What experience do you need to get into an MD/MBA program?

[Student189045]

I am a first year medical student realizing that I may want to enter the business side of medicine, such as administration or consulting. My school has an MD/MBA program that I can apply into before the end of preclinical courses. It is a very reputable business school. The issue is I have literally no business experience as I was a traditional applicant, and I am not educated at all on the MBA admissions process as I was only focused on MD prior to this. Would I need to have some sort of management experience, courses in business/finance, and recommendations from business professors/employers? If this is the case then I definitely do not qualify and will not waste my time considering it anymore. I can't really find a clear answer on the schools website.

Thank you.

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[Lawpy]

I don't know if an MBA is of any immediate value for someone with no prior business experience. I think going to residency and getting an MBA after would be the way to go if you still have interest in admin side.

 

[rulerkk]

If you want to get the MBA, assuming you have good GRE/GMAT scores and have an excellent LOR from someone you've worked with (think research mentor or faculty who liked you during rotations), it's pretty easy to get in as an MD into a dual degree program. My institution has accepted every MD student for the past decade (top 10 med school into a top 30 MBA). The MBA admissions side says they know the quality of every med student is comparable to their typical matriculant. A non-T7 MBA may not land you into the world of VC / PE / start ups easily but if you want adjunctive business work to clinical work, it's worth it.

Two good reasons to get it during med school: 1) it's usually 1 year instead of the traditional 2 years and 2) it's often cheaper (free tuition for MD/MBA's here). If you apply out from your institution for a different MBA, these two benefits probably don't apply anymore.

 

[Student189045]

If you want to get the MBA, assuming you have good GRE/GMAT scores and have an excellent LOR from someone you've worked with (think research mentor or faculty who liked you during rotations), it's pretty easy to get in as an MD into a dual degree program. My institution has accepted every MD student for the past decade (top 10 med school into a top 30 MBA). The MBA admissions side says they know the quality of every med student is comparable to their typical matriculant. A non-T7 MBA may not land you into the world of VC / PE / start ups easily but if you want adjunctive business work to clinical work, it's worth it.

Two good reasons to get it during med school: 1) it's usually 1 year instead of the traditional 2 years and 2) it's often cheaper (free tuition for MD/MBA's here). If you apply out from your institution for a different MBA, these two benefits probably don't apply anymore.

What are considered to be the top business schools? The reason I ask is that the tuition is disgustingly high, like substantially higher than medical school, so I only want to pay that kind of bread for something that will offer the return on investment.

I was considering the MD/MBA vs post residency MBA for the reason you listed, It saves one year of time and money.

 

[ciestar]

What are considered to be the top business schools? The reason I ask is that the tuition is disgustingly high, like substantially higher than medical school, so I only want to pay that kind of bread for something that will offer the return on investment.

I was considering the MD/MBA vs post residency MBA for the reason you listed, It saves one year of time and money.

https://www.usnews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-business-schools/mba-rankings

You’ll see some of your usual suspects here

 

[aldol16]

It depends on the program. MD/MBA programs vary widely in curriculum and admissions criteria. At some schools, admission is all but guaranteed if you apply from the MD side. At other schools, admissions is competitive (though markedly less so than if you were a non-MD applicant). All schools will look for business experience but also work experience (which is the huge limiting factor). I would say that it's harder to get in directly from pre-clinical if you have no prior work experience. You can make a better case once you're in your clinical year because then you can bring some of that perspective in. MBA programs want people who can bring their background and experience to bear which enriches everyone else's experience so that's what you should be aiming for. Additionally, they want to see that you have a narrative for why the MBA makes sense for you career-wise.

 

[7331poas]

Does it make more sense to get an MBA while it is cheaper in medical school than pay list price while your are an attending? I understand there are aspects of the degree where it will be more "useful" if you have prior knowledge. But purely from the "I have more letters behind my name" aspect, is it better to wait till you are an attending and attend a "top school"?

 

[rulerkk]

The math depends on what you go into. I have a family member in Ortho getting his executive (night time) two year MBA. His major complaints are that his networking ability is limited and it takes away from possible money generating time plus family time. He recommends getting it during med school (probably after clinical year as some people have mentioned) instead.

The prestige of the MBA is only relevant if you want to transition into a financial career or want to have a fast track into an executive position in a major healthcare system, hospital, or academic center. If you just want the business management knowledge to understand future practice finances, have insights into companies / investments, knowledge for entrepreneurial pursuits, where you get the degree won't matter (most MBA programs nowadays do all their teaching from Harvard case studies as opposed to lecture).

 

[7331poas]

The math depends on what you go into. I have a family member in Ortho getting his executive (night time) two year MBA. His major complaints are that his networking ability is limited and it takes away from possible money generating time plus family time. He recommends getting it during med school (probably after clinical year as some people have mentioned) instead.

The prestige of the MBA is only relevant if you want to transition into a financial career or want to have a fast track into an executive position in a major healthcare system, hospital, or academic center. If you just want the business management knowledge to understand future practice finances, have insights into companies / investments, knowledge for entrepreneurial pursuits, where you get the degree won't matter (most MBA programs nowadays do all their teaching from Harvard case studies as opposed to lecture).

Is this to say that upward trajectory in hospital administration will be difficult without going to a top program?

 

[rulerkk]

Is this to say that upward trajectory in hospital administration will be difficult without going to a top program?

It’s a value signal. You could look at CFO of hospitals in area you might want to practice and see where they got their MBAs. I’m sure some of them won’t have prestigious MBAs but many of them will. Top MBA degrees lead to strong referral social networks, which can help in the job search process.

Your ability to move into those positions will moreso reflect the quality of administrative financial work you’ve done before that and recommendations from fellow executives

 

[NickNaylor]

At least at my medical school (top 20 medical school with top 3 business school), it was pretty easy for the medical students to matriculate into the business school. Very few did, but I’m not aware of any that had an interest in matriculating at the business school, applied, and got rejected.

The real question is whether the time and money investment is worth it at that point in your “career” - really you don’t even have a career. Your interests and career goals may change by the time you get out in practice which might make the utility of the MBA less useful. You may find yourself working in a setting where a MBA is wholly unnecessary to moving into management/administration. Unless you get a scholarship, the real costs are significant, and the opportunity costs of delaying time-to-attendinghood are also significant. Unless you have extensive experience in a previous career, you may decide that you have no interest in clinical management/administration once you have the opportunity to dip your toes in those waters, making the credential useless.

I was considering doing a MBA before graduating medical school but ultimately opted against it, both because I was tired of being in school and the cost was significant. I’m glad that I decided to do that - I didn’t have the relevant clinical/administrative experience at the time that I think will enrich the value of the training at this point in my career. I’m now ~2 years out from residency and planning to go back to business school in the next few years once I’m a little further along in my career trajectory. It will certainly be more difficult from a logistical perspective now that I’m in practice, but I do think there‘s value in having at least some clinical experience under your belt so that you have a real-world framework for what to do with that knowledge in your particular career.

 

[aldol16]

Does it make more sense to get an MBA while it is cheaper in medical school than pay list price while your are an attending? I understand there are aspects of the degree where it will be more "useful" if you have prior knowledge. But purely from the "I have more letters behind my name" aspect, is it better to wait till you are an attending and attend a "top school"?

Tradeoffs. There's no one option that dominates the other. Considerations:

Med school:
- Cheaper
- Can do full-time or quasi-full time which enhances the experience
- Cannot capitalize on the connections/networks until later on in career (unless you want to exit medicine)

Later:
- Can capitalize on network
- Costly
- Less time (can't just leave a panel of patients)

Another one that goes either way - depends on which school you're going to now or later on. If you're going to a school that's not great for MBA then perhaps waiting is better (unless MBA is directly related to the job you want).