Leveraging Psychiatry for a MBA
Hello-- I am a 29 year old who went to a state school of undergrad, Harvard for medical school and now I am at Columbia for psychiatry residency. I have completed USLME Step 1-3 and now I am contemplating how I want my future career to look.
I have no business background, but I am interested in incorporating or embedding mental health services into the US primary education system. In addition, I would love to use my psychiatry background in some consulting type fashion-- all while still having a practice. One of my mentors told me that getting a MBA would be very useful in my aforementioned goals. I am currently 170K in debt and more is debt seems a bit daunting. In addition, two more years is also a deterrent. I am just wondering what are the odds of me getting into a top 10 B-school with a scholarship? and is it really worth it? Of note,--My significant other ( who has a master from Harvard Ed school) has 56 K in debt and thinks it is a terrible idea due to the fact she wants to have kids soon.
In short, this is a MD/MBA question.
Hi jkola07,
You have several options. Here are 3 of them:
Start practicing, earning money, and then do an EMBA or PT MBA so there is no additional time away from the workforce.
Start practicing and then consider a full-time, one-year MBA program aimed at mid career professionals, let's say in a few years after completing residency. MIT or LBS Sloan Fellows and Stanford MSx are examples of those kinds of programs.
As it happens I have had several recent interviews with MD/MBAss either in or just out of med school and one with an MIT Sloan student (but not an MD). Here are the links:
MIT Sloan Fellow student, User Experience Expert, and Busy Mom
Meet Dr. Nadia Afridi, Plastic Surgeon, Recent Columbia EMBA, and Mom
Meet Dr. Akshat Kumar, Wharton MBA ‘19
Pediatrician and Social Entrepreneur: Meet Dr. Anne Steptoe Dr. Steptoe just finished her MBA at Duke and his now doing her residency.
I'm not sure I've answered your question, but I hope I've given some resources and something to think about.
Linda,
Thank you for your response and for laying out the options so beautifully. I will mull over them with my significant other and see what makes the most sense.
Hey @jkola07
Why don't you go to an info session or three at some b-schools and see what you think? You are already at Columbia so this seems like a no brainer. Also, as a Columbia student, ask CBS admissions if they could introduce you to someone with a similar background. Have some coffees with people. Do the same with Stern as well. I think this will help you determine fit and interest. (Remember though you still have to nail that GMAT/GRE to make this all possible.)
Given your background, it seems like perhaps you will be a high wage earner. Don't worry about the debt until you have the b-school offer! (i.e., don't let the prospect of debt scare you off from even applying if this is something that you are interested in. Let's get you to the finish line first.) A couple of other thoughts for you...
Hope that gives you some food for thought, Krista
Krista,
You are right! I should sit down with some admission individuals and see if they can connect me or give me some information. I actually have a meeting with an admission guy at Yale SOM. I'll present my idea and see what he thinks. BTW all we do in medicine is take standardized tests. I am prepared to study my butt off for the GMAT/GRE -- My hope is the past three years of taking 8 hour long standardized tests will pay off at least a little bit. Will definitely look at Warton HCM and the Stanford MBA/M.Ed program.
Update:
I opted to go for an executive MBA. I scored a 148 on my executive assessment 9 IR 8 VR 11 QR. My ugpa was >3.8. Any idea of my chances at Columbia, YSOM etc?
I think you have a good shot at either of those schools. Anyone with your background will be taken seriously.
I think the bigger issue is convincing them why you actually need an MBA, why now, and why at a particular school? If you can answer these questions succinctly, this is an important first step. B-schools really want to understand your story better, to make sure it makes sense.
As an aside, b-schools are very intrigued by the whole world of behavioral economics and Neurofinance. If these fields are interesting to you, b-schools will find you interesting as clearly this is a place you can add a lot of value to the class and your classmates. Just a thought.
Thank you for your response! I am currently working on articulating a powerful and passionate reason why I want to go to business school and why now. Neuorfinance and behavioral economics is super interesting and something that will probably find its way into my story.
I really want a good chance at getting in-- I was wondering if I should retake the executive assessment ( my highest practice test score was 153). It is really the only thing I can change in my application.
Any thoughts on me trying to take the executive assessment again. Is a 148 adequate?
I'd recommend retaking, especially since you were doing better on practice exams.
Thanks! What should be my goal score?
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