Summer 05

Takin’ Care of Business – and Medicine

When Indiana University’s medical and business schools speak, students listen. Four students earned their MDs and masters degrees in business administration from the IU Kelley School of Business at last May’s Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis commencement, marking the successful completion of a unique partnership forged between the schools nearly three years ago.

“The more I thought about this combination of professional degrees, the more sense it made to me,” says Timo Dygert, who along with Emilie Powell, Benjamin Henkle and Steve Fountain earned the combined degrees. “With the inevitable healthcare crisis that our society is facing, I believe that physicians should be leading the fight to reform our system.”

Five years of full-time study are required to obtain the MD / MBA instead of the minimum six years that normally would be undertaken if they were pursued separately. Typically, IU medical students spend three years in full-time study before they begin to integrate business courses.

“The program is organized in such a way so that it is not terribly difficult to

accommodate both the Kelley coursework and the IUSM clinicals,” Powell says.

IU was among the first to establish an MD / MBA program in the nation. About 50 universities have a similar program.

Dr. Kevin McGarvey, who graduated in 2004, was the first to complete the program and is now in residency at the University of Arizona.

“The combined degree is a logical combination to have on the IUPUI campus where so much of life sciences, business, and entrepreneurship come together,” says Roger W. Schmenner, associate dean and professor at the IU Kelley School of Business. “Management principles don’t exist in a vacuum – the ability to apply business training to specific industries and occupations is critical.”

Combining medical and business degrees is a natural partnership, says Robert C. McDonald, MD, MBA, an IUSM volunteer associate professor who also serves as course director for the program’s Physician-Leaders Forum. The forum brings together Indianapolis-area doctors and business leaders with students.

“The MD / MBA forum also provided a great link between the two programs where we could really explore the link between business, economics, and medicine,” adds Powell, who is beginning her residency in emergency medicine at Northwestern University.