-
CycleTrack and SDN are teaming up to make medical school admissions more transparent and accessible! Read the announcement to learn how we’re supporting the future of CycleTrack’s free application-tracking tools .
Medical Business Courses
Started by WoahMedicine
Get help with your application
Use all the free resources available to you from SDN: articles, guides, expert advising, forums discussions, and school research.
I am in an Osteopathic school as well and I have no business background at all and would like to have seminars or even courses in it. Just basics in setting up a practice, dealing with insurance companies, and learning what needs to be done to keep your practice afloat.
Two weeks ago in New York Doctors closed their offices and went to albany complaining about malpractice rates and how some doctors are retiring switching specialities because malpractice + overhead are driving them out of business.
Medical student will be incuring the largest debts that the profession has ever seen. If we are not taught how to deal with this we could have all the clinical skills in the world but you won't have patients because we couldn't start up a practice. Where do we get the money from to start a practice? (borrowing more money would sound crazy with students racking up 200,000 dollars in loans) Do you work for someone, hospital first to pay off loans or get your name out? I wish we had some guidence in these issues. These issues should be taught in Medical School, Residency, and fellowship programs. That way when it is time to practice we will be sound financially or have plan of how to have sound financially.
Two weeks ago in New York Doctors closed their offices and went to albany complaining about malpractice rates and how some doctors are retiring switching specialities because malpractice + overhead are driving them out of business.
Medical student will be incuring the largest debts that the profession has ever seen. If we are not taught how to deal with this we could have all the clinical skills in the world but you won't have patients because we couldn't start up a practice. Where do we get the money from to start a practice? (borrowing more money would sound crazy with students racking up 200,000 dollars in loans) Do you work for someone, hospital first to pay off loans or get your name out? I wish we had some guidence in these issues. These issues should be taught in Medical School, Residency, and fellowship programs. That way when it is time to practice we will be sound financially or have plan of how to have sound financially.
the student group of the Texas Medical Association has made various presentations having to do with health policy as well as medical business and economics.
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
Without a doubt, there is a strong need to improve education on the business and practical aspects of medicine. This is especially true as you start following discussions on Sermo.
Rotate with private practitioners and ask them about their business practice. Pick their brains to understand the nuances of running a practice, dealing with staffing, overhead, etc.
Rotate with private practitioners and ask them about their business practice. Pick their brains to understand the nuances of running a practice, dealing with staffing, overhead, etc.
Med schools should offer an elective in "the business of medicine," covering basic accounting and marketing. There should be some sort of formal curriculum, instead of a hodgepodge of lectures during residency/ fellowship. Does anyone know if such electives exist? If not, I might try to blaze my own trail and take accounting and marketing at night during 4th year...
Admirable, but could cause stigma. I don't personally find peers, instructors or administrators to be fond of business interests.
I'm trying to squelch any of mine until graduation for that reason.
Depending on how well you can teach yourself material, you might not need a formal class. A textbook such as Accounting Demystified is pretty easy to follow and can teach you most of what you'll learn in an undergraduate business course. Keep in mind that business schools are not geared toward any particular job field and generally theory-based, meaning you might find yourself frustrated at the end of the semester when you discover that you have no new practical knowledge from that marketing course.
I strongly agree that there needs to be some formal education related to the business aspects of medicine but with the constraints of the current med school curriculum, squeezing anything more would be difficult. I decided to pursue a dual degree DO/MBA to educate myself more on these issues but I'll be honest and the first to say that it doesn't take an MBA degree to learn what I've learned. I have fellow classmates who know infinitely more about real physician business practices because they have "experience" with it and really know it (coding, DRGs, reimbursements, etc). All I know at this point is theory and ideas. 🙁 I admit I'd hire that person over me at this point in my career 😉
There are electives with physicians who work in these areas, one elective that is offered at my school is with a doctor who works the managed care portion of medicine with a large company. The only question is whether to use an elective on it, which I think would be very educational, or use it towards the field of medicine I hope to get into, which at this point is anesthesia.
There are electives with physicians who work in these areas, one elective that is offered at my school is with a doctor who works the managed care portion of medicine with a large company. The only question is whether to use an elective on it, which I think would be very educational, or use it towards the field of medicine I hope to get into, which at this point is anesthesia.
