MBA/DMD Programs

[beautiful1]

There are schools that offer combined DMD/MBA programs.... how competitive are these programs? How rigorous is the actual course load?
What kid of individuals complete these types of programs?.... Individuals who want to run a clinic or something?
Any additional information is greatly appreciated
Thanks

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[AskJeeves]

There are schools that offer combined DMD/MBA programs.... how competitive are these programs? How rigorous is the actual course load?
What kid of individuals complete these types of programs?.... Individuals who want to run a clinic or something?
Any additional information is greatly appreciated
Thanks

I see no value in an MBA. Just a waste of time and money. I know lots of unemployed MBAs. Not worth it. It does not enhance your Dental Degree at all.

 

[doc toothache]

I see no value in an MBA. Just a waste of time and money. I know lots of unemployed MBAs. Not worth it. It does not enhance your Dental Degree at all.

You may not see since you do not have one but you are not exactly in a position of being a good judge of how beneficial it might be in private practice.

 

[Blarelli]

I see no value in an MBA. Just a waste of time and money. I know lots of unemployed MBAs. Not worth it. It does not enhance your Dental Degree at all.

Odd, every dentist I have ever discussed the industry with has always said they wish they had better business training.

 

[hausee]

Odd, every dentist I have ever discussed the industry with has always said they wish they had better business training.

It is especially useful during the current downturn...I mean business training, not just MBA degree.

 

[RedDevilDDS]

I think MBA will be definitely helpful for most dentist in private practice...

 

[AskJeeves]

An MBA doesn't enhance a dentist's business skills. An MBA teaches you abstract concepts about large corporations, it doesn't give you any concrete skills needed to run a dental clinic. An MBA doesn't teach you how to properly do your taxes, how to attract and keep patients, or even how to maintain an inventory of dental supplies profitably. These are skills you acquire on your own as you work for yourself. An MBA will teach you largely useless things like: how Starbucks grew so large and succesful, how to give powerpoint presentations, how to work with a group of people in developing an ad concept, etc., largely useless bs.

 

[txlonghorn]

Agree! I attended a top undergrad business school, and this is exactly what they teach. However, when I went to work as a consultant, those skills came in very handy. I think when it comes to running a dental practice, you might be able to learn more from working at a small business or shadowing a dentist - shadowing the non-dental side of the office.

 

[AskJeeves]

Agree! I attended a top undergrad business school, and this is exactly what they teach. However, when I went to work as a consultant, those skills came in very handy. I think when it comes to running a dental practice, you might be able to learn more from working at a small business or shadowing a dentist - shadowing the non-dental side of the office.

Precisely! Business degrees are more relevant for consulting type jobs, where you sit around analyzing data, working in groups and making pretend you are doing something useful for your client.

 

[AskJeeves]

Odd, every dentist I have ever discussed the industry with has always said they wish they had better business training.

An MBA does not make you business savvy. An MBA only teaches you soft business skills. The real purpose of an MBA is to facilitate your movement into a management position within your company. An MBA only provides you with a title, meant to distinguish you from non-MBAs within your company. If you want to learn hard business skills that are actually practical in running a dental clinic, you are better off working in a small retail store where you will learn important daily operations. Here are classes that will actually help you in running your dental practice: any classes about taxation to help you understand how to maximize on your taxes; employment classes to learn how to manage your staff and how to deal with hiring/firing and unemployment compensation issues; learning the ins and outs about how to get paid by insurance companies, etc. Business schools teach you none of this.

 

[txlonghorn]

Precisely! Business degrees are more relevant for consulting type jobs, where you sit around analyzing data, working in groups and making pretend you are doing something useful for your client.

I wouldn't say I wasn't doing anything for my clients. I actually did quite a lot. However, I do believe that I was WAY overpaid for what I was doing. Lol

 

[MrWilson]

I agree with AskJeeves and texaslghrn, but aren't there certain MBA programs catered to and relevant to dentistry specifically, and not just some general MBA degree. Like this one that was offerred two years ago in conjunction with Northwestern:
http://www.orthodonticproductsonline.com/news/2008-06-12_01.asp

 

[yunowu]

MBA is useful in some aspects. However, real life experiences gained in running a business is much more valuable in ones career. I am in my mid-forties in case some of you are wondering about my age.. I saw between 40-50 patients a day in my private practice before its recent liquidation. Even though I ran an extremely busy practice, I accumulated most of my wealth via currency and real estate speculation in many third world countries. I am also involved equities day trading in many worldwide stock markets. I like to think myself as a self-taught accomplished financial speculator who likes to think outside of the "box", at least that is what my financial advisor tells me. By the way, he has a MBA as well.

 

[beautiful1]

where can i go or what classes can i take in order to learn: taxes, how to attract and keep patients, or even how to maintain an inventory of dental supplies profitably, etc

 

[rav4182]

would a dmd/mba be useful if you want to be involved in business outside of your dental practice? for example being involved in a business team or start-up company or having an assortment of small businesses on the side. wouldnt an mba be useful in these scenarios? most dentists and doctors i know make a huge chuck of there income off of their side businesses.

also i know getting an mba isnt easy. is it advisable if you only took a few business classes in undergrad?

 

[yunowu]

MBA comes very handy if you want to climb the corporate ladder or go into teaching dentistry finance. The stuff you learn is just basics per se. My investment advice is "follow the money". And think for yourself. Current financial and some real estate markets are propped up by the federal government stimulus.
http://www.recovery.gov/Pages/home.aspx
Most financial experts like Jim Rogers and Marc Faber (you can google them) think the value of US Dollar as well as most US real estate markets will continue its descend until 2012-2013. That is the time I shall jump into some selective regional markets. In the world of investment, timing is everything..
Having said that, you need to do your own diligence as well. Even though my financial advisors are certainly well-accomplished in their own right, I always follow up with more research of my own. I spent majority of my time talking to my Shanghai, Hong Kong, Australian and of course US futures brokers (as you can see, I don't sleep that much. ). Investing in start-up companies in these turbulent times are extremely risky. Many of my healthcare professional colleagues have gone bankrupt because they took the plunge into the wrong sector of the economy under the guidance of their financial advisors. My advice to most young graduates is that just focus on dentistry, since dentistry is hard enough already. Your real life business experience can wait upon graduation. Hope that helps.

would a dmd/mba be useful if you want to be involved in business outside of your dental practice? for example being involved in a business team or start-up company or having an assortment of small businesses on the side. wouldnt an mba be useful in these scenarios? most dentists and doctors i know make a huge chuck of there income off of their side businesses.

also i know getting an mba isnt easy. is it advisable if you only took a few business classes in undergrad?

 

[yunowu]

I belong to the graduation class of 1996. I was blessed by the timely graduation from the dental school, since this allowed me to be a participant in the most recent economic boom period (in dentistry as well as in financial markets) from 1996-to 2007 with some minor economic recessions in between. Those were the good ol' days when insurance companies beg for healthcare providers to join their networks, instead of other way around. Since I became the sole provider within the ten mile radius where I practiced, I ended up seeing most of the patient pool in that area by default. Hence, advertisement took up a very small portion of my overhead. By limiting number of available providers to their respective patient pool, insurance companies were able to "lower" their overhead as well..
I am not affiliated with this company. But some of recent grads think highly of Heartland Dental Care. http://www.heartlanddentalcare.com/ This is strictly based on hearsay amongst my professional colleagues. I am sure there are others that can help you with the business side of dentistry. Other sources include your local dental societies and malpractice insurance companies...good luck.

where can i go or what classes can i take in order to learn: taxes, how to attract and keep patients, or even how to maintain an inventory of dental supplies profitably, etc

 

[AskJeeves]

where can i go or what classes can i take in order to learn: taxes, how to attract and keep patients, or even how to maintain an inventory of dental supplies profitably, etc

Unfortunately, schools don't really teach anything useful to help small business owners run their practice. Most business school professors have absolutely no experience in this field. Academia teaches theory well, but provides no guidance on practice. The best way to learn about how to run a succesful dental practice, is to actually work for one. You can learn taxes on your own by preparing your own taxes and understanding how to take advantage of exemptions, etc. You can learn about how to attract and keep patients by working in any sales related job.

 

[pinhi]

I see no value in an MBA. Just a waste of time and money. I know lots of unemployed MBAs. Not worth it. It does not enhance your Dental Degree at all.

Every dentist i have ever worked for wishes that their respective programs had better prepared them for running a business. An MBA would be a fantastic enhancement.

 

[CMD1010]

AskJeeves commenting about MBA's is like a predental student commenting on dental school. Completely pointless and bordering on ignorant.

MBA is a broad professional degree with many options with type of course you can take. Many schools also have different specialtys. It's up to you what you take and it's up to you with what you do with it...no one says you have to work for corporate america or be a numbers analyst. You most certainly can take classes on small business ownership, finance, etc... Any dentist running his/her own practice would benefit from efficient business skills. Their employees and patients will also benefit.

Don't put MBA's in a box when you know nothing about the programs or motivations of students. You wouldn't want people saying "dentists are nothing but teeth scrapers", would you?

PS; Doc T's response was awesome.

 

[DrReo]

There are schools that offer combined DMD/MBA programs.... how competitive are these programs? How rigorous is the actual course load?
What kid of individuals complete these types of programs?.... Individuals who want to run a clinic or something?
Any additional information is greatly appreciated
Thanks

The time invested in a MBA degree could be better spent taking dental marketing and business CE courses.

 

[ChubbyBaby]

agreed an MBA is a waste of time for dentists. Take some accounting and basic management classes at a local community college. MBA is mostly for networking with classmates these days in my opinion.