Why physicians are pursuing MBAs after their MD

Due to the uncertainty of Medicare for All, the shift to EHRs and employment in health systems rather then owning a private practice, physicians have started to diversify their backgrounds with MBAs, according to Bloomberg.

Jeffrey Hausfeld, MD, 65, was feeling burned out when he decided to go back to business school with his son. He is just one of the many American physicians and medical students pursuing MBAs.

"I don't mean to put it in a negative light, but for sure some docs have become less enamored with the straightforward career of medicine," said Mitchell Blutt, MD, a physician and CEO of healthcare investment firm Consonance Capital.

Dr. Hausfeld completed his MBA at Baltimore-based Care Business School at Johns Hopkins. Since then, he has stopped practicing medicine. Now, Dr. Hausfeld is taking on several business-health ventures.

Medical students are quickly deciding to purse MBAs along with their residency after hearing from older physicians about ongoing burnout. The number of medical students earning dual degrees has doubled in the past decade, data from the Association of American Medical Colleges shows.

While many medical students chose to enter MBA programs, they often still decided to undergo residency. This may be because U.S. physicians are some of the top paid workers, Bloomberg reports. The median pay for physicians and surgeons was $208,000 last year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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