mward04 said:
Many curriculums are jam packed leaving no time for any business education. Residency is pretty much the same way.
So...
- How would you go about educating medical students/residents/doctors etc. in business?
- What do you think the average "lay" students/residents/doctors etc. need to know about business to succeed?
- Would this differ by level of training?
Mike
Oh jeez,
You just opened up a CAN of worms. I don't have much time to write but I do have some interesting insight to this topic. I will have to come back and update my comments when I have the time.
On the topic of medical students getting a business education I believe it should be mandatory. They need not know EVERYTHING about business but the background for life experience purposes is INVALUABLE. I would expect doctors making the $500K + a year to at least take an interest in their business/personal investments, etc. But from first hand experience, most right out of school are clueless and even for the first 10 years or so. I have dealt with doctors as I was a commercial loan credit analyst for 2 years and we did many the doctors offices. With the smaller practices, I had problems even getting a PARTNERSHIP agreement from them. Not that complicate of a document as your practice and income is based off of this. Tax returns? Deal with the office mgr only b/c most of the time they have NO clue. Accounts/Lawyers/Ofc Mgrs do everything for the doctors. And I hope that the doctor trusts them! Additionally some of the unnecessary debt that was racked up, not a good sign. But everyone always said "He/She's a doctor. No brainer." I wanted to say, well doctors can file for Chp 7/11/13 too! Granted, not all doctors are business-wise "foolish" but from what I saw and the amount of money they make, I wonder what the heck were they doing! (when they needed a $150K line of credit personally for "malpractice" insurance ... right ... it really was for insurance).
I, myself, find it extremely hard to rely on other peoples judgement and prefer to be educated slightly on the subjects I'm dealing with. I consider myself an all-around person and I do not want to talk to a laywer or my financial planner without having an understanding of what someone is talking about. Especially when it has to do with my money and my job on the line. But at the same time, one can not do everything. YOu need to rely on others like acct/laywers/ofc mgrs BUT, if you don't know a thing about it, its not going to help you make the educated decisions necessary in the business world.
On the personal side ... I was talking to a friend of mine who is a 4th year about match and finances, etc. He was so clueless about anything financial and felt that med school doesn't prepare you on how to handle finances out of med school. He was jealous that I have such a broad experience with my undergrad (he was a biochem major) that I have had a little of everything while all he has ever known is science. Flipside of the coin, I also know those who double majored in business/econ and sciences and appreciated business aspect alot more.
I believe that future MD/DO's need to know about how a business functions whether it be in a hospital/practice etc. Understanding how income/expenses are generated also can ultimately help the doctor make more money for themself in the long running. Also, ignorance to personal expenses (especially in the day and age of falling salaries) would be an immense help to relieve the burden that some doctors face with the debt that they accumulate.
How to go about doing this? Great question. As you can tell, I am huge advocate of business education for doctors (and the general public as well) but how do you tack on classes? Maybe have seminars? Summer seminars? Online information classes? Self-study classes? Extend degree?
I'm sure some might disagree with my outlook on business and medicine, claiming that administration can handle it. That is understandable. Doctors are highly intelligent people. But most have a little understanding of business and the knowledge wouldn't harm you, especially in personal aspects. It would help you manage your debt, open your new practice, and maybe expand your knowledge on retirement accounts.
Finished!
