The Convergence of Business and Medicine: A Study of MD/MBA Programs in the United States

The purpose of this paper is to identify the convergence of business and medical education and describe the curricula of MD/MBA (Medical Doctor/Master of Business Administration) programs in the US. The focus of this study is to provide a guide to dual MD/MBA programs for physicians, aspiring physicians, policy makers and healthcare organizations. We studied the curricula of 52 universities offering a joint MD/MBA program. The study measured program structure, duration of the dual degree, geographic spread of universities and the average tuition. No recent study has looked into the essential characteristics of these programs. The top disciplines among the 46 programs include strategy, leadership and financial management. Program duration was between five and six years, with an average of 46 semester hours per degree. The average cost of the MD/MBA degree in addition to medical school was $35,810. Geographically, the majority of MD/MBA programs are located in the Northeastern US (33.9%), followed by the South (28.6%), the Midwest (23.21%) and the West (12.5%). (Contains 2 figures and 2 tables.)