When should MD's get their MBA?

[erasable]

The med school I am planning to attend is not strong in business.
1. Is it possible for me to take a year off during med school to to an MBA elsewhere?
2. When should I get an MBA? between 1st and 2nd year? After med sch?
3. I heard certain MPH prog's will let you take the courses during med sch but only grant you the MPH degree after completion of your MD (some sort of you get your MD at your school but your MPH from us program). Does this occur for MD MBA's?

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[sleepy_dwarf]

The med school I am planning to attend is not strong in business.
1. Is it possible for me to take a year off during med school to to an MBA elsewhere?
2. When should I get an MBA? between 1st and 2nd year? After med sch?
3. I heard certain MPH prog's will let you take the courses during med sch but only grant you the MPH degree after completion of your MD (some sort of you get your MD at your school but your MPH from us program). Does this occur for MD MBA's?

1. Many schools have dual MD/MBA (and equivalent) programs, and those that don't generally don't have a problem with allowing students in good standing to get another advanced degree.
2. It really depends on you. Most schools will want you to successfully pass step 1 of the USMLE before taking a leave of absence for an advanced degree. You could try, if your training allows during a slow year during your resdency, if you'd be willing to do an online executive MBA (make sure its accredited!!!). Finally, you could always do it afterwards.
3. It really depends on the schools policy. Generally if you do the advanced degree at your MD institution, they'll award both with the MD.

 

[bluejay68]

1. Many schools have dual MD/MBA (and equivalent) programs, and those that don't generally don't have a problem with allowing students in good standing to get another advanced degree.
2. It really depends on you. Most schools will want you to successfully pass step 1 of the USMLE before taking a leave of absence for an advanced degree. You could try, if your training allows during a slow year during your resdency, if you'd be willing to do an online executive MBA (make sure its accredited!!!). Finally, you could always do it afterwards.
3. It really depends on the schools policy. Generally if you do the advanced degree at your MD institution, they'll award both with the MD.

If you try to get the MBA from another school, it will likely take you 2 full years for the degree (just like all non-MD's/combined students); thus you lose a year if you go to a med school without an MBA program and want to complete both degrees at the same time (i.e., one of my Wharton classmates was a UCSF med student; took him the full 6 years to get the combined degree).

As for timing, I think it's good to do it after your clinical year (third year in most med schools). You'll bring some interesting clinical experience to B-school and then have time for electives in your last year. This just means that you need your residency application (specialty-specific electives, sub-I's, letters, away rotations, etc) all buttoned up before you start B-school.

The last question you have on giving out degrees is likely school-specific, so you need to do a little research. Combined degrees tend to be awarded together around the same time because certain requirements are often altered (on both sides) to fit everything in, so I would imagine it would be difficult to try to get one of the two degrees awarded much earlier than the other.