Dual MBA/Medical Degrees For Doctors

Abstract

With the dramatic changes ushered in by managed care with the promise of even more change with new policies and medical budget pressures, medical schools face the challenge of adapting curricula to prepare physicians for the new demands of health care delivery. Medical students have different tolerances for learning management skills, but medical schools are finding persistent demand for dual degree programs which deliver such skills from a core of students - in some schools amounting to as much as 10% of the medical school students. Over the last two decades, the number of medical schools offering a dual medical/MBA program has expanded from less than 10% to nearly 50% of U.S. medical schools, both for Allopathic and Osteopathic medicine. Schools which had already offered dual medical/MPH programs were particularly likely to add the dual medical/MBA degrees. While schools are learning how to realize the advantages for the few students who undertake dual degrees, they still face a monumental task to reach the rest of the students.