pursuing degrees during residency?

[Idioteque]

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Would anyone like to comment about pursuing another degree while completing psychiatry residency? Is it possible to do a M.B.A. or a M.F.A. concurrently without affecting training? Would you even be allowed to do that? Do specific programs come to mind in terms of flexibility and encouraging interdisciplinary study? Thanks. 👍

 

[masterofmonkeys]

Yale is the one that comes foremost to mind. I didn't ask specifically about that, just about access to main campus and researchers there at most places. But Yale makes a point of mentioning that you can take courses there (don't know about money) and that many go on to get graduate degrees during residency. Don't konw about an MFA specifically, but there were a couple doing anthropology, physics, and ethics that I talked to.

Personally I already have one extraneous degree and am working on one relatively useless certification. That's plenty. As long as I have access to people in the fields I'm interested in, I'm happy.

 

[BobA]

You can get an extra degree during your 4th year at Duke. I think they might even pay for it (but I'm not 100% sure of this detail).

 

[dianamd]

I can second Yale as a place where you are allowed to take classes at the university -- anthro, MFA, I don't think it matters -- and you don't pay.

University of Chicago is another place that comes to mind -- they only have a few masters programs (masters in humanities, masters in social sciences, MPP, MBA, not sure about MFA). However, they would encourage people to take classes in the University. They are even one of the few schools that support MD/PhD students who do their PhD in a non-biomedical subject such as history.

 

[mgdsh]

You'll have to look into it, but I know some programs will not only allow you to get another degree but give you a cheaper rate of tuition or a certain number of units worth of free classes towards another advanced degree.

 

[notdeadyet]

Would anyone like to comment about pursuing another degree while completing psychiatry residency? Is it possible to do a M.B.A. or a M.F.A. concurrently without affecting training?

Out of curiosity, do you realistically have enough time in residency to do a full additional degree without adding time?

I know there are two year exec MBA's out there, but most MBA's are a couple of years and MFA's are usually three years of FULL TIME study in their own right. How exactly would that work with a full time psychiatry residency?

 

[Idioteque]

Out of curiosity, do you realistically have enough time in residency to do a full additional degree without adding time?

I know there are two year exec MBA's out there, but most MBA's are a couple of years and MFA's are usually three years of FULL TIME study in their own right. How exactly would that work with a full time psychiatry residency?

thats a good question. of course residency would be priority #1 but given the relative laxity of psychiatry residency and interdisciplinary scope (i'm not a psych resident so...someones going to have to back me up on this one), one could take concurrent classes and reduce the number of years devoted full-time to pursuing other degrees. an MBA could take an extra 1-year (e.g. MD/MBA programs). i'm not too familiar with MFA requirements but I believe time frame varies in relation to relevant work. it would be interesting to hear from someone with personal or anecdotal experience.

 

[dianamd]

Out of curiosity, do you realistically have enough time in residency to do a full additional degree without adding time?

I know there are two year exec MBA's out there, but most MBA's are a couple of years and MFA's are usually three years of FULL TIME study in their own right. How exactly would that work with a full time psychiatry residency?

some programs will obviously let you count your half-decade-plus of medical training towards the degree...

And FYI, executive MBAs are usually for people with experience in the industry and they are not as useful if your goal is to "learn business" -- they are more like refreshers and networking tools.

I can imagine taking a few classes, but no, not a whole degree... but hey if someone wants to, all the power to them!

 

[notdeadyet]

some programs will obviously let you count your half-decade-plus of medical training towards the degree...

Sure, this makes sense for some degrees.

The MD/MBA is very much an entity unto itself. Folks are mistaken if they think an MBA from an MD/MBA program is of same pedigree as a full-fledged MBA from the same school. It's a compacted program with much less business training and it takes folks off the street with no business training. It's a great degree for going into hospital management as an MD/MBA is designed for such things, but you won't be walking into the same kind of jobs folks with full MBAs from comparable programs would. If an MD went to full MBA program, I'm confident that the school would not waive many or any course requirements for him or her and they'd have to do the full program. The MD/MBA is shorter because the MBA coursework is less.

As for the MFA, I would think that one would have to pretty much be going to a diploma mill for a fine arts program to consider much or your medical school education meeting their pre-requisites.

And FYI, executive MBAs are usually for people with experience in the industry and they are not as useful if your goal is to "learn business" -- they are more like refreshers and networking tools.

Agreed with exec MBA programs requiring past experience (as do most daytime MBA programs with great reputations). In fact, most good exec MBA programs require CURRENT business experience. I definitely wouldn't consider them refreshers, though. And all MBAs are networking tools.

I know a few physicians who've done exec MBAs to great effect, but I'd be surprised at a school allowing a resident to do one since you don't have as much control over the business aspect of your field as a solo practitioner or department head would.