Too late to explore business aspect of med?

[panvard92]

Bear with me, I know this is long:

I'm a junior in UG and for about the past 4 years, I have slowly built up the confidence in my decision to go into medicine. I have shadowed doctors, I am doing research in a lab, volunteering, blah blah blah normal pre-med stuff (along with some non-pre-med stuff that keeps me sane).

The thing is, I am planning on taking a gap year after I graduate. Except, I don't want to work in a lab or be an EMT because I think I can prove that I'm passionate about medicine with what I've done thus far.

So I want to do something related to health administration or health policy/the businessy side of health. I just really want some background knowledge about how the US Health Care System works and actually understand the economics involved in it.

Problem: I am a biological science major. Last time I took a business course was in HS and it was AP Macro. I don't have enough time to get a minor in business/econ. I can take a couple of intro classes in econ and some public health classes before I graduate that's for sure. But I don't know how much they'll help me in getting some experience in the field after UG...

Does anyone have any advice as to where to start with this? Who I can talk to (b-school profs? public health school profs? contact some company/firm about their healthcare part? I don't even know.)? Or is it too late to even pursue this?

Once in medical school, I don't think I'll have the chance to look at the management and policy side of things since it is not something normally taught in med school, which is understandable because there's a crapload of other stuff to learn. Unless I do a MD/MBA, which is a lot to think about this point, and I don't even know enough about it to know if that's what I want. I didn't even know there was a thing called health care consulting until I stumbled upon this part of SDN (thank god for whoever created this? hero for confused people like me).

Basically: I need some direction with this thing.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated!

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[Frazier]

1. The thing is, I am planning on taking a gap year after I graduate. Except, I don't want to work in a lab or be an EMT because I think I can prove that I'm passionate about medicine with what I've done thus far.

2. So I want to do something related to health administration or health policy/the businessy side of health. I just really want some background knowledge about how the US Health Care System works and actually understand the economics involved in it.

3. Problem: I am a biological science major. Last time I took a business course was in HS and it was AP Macro. I don't have enough time to get a minor in business/econ. I can take a couple of intro classes in econ and some public health classes before I graduate that's for sure. But I don't know how much they'll help me in getting some experience in the field after UG...

4. Does anyone have any advice as to where to start with this? Who I can talk to (b-school profs? public health school profs? contact some company/firm about their healthcare part? I don't even know.)? Or is it too late to even pursue this?

5. Once in medical school, I don't think I'll have the chance to look at the management and policy side of things since it is not something normally taught in med school, which is understandable because there's a crapload of other stuff to learn.

6. Unless I do a MD/MBA, which is a lot to think about this point, and I don't even know enough about it to know if that's what I want. I didn't even know there was a thing called health care consulting until I stumbled upon this part of SDN (thank god for whoever created this? hero for confused people like me).

Basically: I need some direction with this thing.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated!

1. That's great -- nothing wrong with gap years, plus since you intend to pursue somewhat unorthodox routes, perhaps you might differentiate yourself from the majority of the pre-med horde.

2. Again, a very respectable plan. Showing an early interest in the economics/policy of healthcare is a positive thing. Furthermore, as a physician, you will be well-aligned to apply your medical/business knowledge in a meaningful way (say, in opposition to the populations of businessmen/politicians that greatly influence our healthcare system [while themselves being ignorant of what it is actually like to be a healthcare provider] and physicians that rather just stick their head in the sand than put forth the effort to influence their profession). The physician-"businessman" is a warranted hybrid, IMO.

3. I wouldn't really call this a "problem" in your situation. However, by all means take whatever business/econ/PH classes that you can [as long as you have legit interests in them].

4. I think you already have half of the mba knowledgebase down [it's really simple]: "Networking is vital". Come up with a very clear description of the type of opportunity you are looking for (i.e. "I want to experience the 'businessy side of health'" is not going to yield you the best results.) Do you want to see things from a hospital-level? Community-level? State-level? National-level? Are you interested in the logistics of healthcare delivery? Management of health systems? How the advocacy process is done for legislation? Strive to narrow things down. Once you have a couple ideas in mind, put the lifelines out there -- cast a net everywhere you can think of...maybe you will strike out 9 out of 10 times, but that 1 is all you might really need.

Note: Depending on what your interest ends up being, you might not be able to land a paying job. It's a one year gap year -- you should be honest about that, but it means that a lot of places aren't going to consider you for anything high impact [hard to replace]. Nothing wrong with either formal/informal internships and assistantships.

No matter what, it is never too late to learn. Even if it was a month before you start med school, nothing is stopping you from visiting Amazon and learning the good old fashioned way about the topics you love [i.e. from books].

5. I am going to disagree here. It is all about priorities. A lot of schools have students that do their scholarly projects/concentrations on policy issues. In regards to management, I actually intend on doing some heavy shadowing of upper level management in the school's hospital/healthcare system I end up at. If students are encouraged to shadow a physician in XYZ specialty for exposure, why not longitudinally shadow a professional in XYZ administrative position [if it is something the student aspires towards]? Keep an open mind to approach things in different ways.

6. ABSOLUTELY CORRECT to be hesitant about going that route! Don't jump into something like that without having a very focused/confident reason for doing so along with a well-thought out plan of making it financially worthwhile. Why? The cost can be huge. Read more about that topic in my article: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=960937

Good Luck.

 

[michaelrack]

I would advise taking a business class or 2 that would teach you basic accounting/finance (basics of financial statements, etc)

 

[IWillChangeHC]

Never too late.

I come from a similar path. BS in Cell Biology, got into Medical School, got out. Got an MS. Worked for a Fortune 500 and got out. Had a start-up and loved business. Got an MBA and got into healthcare management.

I got an MBA as an Administrator. I demonstrated value-add. It's what you bring to the table. If you can align physicians, the C-level will love you (They cannot align them!). If you take a more systems-based approach towards delivery, you can demonstrate some unique value-add. Matters what you bring to the table.