Due to the growing demand for physicians to understand the evolving nature of health care, more medical schools across the country are partnering with business schools to offer joint degrees. The number of these joint MD/MBA programs has skyrocketed within the past two decades, increasing from five or six to 65, according to The New York Times.
The University of Miami School of Business Administration’s joint degree with the Miller School of Medicine is one such program. Launched in fall 2008, the program adds a year of business education following the third year of the traditional four-year MD track and its curriculum prepares medical students for careers in health sector and physician management, leadership and policy. The program graduated its first student, Gilly Guez, in May 2010 and currently has 13 students enrolled in the program this fall.
"I realized early on that policies and administrative issues have a direct impact on patient care," said Guez. "I knew that I wanted to help as many people as possible, and for me, this meant being involved in the day-to-day business of medicine and how we run our hospitals. When the MBA program came along, it was the perfect fit,” added Guez, who is currently doing her residency in internal medicine at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire.Guez plans on using both degrees to work as a practicing physician and director or administrator of a hospital in the future.
The joint program teaches students the integral business practices of managing an organization, negotiating contracts as well as understanding financing, accounting, marketing, legal and ethical aspects and strategic positioning. This knowledge gives them a competitive edge when looking for residency programs, according to Steven Ullmann, director of the School’s programs in health sector management and policy.
“We’re seeing MD students choose medical schools based on their joint degree programs with business schools,” says Cristina Raecke, director of graduate business programs at the UM School of Business. “Having a dual degree MD/MBA program sets us apart from other schools.”
The School’s MD/MBA program is among a number of business education programs targeting the health sector. The School has offered an Executive MBA in Health Sector Management and Policy Program for nearly 35 years. That program was ranked number one in Florida and number four in the nation amongst health care MBA programs in 2011 by Modern Healthcare magazine. It is the only health sector MBA program in Florida to be accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Management Education (CAHME), the premier accrediting body for health care management programs.
The School also offers an undergraduate major and an undergraduate minor in health sector management and policy, and provides the business component for the Doctor in Nurse Practice (DNP) program at the University’s School of Nursing and Health Studies.
