accenture and he said that top b school require a lot of work anyway. that being said i think it will be best to do residency then follow it up w/ b school.. and i can do locums for $ during b school.

thanks for the input.

You're obviously a very gifted dude/dudette. And very motivated.

I agree that it would be very difficult to do both at the same time....but I wouldnt say impossible. I moonlighted 72 hours a month for most of my residency. I'm sure there are individuals out there that devote alotta time to something during residency.

Heck, entertain the idea. See if you think its possible after looking at the hours, etc. Only bad thing is you'd be doing alot of residency-call-schedule manipulation in order to not miss MBA classes.....and would need some very understanding resident colleagues.

Cool career path.

Best of luck to you.
 



Seems like most of the physicians who get involved in VC/equity/etc have IM backgrounds. Is anesthesia something you plan to do on the side, or does it relate to what you ultimately want to do in business?

I ask because I have thought about pursuing this type of career path, but decided that an MBA was pretty much unnecessary. From what I gather, a better route would entail doing healthcare consulting for a firm, develop connections, and then transition gradually from practicing medicine to business. An MBA is just a credential. Not worth it, IMO, if you have an MD. But if you lack basic business knowledge, that's another story...
 
just got my gmat score back and i'm very pleased (700+). i plan on going to b-school during my 2nd and 3rd year of gas residency. does anyone know anyone else whose done this or have a reason why it wouldn't be possible? i plan on doing residency in nyc (sinai/columbia) or boston (bid/bwh) and going to columbia/harvard for b school. so far the b schools seemed very interested but i wanted to know how hectic the last 2 years of anesthesia are. so far from what i've been hearing people are working 50-60 hours a week.. seems totally doable.

It can be done....you're probably not the first nor will you be the last. Don't get me wrong, it will suck royally but if you really want it, it will be worth the time and effort.

What is the max GMAT, BTW? and congrats on your score.
 
anesthesia/pain management are super cool fields which i know i'll be happy doing.

however i am also interested in the "financial" side of medicine and want to keep my options open. Personally I don't think it matters what type of MD you are. I dig anesthesia because I will really know my phys and pharm. So transferring into the pharma realm would be no prob.

as for the mba. you are right it isn't really necessary but if you have an mba from a top 5 b-school you are going to demand a whole lot of respect. not to mention doors open up for you @ those schools. couple an md with a world class b-school degree and you've got a person who can pimp the healthcare game from any angle.
 
Getting an MBA during residency is something that I've been thinking about recently, as well. I'm now regretting not trying to get into my medical school's dual degree program while I had the chance! I'm an intern now, but my program for residency has a great business school as well as hospital, and a curriculum for health sector management, or something like that. I do agree, however, with previous posts: focusing on residency and learning anesthesia should be the goal. The executive MBA at this program would require Fridays and Saturdays, with occasional Thursdays - a scheduling nightmare in general and for call, etc... Plus, I want to have time for my other interests in life, and not go even more into debt! So I've pretty much decided that during residency I'll get what experience I can (I have to admit I don't know that is yet...management skills, networking, etc...) and think about the ExecMBA later in life.
 
By the way, there was an article recently in either Fortune or Money about online MBAs. Apparently there's quite a few major company's that are happy to hire people with MBAs from mostly online courses, and think these grads do just as well as others. Not sure if this would be my first choice, but just putting that out there.
 
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