Medical Doctor and Master Business Administration (MD/MBA) dual degree programs are designed for those with aspiring medical careers that will incorporate public health and medicine. The combined MD/MBA dual degree program has grown increasingly popular over the past 10 years and there are over 66 programs in universities and colleges in existence today. MD/MBA graduates receive higher starting salaries in their careers due to their leadership roles in organizations and auxiliary business ventures than traditional physicians. The need for both business and graduate medical training is apparent due to the current state of Healthcare in the US and the need for physicians to be financial managers and effectively run their medical practice to improve and maintain costs in our system. Obama Care has changed the delivery of healthcare in today’s world and there have also been marked changes in biotechnology, the medical device field and medical informatics.
What Are Some of the Areas of Study for the Dual MD/MBA degree?
Students enrolled in a dual degree program of this nature will not only have the opportunity to learn the medical field, they also will study all of the important components of public health, including biostatistics, epidemiology, international health, public health law and environmental health.
What is the Expected Salary for Those Graduates With a dual MD/MPH Degree?
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Handbook, physicians with an MBA can typically expect a median salary between $221,000 and $299,000 per year.
What are Some of the Career Paths for Graduates of the MD/MPH Dual Degree Program?
Students who pursue this track may aspire to a career as a hospital executive, a health care system CEO, or perhaps the dean of a medical school, or chair of a department. Some other areas for future careers for MD/MPH graduates include:
- Hospital administration
- Medical facility management
- Women’s Health Issues
- Research
- Public health medicine
- International health
- Health policy
How Long Will it Take to Earn a Dual MD/MBA Degree?
Most programs take approximately five years to complete depending on the program (some programs running consecutively can be completed in one fewer semester).
What is Required to Be Accepted into a Dual MD/MBA Program?
Although the requirements vary from program to program the following is one example of how the program is structured. The example of the following requirements is an example of the curriculum for the Weill Medical College of Cornell University partnering with The Johnson School of Management at Cornell University.
- Enrollment in the School of Medicine for chosen program on a full-time basis for the first three years
- Students take leave of absence from Medical school and Apply to begin the MBA program.
- Students begin MBA program during fourth year
- Return to the medical school for the summer and fall of the fifth year
- Students return for a final semester of MBA coursework in the spring of the fifth year.
- In May of the fifth year students are awarded the MD and MBA upon successful completion of the final semester of the program.
Those Graduates of the MD/MBA program will become the next generation of leaders for our health care system.