A turbulent health care delivery system has encouraged the development of dual degree medical education programs. This presentation will focus on data from a study of eight medical schools offering both the medical and masters in business administration degrees. Using interview and survey instruments, dual degree medical students were assessed on a number of characteristics important to medical care. Significant differences were found between dual degree and traditional medical students in student beliefs and attitudes regarding medical practice. Skills confidence is compared between the two groups as well as to a national database of graduating medical students. Dual degree students expressed a significantly greater degree of confidence in both their clinical and administrative skills than did their medical school counterparts and were more confident of their ability to influence the environment. Income expectations were also significantly higher for the dual degree student group than for the national group of medical students. Although a positive self-concept may be beneficial to these students, the potential overconfidence of MD/MBA students needs to be managed. Confidence is a positive attribute for physicians and managers, but overconfidence can be a barrier to effective decision making. Individuals who are overconfident might fail to seek consensus among groups and lack the discipline to seek out information in solving problems. Based on leadership and management theory, the study findings provide a revealing look at a pioneering group in medical care. Implications for medical student selection, training and the medical care system will be discussed.
Learning Objectives: Faculty will present research with dual degree (MD/MBA) and traditional medical students, exploring differences between the two groups, particularly in regard to skills confidence, perceptions of medicine and leadership characteristics
Keywords: Education, Management
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.