Making the Grade

Physician MBA Program Creates Medical Entrepreneurs and Physician Executives

Because busy physicians want a curriculum that enables them to start to have an impact as soon as possible, PEMBA features an intensive 12-month curriculum that allows students to put their new knowledge into the workforce sooner than many other programs. PEMBA also realizes that physician executives need a curriculum that provides an interdisciplinary teaching approach and a systems perspective, so customized inter-disciplinary education is one of the core competencies. UT also knows that physicians want a flexible program tailored to their busy lifestyle, so it delivers more than half of the curriculum using distance learning technologies. Traditional face-to-face learning has been consolidated into four one-week residence periods on the Knoxville, Tenn. campus for the parts of an MBA degree that do not fit into a distance learning format.

“It’s a balanced program,” Stahl says. “It facilitates a tremendous amount of sharing experiences and swapping stories. The residence periods bring students together so they can share ideas and swap stories and build camaraderie with each other and with the faculty. It’s always intriguing when they exchange information about how various business models and concepts work or do not work in different marketplaces and different medical specialties.”

Stahl continues, “The average experience level among physicians who have been in this program is right around 20 years. To say there is an enormous pool of talent there would be an understatement. They may have days in which they feel fatigued by battling lawsuits or insurance companies, but they say to themselves when they come here, ‘I am going to acquire some new knowledge and skill sets so I can fight back and improve things.’ While some physicians may consider an MBA a luxury, Stahl says that in today’s environment, a post-MD education is a necessity.

“Thirty years ago, a physician could graduate from medical school in a relatively stable environment, with stable reimbursement rates, without managed care, and with a nascent role of government," he says. "One could set up practice, maybe hire a good accountant to keep the books, and then focus solely on their clinical role. In a rapidly changing environment, it’s tough not to have the training, the skill sets and the credentials in business.”

Millermaier believes that a changing healthcare environment also encourages physicians to become medical entrepreneurs. “Programs like PEMBA help physicians to reach their entrepreneurial objectives. “The merging of medicine and business is also becoming more overt. I think this is partly due to the complexities of both. Medicine is technically complex, which has driven costs significantly. Business has also become complex. Both disciplines are under the watchful eye of society and regulators, with the emphasis being on a balance between augmentation of business or clinical success and meeting the social needs of those we serve. Applying sound ethical business practices to support good clinical practices makes a lot of sense, and you can’t do one without the other. All stakeholders, including payors and consumers, expect it.” 

References:

1. Lister L. 21st century physician executive: An in-depth look at healthcare recruitment in the 21st century. www.cejkasearch.com 

2. Gorton C. Crossing the culture chasm: making the jump from medicine to management. The Physician Executive. July/ August 2004.

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