How about getting an MBA?

[CanuckRazorback]

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I know this might sound off the wall, but it could be a great investment in your future. I wanted to apply last year and my April MCAT scores were not up to snuff so I held off a year, retook the MCAT last April, and enrolled in a 1-yr MBA program. I wanted to do the MD/MBA track anyway, but instead of paying 30K+ for the MBA, I got a graduate assistantship at my state school.

I didn't have any business background before enrolling in the program. With a background in the sciences and an MBA, you could get a really good job as a healthcare administrator if the med school road didn't work out. You could also be a pharm rep if you really enjoy kissing doctors' butts all day long 🙂

If any of you guys are interested in getting your MBA, feel free to PM me. Arkansas has a top 25 business school and one of few schools that have a one-year accelerated program where students without a business background are considered for admission. Also, there's tons of assistantships available since Wal-Mart headquarters is in our backyard.

 

[OrthoFixation]

The B-school on the hill in Fayetteville is top 25? All those times I picked up my g-friend out front, and I never had any respect. They kept us measly Mech Engr's down at the bottom of the hill.

How many B-schools are there nationwide?

 

[CanuckRazorback]

The B-school on the hill in Fayetteville is top 25? All those times I picked up my g-friend out front, and I never had any respect. They kept us measly Mech Engr's down at the bottom of the hill.

How many B-schools are there nationwide?

Shame on you! 🙂 Yes, we did get a top 25 ranking from the Princeton Review this year. Needless to say, it was a major celebration. Our MBA program ranked 8 in the country for student competitiveness, which is pretty accurate since we are all at each others' throat.

I didn't use to have respect for the business-types either. Now that I'm in that college, I've gain a little more respect but not that much. Business isn't really mind challenging, it's just busy work and never-ending team projects. I'm looking forward to ditching that team stuff! Finance is probably the only semi-tough class, but nothing compared to orgo or calculus.

I don't know how many business schools there are nationwide, but since most schools have a business program, I would say quite a few.

I know about the Mechanical Engr. building... It's really sad! I was in the college of health professions before and we didn't have any money. The allocation of funds is really disparate on this campus. One of my friends graduated from the ME program last May and I used to make fun of his crappy building. Bell is pretty nice though. Why aren't you guys in there?

 

[aamartin81]

What kind of "MBA program" are you enrolled in that is one year in length? Is it a schedule that provides the basic undergrad requisitte work or something more? As for the "lack of challenge" you describe, wait until you get to an upper level course (especially Finance) before passing judgement. Comparing Intro Marketing (which I'm assuming from your description of team projects, may be Organizational Behavior though) to Organic Chemistry is like comparing International Finance or Fixed Income and Derivatives to Chem I.

As for your opportunities, a background in business will never hurt you in the working world, but an accredited MBA (3-year program, mind) is usually recommended after serving 3-4 years in the business world (I.e corparate finance, investment banking analyst, etc...). If you are still in undergrad as a 21-22 year old student, many programs will expect you obtain this experience before applying to their school.

It may help you to take some time off from your pre-med path and follow some physicians around while also looking into other fields before dedicating the next 5-12 years to something you're not sure about. As for a career as a pharmacy rep/salesman, I have friends who currently work for Pfizer and Merck with no background in business (pre-med as well as a history and a sociology major).

I hope this helps, I was a Finance major in undergrad with over 40 hours in Finance alone. I passed the first level of the CFA exam (1 of 3, offered once annually) which is similar to the CPA, but for Finance. I worked with Wachovia before switching to the pre-med path. If you have any questions, send me a PM, if you think I could help. As a comparison, I haven't found Organic Chemistry to be nearly as challenging as the upper level Finance classes I've taken (so it probably differs from student to student).

Adam

 

[CanuckRazorback]

What kind of "MBA program" are you enrolled in that is one year in length? Is it a schedule that provides the basic undergrad requisitte work or something more? As for the "lack of challenge" you describe, wait until you get to an upper level course (especially Finance) before passing judgement. Comparing Intro Marketing (which I'm assuming from your description of team projects, may be Organizational Behavior though) to Organic Chemistry is like comparing International Finance or Fixed Income and Derivatives to Chem I.

As for your opportunities, a background in business will never hurt you in the working world, but an accredited MBA (3-year program, mind) is usually recommended after serving 3-4 years in the business world (I.e corparate finance, investment banking analyst, etc...). If you are still in undergrad as a 21-22 year old student, many programs will expect you obtain this experience before applying to their school.

It may help you to take some time off from your pre-med path and follow some physicians around while also looking into other fields before dedicating the next 5-12 years to something you're not sure about. As for a career as a pharmacy rep/salesman, I have friends who currently work for Pfizer and Merck with no background in business (pre-med as well as a history and a sociology major).

I hope this helps, I was a Finance major in undergrad with over 40 hours in Finance alone. I passed the first level of the CFA exam (1 of 3, offered once annually) which is similar to the CPA, but for Finance. I worked with Wachovia before switching to the pre-med path. If you have any questions, send me a PM, if you think I could help. As a comparison, I haven't found Organic Chemistry to be nearly as challenging as the upper level Finance classes I've taken (so it probably differs from student to student).

Adam

Finance is my concentration so that's where I'm taking all my electives including Corporate Finance, Advanced Corporate Finance, and Healthcare Finance. I don't think it's that bad, but then again I really like anything quant.

One of the MBA program at Arkansas is the fully accredited 1-yr (12-month) full-time accelerated MBA. We also have a managerial 2-yr program. If you don't have the necessary business background, short courses lasting 2 weeks are offered in Finance, Accounting, Statistics, Economics, IT, and BLaw to bring you up to snuff. About 1/3 of my class came straight from undergrad (and you can tell) where the rest of us have at least 2 years of work experience. The summer is 8-5 with MBA foundations 1 and 2, then you take 14 hours in the fall, 12 hrs in the spring including a partnering project with companies like Procter and Gamble, Sunbeam, etc. or a finance portfolio managemet project (manage a 0.25M fund) or an entrepreneurial project (write a business plan for a start-up company and compete in business plan competitions across the country). Then you take 2 more electives in the summer I session and you're done. The only "intro" in these courses is the first day of class. More info at www.uark.edu if you're interested.

If you follow the MD/MBA track, you will get your MBA in one year as every single program I've looked at are completed in 5 years.

I'm already accepted to med school so I'm definitely not looking for a pharm rep job. By the way, did you go to UT-Memphis? There was a guy that threw shot for them and I think his last name was Martin.

 

[OrthoFixation]

Shame on you! 🙂 Yes, we did get a top 25 ranking from the Princeton Review this year. Needless to say, it was a major celebration. Our MBA program ranked 8 in the country for student competitiveness, which is pretty accurate since we are all at each others' throat.

I didn't use to have respect for the business-types either. Now that I'm in that college, I've gain a little more respect but not that much. Business isn't really mind challenging, it's just busy work and never-ending team projects. I'm looking forward to ditching that team stuff! Finance is probably the only semi-tough class, but nothing compared to orgo or calculus.

I don't know how many business schools there are nationwide, but since most schools have a business program, I would say quite a few.

I know about the Mechanical Engr. building... It's really sad! I was in the college of health professions before and we didn't have any money. The allocation of funds is really disparate on this campus. One of my friends graduated from the ME program last May and I used to make fun of his crappy building. Bell is pretty nice though. Why aren't you guys in there?

I graduated in 1989. I was present when they opened the Bell Engr center. ME's were a leg up prior to that, having their own building, but immediately were outgunned by the Bell bldg. I had a few EE and one Engr Econ class in Bell. The ME bldg was old, even in the late '80s. The only one that worse was Physics (next door). If you had UP1 or 2 with lab, you got to see the dungeon (basement). Back then declaring engineering as a major was considered "Pre-Business."

It's good to hear UA B-school has some national respect.

The Hogs bball has looked pretty good so far this year.

I'll be interviewing at UAMS this Saturday 👍 Too bad I have out of state status.


aamartin: The majority of B-schools are 2 year programs.

 

[aamartin81]

aamartin: The majority of B-schools are 2 year programs.

Yes, they are, I see that I accidently wrote 3, my mistake. Though I have never looked into any specifics of the various programs offered, I am suprised that there are not more specific classes based on unique industry need. I hope my first message did not come across as condescinding (after re-reading it I could see that it may have seemed harsh). Are there more courses or paths available than the one you described or is it pretty standard for all students? As an undergrad, we also had a student managed portfolio (12 students) with an initial investment of $250,000, as well as being required to participate in a business plan development/presentation for our key-stone Strategy and Management course (My group chose ERTS right before they shot up about 60% including a split, so we were lucky to have that advantage). One of the more interesting things that came of our fund management was a presentation by an alumni recommending Enron about 6 months before they collapsed! Have you graduated med school? I am actually applying to UT-Memphis, but will not enter until Fall 2006.

Good luck with your work, I hope you find it rewarding. Have you had any previous experience in the business environment? If not, what area do you plan to pursue?

Adam

 

[CanuckRazorback]

I graduated in 1989. I was present when they opened the Bell Engr center. ME's were a leg up prior to that, having their own building, but immediately were outgunned by the Bell bldg. I had a few EE and one Engr Econ class in Bell. The ME bldg was old, even in the late '80s. The only one that worse was Physics (next door). If you had UP1 or 2 with lab, you got to see the dungeon (basement). Back then declaring engineering as a major was considered "Pre-Business."

It's good to hear UA B-school has some national respect.

The Hogs bball has looked pretty good so far this year.

I'll be interviewing at UAMS this Saturday 👍 Too bad I have out of state status.

aamartin: The majority of B-schools are 2 year programs.

Good luck on your UAMS interview!
It is tougher to get in when you're from out-of-state, but if you show strong ties to the state and strong interest in primary care, that should give you a leg up. I've posted some more info on UAMS last night on the political issues thread.

 

[mshheaddoc]

Hmmm ... only thing I have against this ... especially as a reapplicant ... commitment to medicine? I would work on your med school applicant and go MD/DO MBA route if you wanted MBA. Just my two cents though ... plus you wouldn't have to take all the MBA classes b/c your electives would be your med school classes 👍

 

[CanuckRazorback]

Yes, they are, I see that I accidently wrote 3, my mistake. Though I have never looked into any specifics of the various programs offered, I am suprised that there are not more specific classes based on unique industry need. I hope my first message did not come across as condescinding (after re-reading it I could see that it may have seemed harsh). Are there more courses or paths available than the one you described or is it pretty standard for all students? As an undergrad, we also had a student managed portfolio (12 students) with an initial investment of $250,000, as well as being required to participate in a business plan development/presentation for our key-stone Strategy and Management course (My group chose ERTS right before they shot up about 60% including a split, so we were lucky to have that advantage). One of the more interesting things that came of our fund management was a presentation by an alumni recommending Enron about 6 months before they collapsed! Have you graduated med school? I am actually applying to UT-Memphis, but will not enter until Fall 2006.

Good luck with your work, I hope you find it rewarding. Have you had any previous experience in the business environment? If not, what area do you plan to pursue?

Adam

There are more courses and paths available than the one I mentioned and everything is very flexible to match your own objectives. I believe some of the options are strategic retail alliances/supply chain management (huge with the Wal-Mart folks), global business, entrepreneurship and strategic innovations, or a customized concentration (sort of what I am doing). I wanted a background in finance because I am interested in health policy. However, I am doing the entrepreneurial project because I wanted to get experience with start-ups and writing business plans since I want to have my own practice when I finish med school. Another finance class I'm taking is entrepreneurial/start-ups finance, really interesting.

I am starting med school in the fall of 2005. I decided to go the MBA route because I worked in a family practice clinic for a summer and it was really badly managed. The UofA 1-yr program is perfect for people who want to become generalists or add-on to their undergraduate specialized business degree. If one was interested in high profile finance, I would probably opt for the master's in finance degree rather than the MBA.

Good luck with UT-Memphis. My interviewer at Vanderbilt was from there and he was REALLY REALLY nice!

 

[CanuckRazorback]

Hmmm ... only thing I have against this ... especially as a reapplicant ... commitment to medicine? I would work on your med school applicant and go MD/DO MBA route if you wanted MBA. Just my two cents though ... plus you wouldn't have to take all the MBA classes b/c your electives would be your med school classes 👍

You gotta a point!

 

[mshheaddoc]

You gotta a point!

I try 😀

 

[NRAI2001]

I know this might sound off the wall, but it could be a great investment in your future. I wanted to apply last year and my April MCAT scores were not up to snuff so I held off a year, retook the MCAT last April, and enrolled in a 1-yr MBA program. I wanted to do the MD/MBA track anyway, but instead of paying 30K+ for the MBA, I got a graduate assistantship at my state school.

I didn't have any business background before enrolling in the program. With a background in the sciences and an MBA, you could get a really good job as a healthcare administrator if the med school road didn't work out. You could also be a pharm rep if you really enjoy kissing doctors' butts all day long 🙂

If any of you guys are interested in getting your MBA, feel free to PM me. Arkansas has a top 25 business school and one of few schools that have a one-year accelerated program where students without a business background are considered for admission. Also, there's tons of assistantships available since Wal-Mart headquarters is in our backyard.

Sounds really cool, I clicked on the link, but I had trouble finding the specifc program on the site. Could u please send me a link. Thanks.

 

[CanuckRazorback]

Sounds really cool, I clicked on the link, but I had trouble finding the specifc program on the site. Could u please send me a link. Thanks.

http://gsb.uark.edu/mba/oneyearhome.asp

To receive information in the mail about the program, fill out the form at:

http://gsb.uark.edu/application.asp

PM me with any other questions 🙂