Fm + Mba?

[Swalker]

I'm interested in doing a family medicine residency. I am also interested in obtaining an MBA sometime in my career. I know there are some online options, but I'm not interested in that. I have seen some part-time options where you do self-study then Fri/Sat every other week for two years.

 

For anyone currently in residency or recently finished, do you think it would be possible to do the part-time MBA and FM residency concurrently? That is, would it be possible to get alternating weekends off during FM residency? If yes, would it be quite easy or would you really need a program that would be willing to work with you? Anyone hear of this being done before?

[moo]

I wouldn't recommend it. Residency can be tough and certain rotations will take a lot of time. I mean, I know I work 30+ hours a week as a family doc now and I am doing an MPH at the same time but that's different. When you're a doc you can work as much or as little as you want. When you're a resident, it's a bit more difficult.

 

If I were you, I'd do the MBA afterward. IMO though, if you're going to spend the time doing an MBA, I'd probably go to the US to do it (Wharton, Kellogg, Sloan, etc.). Canadian MBA programs are really not worth the time and money. And with the Canadian dollar almost at par, the tuition in the US really is not that much more (tuition for example at Kellogg is 45K, at UBC it's 41K). Only downside is you may not be able to moonlight as easily if you're in the US for a year or two but I think it would be worth it in the end.

[collins]

I wouldn't recommend it. Residency can be tough and certain rotations will take a lot of time. I mean, I know I work 30+ hours a week as a family doc now and I am doing an MPH at the same time but that's different. When you're a doc you can work as much or as little as you want. When you're a resident, it's a bit more difficult.

 

If I were you, I'd do the MBA afterward. IMO though, if you're going to spend the time doing an MBA, I'd probably go to the US to do it (Wharton, Kellogg, Sloan, etc.). Canadian MBA programs are really not worth the time and money. And with the Canadian dollar almost at par, the tuition in the US really is not that much more (tuition for example at Kellogg is 45K, at UBC it's 41K). Only downside is you may not be able to moonlight as easily if you're in the US for a year or two but I think it would be worth it in the end.

 

I think this is a really interesting idea. I am not abundantly familiar with the details of MBA programs, would you be able to tell me what the incentives are for obtaining the degree, i.e what doors would having the MBA open?

 

thanks

collins

[moo]

I think this is a really interesting idea. I am not abundantly familiar with the details of MBA programs, would you be able to tell me what the incentives are for obtaining the degree, i.e what doors would having the MBA open?

 

thanks

collins

 

Basically if you want to do hospital administration, an MBA might be helpful. I've not explored this route at all as I am not interested in the business or financial side of medicine.

[Swalker]

Thought I replied to this a couple hours ago, not sure what happened.

 

collins: I'm interested in the MBA for a couple reasons -

1) I've always had an entrepreneurial spirit in addition to my interest in medicine. I decided to pursue medicine first because the formal training required is so long. I'm hoping once I'm in practice I'll have time for some non-medical business ventures. The MBA would give me some of the foundational knowledge I lack and help make connections with potential partners for ventures.

2) I want to run my own practice so the business knowledge will be an asset there, but I don't think a formal degree would be necessary just for this.

3) Like moo said, administration is also something I am open to for later in my career. This will be an asset there as well.

 

moo: I agree on the US. I was most interested in the Wharton EMBA. About the time residency requires, I have no idea on this as I'm only MSII, but I read in the canadian medical residency guide FM is about 40 hrs in clinic plus 5-6 hrs reading per week.

This seems like it would leave plenty of free time to study the MBA material, am I wrong? Also the residency contract for Ontario states 2 weekends (Fri night -Sun) off per 4 week rotation. This seems it integrate perfectly with an EMBA program that meets alternating weekends. Am I overlooking something?

[Cnussey]

Queen's has the nicest program (from my perspective) for the MBA.

 

It's easy to obtain, but I'm with Moo--do it after your residency. If you already have a BBA, don't do it at all

 

Many schools will permit you to join the MBA program without writing the GMAT since you've written the MCAT (I assume) and two years of managerial experience or "similar" is simple enough.

[Lactic Folly]

2 weekends off, but the call schedule for each rotation is made about a month in advance - you can request certain weekends off, but no guarantee you will get the ones you want.

[Ollie]

I read in the canadian medical residency guide FM is about 40 hrs in clinic plus 5-6 hrs reading per week.

This seems like it would leave plenty of free time to study the MBA material, am I wrong? Also the residency contract for Ontario states 2 weekends (Fri night -Sun) off per 4 week rotation. This seems it integrate perfectly with an EMBA program that meets alternating weekends. Am I overlooking something?

You will be off-service for most of your R1 year, which means Obs, Gen Surg, CTU, Peds, etc so your weeks will be much longer than 40 hours. Yes you will have usually every other weekend off (and more than that on lighter rotations) but it's not always the weekend that you want. I would really advise against committing yourself to something. If you don't have some time off you will for sure burn out before the end of R1. Depending on your program, your R2 year will likely be quite light (I think I have done maybe 10 or so nights of call all year) but you will need time to study for the LMCC2, CCFP and do your research project. If you are really set on the MBA, you might want to wait until you are done residency.

[Satsuma]

I don`t really think doing an MBA full time and working is really that feasible. My bf did his MBA at Ivey and it was alot of hours and hard work.

 

That being said, they had a different program...I believe called executive MBA?? Basically the exact same program, just made for people still working. Though if I remember, this was more expensive (and MBAs aren`t so cheap to start with) but usually the people taking this route have their companies paying for them to go...so not an issue for them.

[newbie_01]

I thought you could take a year off of residency to pursue your MBA? I know someone who did that at UWO. Essentially they took a year off to go to Ivey (@ UWO) and then after their MBA, they went back to finish their residency.

 

Maybe I am mistaken, but at least that is how I remember them doing it.

[BlackJack]

The point of an MBA is to gain an opportunity to network with bigwigs.

 

That being said, Canada doesn't have a lot of bigwigs with whom to network.

 

If you're considering an MBA, go to a real-deal school like Wharton or Harvard etc. They get lectures from Forbes 400 billionaires.