Students seek to bridge gap between medicine, business

As the business of health care in the United States becomes more complex, more medical students who aspire to leadership positions in hospitals are turning to the Wharton School for an MBA.

Since the 1970s, the Perelman School of Medicine has allowed students to complete an MBA and medical degree within five years.

This “Combined Degree and Physician Scholar Program” has seen a rise in popularity since the 1980s, said June Kinney, associate director for the MBA Program in Health Care Management.

Around 70 students enroll in the the Health Care Management MBA program each fall, around six of which simultaneously earn a medical degree. Students must first be accepted into Penn Med and apply to Wharton in their third year. The program also occasionally admits students from other medical schools, according to Kinney.

There are an increasing number of medical students who are interested in becoming physicians but also hope to manage large medical organizations like hospitals and insurance companies, said J. Sanford Schwartz, a professor of Medicine, Health Care Management and Economics at Wharton and Penn Med.

“Partially because of Medicare, health care is now a regulated industry in the United States,” added Mark Pauly, professor of Health Care Management at Wharton. “In this kind of industry, one needs additional skills other than being a smart entrepreneur. Also, because the regulations in this industry are so special, one needs knowledge in health care.”

Students must complete three years of medical school before taking three semesters at Wharton and returning to Penn Med for their final semester.

“Health care is very complex, expensive and requires integrated care from variety of professions and skills,” Pauly said.

With the rising cost of health care, doctors with a background in business and management can help hospitals reduce costs and increase efficiency.

Patients often question why procedures cost as much as they do, Pauly said, adding that doctors with an MBA may help answer such questions and “come up with some innovative ideas about how to make it cost less or produce better outcomes.”

Aaron Royston, who completed his three years at Penn Med and is now in his first semester as a Wharton MBA, said he had planned to pursue an MD/MBA before applying to medical school.

“I think that the combination of learning medicine for three years and learning business skills would make me successful in the medical industry,” Royston said. “To be successful in the life science business, one has to know both sides.”

Chia Heng Wu, who is also spending his first semester at Wharton, added that his education in both schools would help him become an entrepreneur in medical devices in the long run.

“To me, studying business is a final frontier. I get to understand medical devices, which happens to fit both my medical interest and business interest.”

Schwartz expects his MD/MBA students to be in high demand in the future.

“Everybody needs health care, but it’s too expensive and inefficient,” he added. “So there will be an increasing demand for people with strong management skills and health care overall.”

This article was updated to reflect that the Health Care Management MBA program enrolls around 70 students every fall semester, and that around six of these students simultaneously earn a medical degree. The article previously stated that of 70 applicants, six are accepted to the M.D./MBA program.

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