It’s never too early for prospective medical school students to start visualizing a medical career. The wonderful thing about medicine is that it opens the door to many opportunities. Over the course of your medical career you may wear different hats: clinician, manager, leader, consultant, teacher, etc.
Health care constantly changes and requires leaders who understand both the clinical and business side of medicine. As a result, some physicians opt to earn a Master of Business Administration, a Master of Public Health or a Master of Public Policy. Now, a few schools are offering an additional degree: a Master of Medical Management, or MMM degree.
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“Physician” and “leader” are not synonymous. The MMM addresses the needs of physicians who want to gain health care-specific leadership skills and positively affect health care organizations through leading day-to-day operations, managing teams and fostering innovation.
The Master of Medical Management program developed out of continuing medical education coursework in physician leadership through the American Association for Physician Leadership. Unlike an MBA program, which includes students from a variety of careers, the MMM program is exclusively for physicians. MMM candidates learn from other physician leaders and gain insight into managing 21st century health care issues.
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MMM degrees are currently conferred by Carnegie Mellon University’s Heinz School of Public Policy and Management and the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business. The Heinz program began in 1998, and USC welcomed its 16th cohort in March. Though requirements vary by institution — check the institutions’ websites for more information — they generally require 3-5 years of work experience postresidency, in addition to prerequisite coursework.
The majority of MMM candidates come from all medical specialties and have completed, or are in the process of completing, postgraduate training. MMM candidates come from a variety of career backgrounds including, but not limited to, insurance, health plans and hospital administration.
“I found myself growing restless in day-to-day hospital medicine,” says Dr. Teri L. Rhetta, an MMM candidate at USC. “Health care is in need of reform, and I want to participate in that reform.”
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Undergraduate course work that lays the foundation for MMM includes marketing, statistics, management principles or accounting. Extracurricular activities necessary for medical school applications, such as fraternity or sorority leadership, fundraising and event organization, create opportunities to lead people and cement organizational abilities, which are directly transferable to medicine.
Undergraduate business classes form a framework that the MMM expands upon. Given your immediate and primary goal of entering medical school, don’t fret if your undergraduate major is not in business. Candidates without prior business exposure can also apply. Prerequisites will expose the MMM applicant to the business of medicine.
Consider an MMM if you see yourself in a health care leadership position, such as a chief medical officer or senior medical director. Rhetta says, “I will use my MMM to be instrumental in writing policy and maintaining quality in health care.”
A Master of Medical Management augments the M.D. degree in powerful ways to garner experiential skills and knowledge to improve the lives of patients.
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Become a Health Care Leader With a Master of Medical Management originally appeared on usnews.com
