Premed question: applying as an aspiring MD/MBA

[Shredder]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

For those of you who entered into medical school knowing you wanted to do an MD/MBA, how did you broach this subject in the process of your applications? Personal statement, secondary applications, interviews? I'm not applying for md/mba programs simultaneously (doesnt make sense to me, why apply to 15 when i can apply to 1 after matriculating somewhere), but i will be applying for them in my first year of med school. i still decided to include my md/mba aspirations in my personal statement, and id like to possibly bring it up in secondaries and interviews, so im wondering how any of you guys handled this situation. im expecting to be asked about it in interviews--were you, and how did you respond? was there any closed minded opposition to the notion of md/mba? how did you say you planned to leverage your mba in your medical career? or would you say that having md/mba hopes strengthened your app by making you more unique and enriching the "diversity" and whatnot that schools always fuss about?

many questions...any answers would be greatly appreciated. ill need to have answers so that i never end up flat footed at any point, especially in interviews, and i dont want to write something that might be negatively construed in my secondary essays. thanks fellow businessmen!

 

[Shredder]

btw law2doc if you are there: can i sue schools when they reject me? i know they will...and i want to lash out at them, they shouldnt be able to get away with it! how does suing adcoms work?

 

[Law2Doc]

btw law2doc if you are there: can i sue schools when they reject me? i know they will...and i want to lash out at them, they shouldnt be able to get away with it! how does suing adcoms work?

You can only sue if you can prove some form of federally prohibited discrimination. Problem is, even if there was discrimination, by the time the case is heard or decided, and after all appeals are exhausted (many years from now), you will hopefully have matriculated someplace else and moved on with your life, and the case will be moot.

 

[Shredder]

You can only sue if you can prove some form of federally prohibited discrimination. Problem is, even if there was discrimination, by the time the case is heard or decided, and after all appeals are exhausted (many years from now), you will hopefully have matriculated someplace else and moved on with your life, and the case will be moot.

wow what a timely response, youre really on the ball. if only the legal system moved in such a fashion! yeah that timing thing is a big one...it really discourages legal action pretty effectively eh. why is it that suits cannot proceed very quickly, why does the legal system get choked up and take so long? its something ive never thought about. im troubled by the subjectivity that appears to be rampant in admissions, which is what led to suing desires in the first place.

 

[TheMightyAngus]

wow what a timely response, youre really on the ball. if only the legal system moved in such a fashion! yeah that timing thing is a big one...it really discourages legal action pretty effectively eh. why is it that suits cannot proceed very quickly, why does the legal system get choked up and take so long? its something ive never thought about. im troubled by the subjectivity that appears to be rampant in admissions, which is what led to suing desires in the first place.

The cost to bring your case to trial would exceed all your future tuition. As a future capitalist, you should appreciate that the financial risk/reward would not be worth suing a couple medical schools because you didn't get in. Plus, other med schools would hear about it and effectively blacklist you.

Anyway, it's a lot easier to get into B-school than med school. Once you finish your MD, your background as a doc would intrigue adcoms. So get the MD first and then worry about pursuing business. From the risk/reward point of view, you're not gonna reap any rewards of a MBA until you have the experience to get a job that will pay you handsomely, which, if you are truly interested in medicine, won't happen until you finish your residency. Why assume more loans and interest earlier than you need to?

 

[Law2Doc]

Anyway, it's a lot easier to get into B-school than med school.

This is sort of true and not true at the same time. The distinction is that the rank and caliber of your B school matters to future employers far more than the med school would, so just getting into any B school will simply not do. The worst US allopathic med school is still a very good, quite competitive school and you can get a job as a doctor coming from there. An MBA from the worst B school is a meaningless credential and won't help you get a job. There are so many B schools and no standardized curriculum, and so all employers with experience regularly hiring MBAs are keyed into which schools are the good ones and seek MBAs exclusively from those places. (Eg. Try applying for an MBA job on Wall St or a position at a big name consulting place without a "brand name MBA" and see how far you get 🙄 ). So you actually need to get into one of the higher tier B schools if you can (and you plan to primarilly use the MBA part of your tandem), which can sometimes be harder than getting into med school.

 

[Shredder]

This is sort of true and not true at the same time. The distinction is that the rank and caliber of your B school matters to future employers far more than the med school would, so just getting into any B school will simply not do. The worst US allopathic med school is still a very good, quite competitive school and you can get a job as a doctor coming from there. An MBA from the worst B school is a meaningless credential and won't help you get a job. There are so many B schools and no standardized curriculum, and so all employers with experience regularly hiring MBAs are keyed into which schools are the good ones and seek MBAs exclusively from those places. (Eg. Try applying for an MBA job on Wall St or a position at a big name consulting place without a "brand name MBA" and see how far you get 🙄 ). So you actually need to get into one of the higher tier B schools if you can (and you plan to primarilly use the MBA part of your tandem), which can sometimes be harder than getting into med school.

yeah, quantitatively the standards for top b schools are not even close to top med schools (3.6 vs 3.8 gpa, and about 710 gmat but i think thats easy). but a big chunk of the equation is how much youve excelled in the real world, so you cant nerd your way in like med school.

anyway, i am banking on the fact that adcoms will find an MD/med student intriguing and hold him to lower standards on the experience side. the med student will typically come in with a significant numerical advantage, so that helps.