The Merging of Medicine and Management - McGill University’s MD-MBA Degree

A business outlook can have a positive influence on the health-care system despite the often negative stigma among the general public. There is more to business than the stereotypes of extreme profit-seeking and two-tiered healthcare encouraging a divide among rich and poor. Nonetheless, the inevitable pressures for the merging of these two worlds, in attempt to cut the rising costs of health-care and increase efficiency, must be approached with caution so that medicine does not become a business and so that the needs of the patient are not compromised. Individuals trained both as physicians and managers are poised to bridge this gap as they understand the intentions and goals of both parties and are better positioned to fuse both worlds in an amicable and positive fashion. Introduced in September 1996, McGill University's five-year MD-MBA program is currently entering its 10th year and is presently the only MD-MBA program offered in Canada. The first year of the program is spent entirely in the Faculty of Management in regular MBA classes. Business basics including of accounting, economics, finance, statistics, marketing, human resource management, information systems, and organizational behaviour are studied before beginning medical school, providing managerial insight and tools needed to understand, question and challenge existing conventions in medicine. Between the first and second year, students have the opportunity to apply their skills to specific health care issues and analyze and propose solutions to actual institutional problems. Projects in the past have included analyzing the obstacles faced in the merging of the McGill University Health Centre, working with the Public Health Department in Ottawa, investigating new pharmaceuticals at Merck, studying infection control protocols, standardizing concussion trauma scoring, comparing surgical techniques, and looking at delays in patient care. In the second year of the program, one begins the regular four-year MD,CM program with choices of advanced MBA courses including Health-Care Systems, Health-Care Management, Health-Care Economics, and Pharmaceutical Entrepreneurship taken concurrently with the MD program, to complete the MBA portion of the program. One of the strengths of McGill's MD-MBA program is that one ultimately receives an MBA education similar to those in the mainstream two-year program and not a diluted or compromised version. As a relatively new program though, there is room for improvement. At the moment, individuals in the MD-MBA receive a general MBA with no specialization. As the program grows and the scope of health-care specific courses offered grows, a health-care …