The Undifferentiated Medical Student

Your virtual mentor for choosing a medical specialty and planning a career in medicine

Dr. Macario MBA interview

Hey, Dr. Macario! Below is the structure I propose for our interview. Part 2 (“Tell us about life as an MD/MBA”) is the section of the interview where I will be asking you all of my MBA-specific questions (Parts 3 and 4 are virtually unchanged from my normal interviews). Please let me know if there are any glaring holes in my line up of questions, while at the same time knowing that many of these questions are very open-ended and thus will allow us to take the conversation in virtually any direction we want.

1. Intro

  • I will share your 200ish word bio then turn it over to you to fill in the gaps.
  • I will ask you to share a little about yourself and your decision to go to medical school in the first place.

2. “Tell us about life as an MD/MBA”

  • I will read a description of an MBA (below), let you opine about said description, and then ask what you think medical students considering an MBA should know about an MBA to be well informed, before I jump into my follow up questions.
    • Description:
      • The Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a master’s degree in business administration (management). The MBA degree originated in the United States in the early 20th century when the country industrialized and companies sought scientific approaches to management. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business such as accounting, finance, marketing, human resources, operations, and statistics, in a manner most relevant to management analysis and strategy. Most programs also include elective courses. MBA programs typically require completing nearly twice the amount of credits typically required for degrees that cover some of the same material such as the Master of Economics, Master of Finance, Master of Accountancy, Master of Science in Marketing and Master of Science in Management. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_of_Business_Administration)
  • My MBA follow-up questions will include:
    • Physician MBAs seem to be more and more common. Can you give us a brief history of the MD/MBA in the US and why you think there has been an increase in the number of physicians with MBAs?
      • What reasons do most physicians/med students cite for pursuing an MBA?
    • Can you take us through a basic overview of a business school curriculum?
      • What can one expect to learn about business in business school? What won’t one learn about business in business school?
    • What types of MBA programs are there (e.g., MBA vs. executive MBA vs. non-MBA business degrees)?
      • What are the differences between them, and which one do you think a med student, resident, or physician should choose?
    • What is one thing you wish you had known about getting an MBA before going to business school? And what would you encourage anyone considering business school think about in earnest before committing?
    • Great, so you’re set on getting an MBA. When is the best time to do it? (Before, during, or after med school? During or after residency? Or, after practicing for awhile?) Why?
    • Great, so you have an MBA. What do most physicians end up doing with their MBA? What does the practice of a physician MBA usually look like?
    • Similarly, how does the utility of an MBA change based on setting: inpatient vs. outpatient settings; academic vs. private vs. public institutions; urban vs. rural settings; civilian vs. military vs. governmental institutions; national vs. international settings; private practice vs. group practice vs. hospital practice vs. healthcare system; being a medical entrepreneurs vs. OR manager vs. CMO vs. CEO; working for an insurance company vs. doing consulting vs. doing research.
      • Is there any context I haven’t asked you about where you think the utility of an MBA changes?
    • What is the biggest challenge facing the physician-MBA, where do you predict the status of the dual degree will be in the next 10 or 20 years?
    • Is there anything that I haven’t asked your about MBAs that you think listeners should know?
  • I will then ask about resources you used and would recommend others use to learn more about an MBA.

3. “Tell us about how you decided your specialty was right for you“

  • I will ask you to tell us the STORY of how you decide to pursue getting your MBA, including struggles, insights, and the eventual ‘ah-HA’ moment when it all made sense. We’ll expound upon any lessons you gleaned from this process, and then I will ask you how you would recommend a medical student facing this decision today should work through it.
  • My follow-up questions will include:
    • What did you struggle with and what factors (personal or professional) ended up weighing most heavily for you in your decision?
    • Was there ever a head-to-head decision between 2 or more degrees (MBA vs. another non-MD degree), and, if so, what made you decide to pursue the MBA?
  • Again, I will ask about resources you would recommend to aid in making this decision.

4. “Give us advice for long-term career planning irrespective of choice of specialty”

  • You have practiced medicine for some number of years now.  Take a moment to tell us what you have learned about what it takes to ensure a maximally fulfilling career, irrespective of the choice of one’s specialty.
  • My follow-up questions will include:
    • If you could go back and do it all again, what would you do differently, and what would you do the same, and why?
    • What is a career mistake that you have seen other physicians make? What is something you have seen another physician do well that has made you want to emulate it?
    • What is one thing you are struggling with or lamenting about your career today, what are you doing to remedy it, and what would you encourage a medical student to do right now to help avoid this problem entirely in the future?
  • I will then ask “What is one book, medical or non-medical, that you think every person pursuing a career in medicine should read?”

5. Finale

  • We’ll end with you sharing any final thoughts.
  • I will then ask if there is anything you are working on that you would like to listeners to be aware of, if there is somewhere where they can go to find out more about you (if you want them to), and what the best way to connect with you is (if you want them to).
  • Say our goodbyes.

I will call you via Skype at the appointed time.  My Skype ID is Semidecent. This is an audio only interview.  Again, the interview will take about 90 minutes.

*Disclaimer*

Recording: By participating in the UndifferentiatedMedicalStudent.com interview, you agree to allow UndifferentiatedMedicalStudent.com of Iatrocast, LLC to record, distribute, and disseminate the podcast in any manner. You also agree to allow UndifferentiatedMedicalStudent.com and Iatrocast, LLC to retain rights to the produced media for potential future use in speeches, books, and in all other public distribution.