Why an MBA in Healthcare Is Your Winning Combo
Do you have a passion for healthcare and a keen eye for business strategy? If so, the marriage of an MBA and a healthcare degree offers a compelling proposition. In the dynamic landscape of today’s healthcare industry, the fusion of business acumen and healthcare expertise has become vital. According to the Brookings Institution, the healthcare sector employs 11% of American workers. Moreover, the management side of medicine is the fastest-growing subfield of this industry. Let’s explore why pursuing an MBA in healthcare is a savvy career move and find out which top business schools can help you realize this dual major dream.
Curious about your chances of getting into a top B-school? Contact us to talk strategy with a free 15-minute advising session with an SBC Principal Consultant.
Strategic Decision-Making, Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Running healthcare organizations is about more than saving lives. One of the main strengths an MBA degree brings to healthcare is strategic decision-making. Whether managing a hospital, pharmaceutical company, or healthcare consultancy, you’ll need to develop and execute sound business strategies. MBAs have the skills to analyze data, identify trends, and make decisions that impact patient outcomes and organizational success.
From overseeing a hospital’s finances to leading a healthcare startup, the financial insight gained from an MBA sets you apart. Also, because the healthcare industry is ripe for innovation, entrepreneurs will play a central role in shaping its future. An MBA curriculum gives you the skills to turn new ideas into viable business solutions. This is particularly crucial in healthcare, where groundbreaking technologies can transform patient care.
SBC Principal Consultant Esther Magna is a big fan of double majors and received a joint MBA and MPH from UCLA’s Anderson School of Management. In this post, she shares this inspiration for her own dual degree journey.
“My work had a double-bottom-line mission,” she explains. “I was advocating for the company’s business priorities, and also for impact, which was the improved quality of care for patients of the healthcare enterprise.”
“I knew the MBA degree would afford a rigorous tool kit around business principles. Meanwhile, the MPH degree had an entirely different paradigm focus on community health and societal priorities.”
Top Business Schools for an MBA in Healthcare
Now that you know how an MBA can complement healthcare careers, let’s look at what’s available at some of the top business schools.
Harvard Business School
HBS offers a Healthcare Initiative that integrates the study of healthcare management into its curriculum. The case-based methodology at HBS prepares students to tackle real-world challenges in the healthcare sector. The school also touts the many opportunities for students to engage in healthcare activities, network with alums working in the industry, and delve more deeply into various healthcare sectors.
Wharton School
Wharton’s Health Care Management Program is renowned for its interdisciplinary approach, combining business education with insights from the School of Medicine and the School of Nursing. This program emphasizes leadership in healthcare organizations.
Each year, Wharton says the major welcomes more than 72 students from consulting, private equity, digital health, medicine, engineering, health care services, pharmaceuticals, biotech, government, insurance, HCIT, entrepreneurship, and venture capital.
Because of the unique program structure, MBA applicants interested in the Health Care Management Program must state their interest when applying.
Kellogg School of Management
The Kellogg School offers a Health Enterprise Management Program for students who aspire to lead in the healthcare industry and leverage the power of business knowledge. Kellogg’s specific pathways – healthcare, entrepreneurship, strategy –expose students to what it takes to be an innovator in today’s healthcare field.
The Innovation and New Ventures Office also offers critical mentoring and support for students with an invention or startup idea they want to move to the marketplace.
Kellogg’s Senior Director of Full-Time Admissions, Steve Thompson, previously told MBA Insight he wished more applicants knew about the strength and legacy of Kellogg’s healthcare programming.
“Healthcare at Kellogg started in 1945, making Kellogg the first business school to focus on the business of health,” he noted. “We have a dedicated healthcare pathway which prepares students for the unique challenges and opportunities in the industry through a mix of foundational and experiential courses. Students can pursue specific tracks tethered to their post-grad interests such as healthcare entrepreneurship, life sciences and products or payer/provider issues.”
Stanford Graduate School of Business
Stanford’s MBA program provides a diverse and flexible curriculum, and its Center for Health Policy supports students interested in the intersection of business and healthcare. Trends in technological advancements are reinventing the industry. Undoubtedly, the Silicon Valley location offers unique opportunities for collaboration with health tech companies.
Through a wealth of courses, mentors, and experiential learning opportunities, Stanford GSB helps students develop the skills to succeed and make an impact in healthcare.
MIT Sloan School of Management
Any student enrolled in an MIT MBA program can register for the MIT Healthcare Certificate. Sloan notes that past students have gone on to positions across the healthcare ecosystem, from healthcare consulting and managing delivery systems to work in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries and entrepreneurship.
Investing in an MBA in healthcare opens doors to many opportunities. If you’re passionate about making a meaningful impact on healthcare outcomes and are ready to take your career to new heights, the MBA in healthcare might be your ticket to success.
Embrace the challenge, seize the opportunity, and embark on a journey that promises professional growth and the chance to contribute to the transformative power of healthcare innovation.
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Stacy Blackman Consulting offers multiple services to meet your MBA application needs, from our All-In Partnership to hourly help reviewing your MBA resume. Contact us today for a free 15-minute advising session to talk strategy with a Principal SBC consultant.
Here’s a snapshot of the caliber of expertise on our SBC team.
Ashley
Ashley is a former MBA Admissions Board Member for Harvard Business School (HBS), where she interviewed and evaluated thousands of business school applicants for over a six year tenure. Ashley holds an MBA from HBS. During her HBS years, Ashley was the Sports Editor for the Harbus and a member of the B-School Blades Ice Hockey Team. After HBS, she worked in Marketing at the Gillette Company on Male and Female shaving ...
×Kerry
Kerry is a former member of the Admissions Board at Harvard Business School (HBS). During her 5+ year tenure at HBS, she read and evaluated hundreds of applications and interviewed MBA candidates from a wide range of backgrounds across the globe. She also led marketing and outreach efforts focused on increasing diversity and inclusion, ran the Summer Venture in Management Program (SVMP), and launched the 2+2 Program during her time in Admissions. Kerry holds a B.A. from Bates College and ...
×Pauline
A former associate director of admissions at Harvard Business School, Pauline served on the HBS MBA Admissions Board full-time for four years. She evaluated and interviewed HBS applicants, both on-campus and globally. Pauline's career has included sales and marketing management roles with Coca-Cola, Gillette, Procter & Gamble, and IBM. For over 10 years, Pauline has expertly guided MBA applicants, and her clients h ...
×Geri
Geri is a former member of the Admissions Board at Harvard Business School (HBS). In her 7 year tenure in HBS Admissions, she read and evaluated hundreds of applications and interviewed MBA candidates from a diverse set of academic, geographic, and employment backgrounds. Geri also traveled globally representing the school at outreach events in order to raise awareness for women and international students. In additio ...
×Laura
Laura comes from the MBA Admissions Board at Harvard Business School (HBS) and is an HBS MBA alumnus. In her HBS Admissions role, she evaluated and interviewed hundreds of business school candidates, including internationals, women, military and other applicant pools, for five years. Prior to her time as a student at HBS, Laura began her career in advertising and marketing in Chicago at Leo Burnett where she worked on th ...
×Andrea
Andrea served as the Associate Director of MBA Admissions at Harvard Business School (HBS) for over five years. In this role, she provided strategic direction for student yield-management activities and also served as a full member of the admissions committee. In 2007, Andrea launched the new 2+2 Program at Harvard Business School – a program targeted at college junior applicants to Harvard Business School. Andrea has also served as a Career Coach for Harvard Business School for both cu ...
×Jennifer
Jennifer served as Admissions Officer at the Stanford (GSB) for five years. She holds an MBA from Stanford (GSB) and a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Jennifer has over 15 years experience in guiding applicants through the increasingly competitive admissions process into top MBA programs. Having read thousands and thousands of essays and applications while at Stanford (GSB) Admiss ...
×Erin K.
Erin served in key roles in MBA Admissions--as Director at Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley and Assistant Director at Stanford's Graduate School of Business (GSB). Erin served on the admissions committee at each school and has read thousands of applications in her career. At Haas, she served for seven years in roles that encompassed evaluation, outreach, and diversity and inclusion. During her tenure in Admissions at GSB, she was responsible for candidate evaluation, applicant outreach, ...
×Susie
Susie comes from the Admissions Office of the Stanford Graduate School of Business where she reviewed and evaluated hundreds of prospective students’ applications. She holds an MBA from Stanford’s GSB and a BA from Stanford in Economics. Prior to advising MBA applicants, Susie held a variety of roles over a 15-year period in capital markets, finance, and real estate, including as partner in one of the nation’s most innovative finance and real estate investment organizations. In that r ...
×Dione
Dione holds an MBA degree from Stanford Business School (GSB) and a BA degree from Stanford University, where she double majored in Economics and Communication with concentrations in journalism and sociology. Dione has served as an Admissions reader and member of the Minority Admissions Advisory Committee at Stanford. Dione is an accomplished and respected advocate and thought leader on education and diversity. She is ...
×Anthony
Anthony served as the Associate Director of MBA Admissions at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, where he dedicated over 10 years of expertise. During his time as a Wharton Admissions Officer, he read and reviewed thousands of applications and helped bring in a class of 800+ students a year. Anthony has traveled both domestically and internationally to recruit a ...
×Meghan
Meghan served as the Associate Director of Admissions and Marketing at the Wharton MBA’s Lauder Institute, a joint degree program combining the Wharton MBA with an MA in International Studies. In her role on the Wharton MBA admissions committee, Meghan advised domestic and international applicants; conducted interviews and information sessions domestically and overseas in Asia, Central and South America, and Europe; and evaluated applicants for admission to the program. Meghan also managed ...
×Amy
Amy comes from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania where she was Associate Director. Amy devoted 12 years at the Wharton School, working closely with MBA students and supporting the admissions team. During her tenure at Wharton, Amy served as a trusted adviser to prospective applicants as well as admitted and matriculated students. She conducted admissions chats with applicants early in the admissions ...
×Ally
Ally brings six years of admissions experience to the SBC team, most recently as an Assistant Director of Admission for the full-time MBA program at Columbia Business School (CBS). During her time at Columbia, Ally was responsible for reviewing applications, planning recruitment events, and interviewing candidates for both the full-time MBA program and the Executive MBA program. She traveled both internationally and dome ...
×Erin B.
Erin has over seven years of experience working across major institutions, including University of Pennsylvania, Columbia Business School, and NYU's Stern School of Business. At Columbia Business School, Erin was an Assistant Director of Admissions where she evaluated applications for both the full time and executive MBA programs, sat on the admissions and merit scholarship committees and advised applicants on which program might be the best fit for them based on their work experience and pro ...
×Emma
Emma comes from the MBA Admissions Office at Columbia Business School (CBS), where she was Associate Director. Emma conducted dozens of interviews each cycle for the MBA and EMBA programs, as well as coordinating the alumni ambassador interview program. She read and evaluated hundreds of applications each cycle, delivered information sessions to audiences across the globe, and advised countless waitlisted applicants. ×
