Dual M.D./MBA degree opens doors for students

The UNC School of Medicine will join more than 60 institutions nationwide in offering dual-degree programs.

Many experts say the program — which allows medical students to earn both their doctor of medicine and a Master of Business Administration — teaches skills that will make graduates of the program more competitive.

“If they want to run a hospital or a medical group or become surgeon general, the world is their oyster,” said Maria Chandler, president for the Association of M.D./MBA Programs.

Chandler said the number of joint degree programs has significantly increased in the past decade. She said 65 out of the 130 medical schools nationwide have the program now.

Buck Goldstein, an entrepreneurship professor at UNC, said the program will provide graduates with opportunities in the health care industry.

“There will be many innovative opportunities in medicine,” Goldstein said.

Cam Patterson, associate dean for medical entrepreneurship at UNC, said the popularity of the program stems from a growing demand for physicians who understand the market.

“Clearly more institutions are providing the dual degree opportunity,” he said. “There are many physicians that are poorly prepared for business aspects for the world of medicine.”

“Our goal is to tap into a growing need for this area,” Patterson said.

Patterson said as many as one-third of students in the UNC School of Medicine have inquired about the program, but the program is very selective.

He said only five students have been admitted to the joint degree program, and eight to 10 students will be admitted annually beginning in 2013.

While Chandler said programs vary by school, she said it usually takes five years to earn both degrees. This is one year less than the total six it would take to complete medical and business school programs.

Patterson said UNC’s program will require students to take courses at the School of Medicine for three and a half years and at the Kenan-Flager Business School for a year and a half.

Chandler said students of dual-degree programs at other universities have been satisfied and have been promoted faster than graduates with just an M.D.

Goldstein said the program is best suited for people who want to change the field of health care.

“Entrepreneurship is not about getting a job,” Goldstein said. “It is about creating jobs.”

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