About two weeks ago I wrote a post regarding the trend of healthcare practitioners returning to business school.  With economic struggles abounding and pressure from all angles, practitioner-owners are realizing the need to become more educated about their businesses.  In the referenced article, it was mentioned that not only are physicians more commonly returning to school for MBA degrees but that an increasing number of universities are offering dual MD-MBA programs.

I ran across this alternative proposal today which recommends incorporation of a condensed “Kaplan-style course” on business within the typical medical programs.  In this proposal it is suggested that topics such as economics, management, accounting, marketing, finance, business law and medical billing are taught for 40 hours a week over a 1 month period.  Now there are probably a long list of pros and cons to this approach, but I believe it is a great idea for medical programs to consider.  It would put practitioners in a much better position when they graduate to understand their businesses without the need to tackle a full-length MBA program.

With ever increasing economic and regulatory pressure on health care practices from all sides, clinician-owners are realizing the need to educate themselves on the business of their practices.  More and more are doing so by returning to school - business school.

For reasons that are both varied and complicated, having an MBA degree is proving vital for many in the medical profession.

“Health care is not going in a healthy direction,” [Dr. Timothy] Willox said. “It’s fine being a surgeon and helping people on a day-to-day basis. But in order to change a process, you have to look at the bigger picture.”

And the big picture is troubling for many doctors: rising malpractice costs, fights with insurance companies, Medicare rates that don’t pay the bills, increasing regulations, competition from bigger groups. Hospitals are merging and single-doctor offices are becoming rarer. All around, the practice of medicine seems to change yearly.

Willox wanted to have a bigger say in how the changes affected him.

Alan Wechsler, in this recent article, mentions that in addition to the increasing number of physicians returning to business school we are also seeing an increase in number of schools that offer dual MD and MBA degrees.  Many will agree that medical schools have not done a great job preparing physicians for the business of their practice, and as the pressures of business increase it seems that schools are responding in turn.

It appears that physicians entering the work force these days are looking for more than good pay and desirable working conditions.  They want a good work-life balance, too.  At least they do in Canada, anyway.

A 2007 National Physician Survey reported that 60 percent of medical students and 52 percent of residents felt that work-life balance will be the most important factor for them when choosing their professional landing spot following school.

This is viewed as a good thing by Shaheed Merani, president of the Canadian Federation of Medical Students, as it holds the potential to make for the delivery of improved care by more well-balanced physicians.  This article from CTV explains how changing the physician culture and the use of technology may play an important role in achieving this desired balance.

“I think the medical students, the medical residents and doctors alike will tell you that a good life-work balance is important in not only maintaining a healthy family, maintaining a healthy physical ability and maintaining a healthy mind, but it’s also important in the work you do and the quality of care you deliver to patients,” Shaheed Merani, president of the Canadian Federation of Medical Students, told CTV’s Canada AM on Monday.

“So I think that the focus that medical students and residents are taking towards their own work-life balance is very important and will result in better care offered to patients across Canada.”

Prehabilitation is the focus on physical therapy services that prevent the need for extended rehabilitation services by approaching the preventative aspects of injury or illness.  Physical therapists have acknowledged and used prehabilitation principles for years, but the addition of a “prehab” curriculum by this Canadian school will hopefully begin to frame the expectation for new professionals entering practice that prevention is the only way we will effectively change the state of healthcare.

…students in U of T’s program have the advantage of being in what he calls a “corridor of innovation” because of the university’s close proximity to the largest hospital network and rehabilitation hospital in Canada. While research is still being done to determine where prehab should fit into the healthcare delivery system, Landry says students need to be prepared now for
the future.

“The more we can work with our students to understand and see a new perspective on the healthcare delivery system, the better, because they’re the champions who are going to go out there and make change.”