MD/MPH v. MD/MBA

[ultane123]

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i've seen quite a few MD/MPH residents throughout the hospital, all in different specialties.

a program director told me that although "sexy," some programs tend to scrutinize MD/MBA students (even it's from Harvard or Stanford) more to assess their interest in clinical medicine over business. this can even be, at times, a disadvantage, for highly competitive specialties such as dermatology and plastics. on the other hand, the MPH is viewed, most of the time, as a very academic addition to a medical career.

any thoughts? i know this depends on one's interest, but i'm curious to hear thoughts on the *perception* of these candidates for residency?

 

[aumed22]

I'd be curious to hear about this as well. I'm curious about both extra degrees.

 

[yaah]

I think they are evaluated like any other candidate. Your extra degree isn't going to give you much of an advantage unless it adds to your specific career goals (like you got an MPH and you want to do public health after your residency training). You don't do these programs just to be more competitive.

I think it is true, if you have an extra degree, some people will want to know #1 Why did you get it, #2 If you got it before med school, why did you then go to med school, #3 how does the extra degree figure into your career plans.

If your answers to all three are non specific, vague, or related to making yourself a more competitive candidate, you are going to be an unimpressive candidate most likely.

 

[southerndoc]

Are you interested in the degrees because you're interested in the fields enough to get the degrees, or are you simply wanting degrees and titles to pad the CV?

 

[Shah_Patel_PT]

Are you interested in the degrees because you're interested in the fields enough to get the degrees, or are you simply wanting degrees and titles to pad the CV?

No harm with padding the old CV.....

 

[yaah]

No harm with padding the old CV.....

Yes there is, as I said above.

 

[ultane123]

Yes there is, as I said above.

think about the revserse: you mention some doing the MD/MBA possibly to pad their CV's for residency. what about those doing residency to pad their CV? for some MD/MBA's who dont want to practice medicine, is it even worth doing residency?

 

[jocg27]

I think it's a knee-jerk reaction to assume that the mph is planning to practice medicine in at least a slightly more altruistic fashion than the mba...I also would be inclined to agree that most of the time it's probably true, although I can recognize that's mainly due to my own prejudices...Is it always true? of course not, those kinds of absolutes never are.

Honestly it's hard for me not to be skeptical of most business students, undergrad or graduate or whatever. Of all the possible things to study, the whole world of things you can learn about in higher education, these people are studying how to make more money. But that's just me, and I suppose I'm kind of an ass

 

[yaah]

think about the revserse: you mention some doing the MD/MBA possibly to pad their CV's for residency. what about those doing residency to pad their CV? for some MD/MBA's who dont want to practice medicine, is it even worth doing residency?

😕 Why would you do residency if you didn't have to?

Bigger question: If you just want to go into business, why would you go to med school? Who on earth would want to hire an MD/MBA grad who never practiced any medicine (or just did residency) over someone who was just an MBA? You can learn what you need to know without going through 4 years of med school and 3-5 years of residency! And you don't have to pay the extra tuition and live on low salaries for awhile. That's insane.

 

[Daiphon]

I think it's a knee-jerk reaction to assume that the mph is planning to practice medicine in at least a slightly more altruistic fashion than the mba...I also would be inclined to agree that most of the time it's probably true, although I can recognize that's mainly due to my own prejudices...Is it always true? of course not, those kinds of absolutes never are.

Honestly it's hard for me not to be skeptical of most business students, undergrad or graduate or whatever. Of all the possible things to study, the whole world of things you can learn about in higher education, these people are studying how to make more money. But that's just me, and I suppose I'm kind of an ass

I went after my MPH in order to have a better grasp on the "real world" in which my hospital, as part of a health care "system" (system in a very loose sense of the word), operated. Medical school is very good at teaching you how to treat patients in a 1:1 manner, but how do you treat communities? is the best usage of increasingly scarce health care funds to give everyone a statin, or to try and improve overall group health?

I don't think I practice any more altruistically than anyone else; however, I do feel I have a better grasp of the available resources and thus have a slightly different perspective on the appropriate allocation of such. it's just a different way to come at medicine; but I think it complements the MD (or DO) very well. plus, having an advanced degree will often get you "invited to the table" when organizational plans are being laid/modified, and you will be able to be a voice for your department since you're both a clinician and a public policy person... very cool.

as for the MBA, i can only give my $0.02 as I do not have one - but I would argue that many of my same reasons above also hold true, depending on why you get the MBA - if it's to pad the CV, well, take the same time from earning the MBA, volunteer with a group that doesn't involve higher mathematics, and have fun. not only will volunteering in and of itself pad your cv, but you'll likely enjoy yourself more; plus without advanced degrees there's no extra year(s) tacked on to medical school, which means residency starts on time, which means you're making money sooner. d=)

all-in-all, if you're interested in it for reasons taht will be directly applicable to your career goals (which was said above), I fully agree with going into an extra degree program; but if the goal is to pad the CV, there are better and less mind-taxing ways to do it.

just my $0.02 (actual cash value 1/20th of a cent).
-t,md/mph

 

[bob sacamano]

Honestly it's hard for me not to be skeptical of most business students, undergrad or graduate or whatever. Of all the possible things to study, the whole world of things you can learn about in higher education, these people are studying how to make more money. But that's just me, and I suppose I'm kind of an ass

they also learn how to drive this country's economy. to me that's sort of important.