Tufts Medical School to celebrate 20 years of dual degree program

The Tufts University School of Medicine will be celebrating the 20th anniversary of its M.D./M.B.A. program later this year.

Harris Berman, the dean of the School of Medicine, said the M.D./M.B.A. program began in 1995 as a way to recognize the need for physicians who were going to be managers in healthcare.

Berman explained that the program allows medical students to get a medical degree and a degree in business administration in four years.

Now in its 20th year, the M.D./M.B.A. program has grown to have over 220 alumni, with more than 60 students currently in the program, according to Paul Beninger, director of the M.D./M.B.A program.

“Our very first class comprised of no more than five students,” Beninger said.

Tufts is one of the only two universities in the country that offers a four-year medical program, Beninger said.

According to Berman, the M.B.A. is now offered in conjunction with the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University and is fully accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB).

“In 2009, we moved the M.B.A. part to Brandeis in order to better serve the students, because Brandeis has a very good M.B.A. program that is geared towards healthcare,” Berman said.

The dual degree course load is roughly equal to that of a half-time graduate student, in addition to the full course load of a medical student, Beninger said. In total, the program consists of 68 credit hours, covering 19 courses.

Because they have so many credits to complete in a four-year period, students in the dual degree program attend classes for an additional two months before the ordinary start date and two months after the end date of the Medical School, according to Berman. They matriculate early, starting their classes at Brandeis before joining the rest of their class at Tufts in August.

During those extra four months, students will take 50 percent of the classes that they need for their program, a mix of both medical and business courses, Berman said. The rest of the program is distributed concurrently with the four years of medical school classes.

Berman explained that the Medical School offers a number of combined degree programs, and will continue to do so in the future.

Ten percent of Tufts medical students are currently getting an M.D./M.A. in public health and about five to 10percent of each class is composed of M.D./M.B.A. students, according to Berman. M.D./Ph.D. candidates make up the smallest dual degree group, he added.

According to a M.D./Healthcare Management survey conducted in 2013, 81 percent of the enrollment in the M.D./M.B.A. program was male and only 19 percent was female.

“I am not sure why the female enrollment is so much less, but recruiting more women is definitely something I [have been] focusing on ever since the time I joined this department last summer,” Beninger said.

Beninger said the Medical School has developed a Student Ambassador Program to support its recruitment efforts in an increasingly competitive environment.

“I have trained 10 medical students who have a good understanding of their objectives and will make the recruitment process easier and more comfortable for all applicants,” he said.

Berman said the program also gives students the opportunity to get in touch with some of Boston’s outstanding healthcare leaders and organizations.

In addition to this, the Medical School intends to build a strong alumni organization by creating an M.D./M.B.A. alumni board to advise the School of Medicine.

“We will develop a speakers forum to inform M.D./M.B.A. students about issues pertinent to their career development and will also facilitate an online network to connect alumni at all levels of their profession: students, residents, fellows, practicing professionals etc.,” Beninger said.

Beninger and his team are also planning to highlight the program's accomplishments in medical journals in order to contribute to the growing literature about the importance of M.D./M.B.A. credential in the rapidly changing healthcare environment.

Ted Handler, an M.D./M.B.A. candidate in his final year of the program, said the program showed him how acquiring business skills can give physicians a leg up.

“After I took a class on the business and practice of medicine during my undergraduate years, it became clear to me that an understanding of business was integral to the practice of medicine as we move forward in an age of healthcare reform and increasingly limited healthcare resources,” Handler said.

Handler said his overall experience with the program has been overwhelmingly positive, explaining that his understanding of business has helped him greatly in his practice of medicine.

"I feel well prepared to use my M.B.A. for hospital management, and equally well prepared to take it into technology fields, pharmaceutical services or consulting," he said. "Our educational experience is as broad as it is deep.”

The 20th anniversary of the program will be celebrated on Oct. 10 at the Tufts School of Medicine campus, the Sackler Center for Medical Education and the Marriott Courtyard Boston Downtown, according to the School of Medicine website.

Berman said all of the combined degree programs offered by Tufts are an asset to its medical school.

“This is why we really look forward to celebrating this particular dual program’s 20th anniversary," Berman said.