How useful is the MBA for the Dr. medical?

02.03.2010 16:33

Know-how about personnel management, employee development and motivation is becoming increasingly important

Contribution margins, profit and loss accounts, costs or expenses – due to the so-called flat rate law for the remuneration of hospital services, comprehensive management knowledge is becoming increasingly important for doctors. But today, know-how about personnel management, employee development and motivation is indispensable not only for the head physician, but also for doctors with their own medical practices.
Since this knowledge is not taught in basic medical training, more and more doctors are opting for further training in the business sector. In addition to courses specializing in health economics, generalist management courses with an MBA degree are also available to medical professionals.

What is expected from the doctor

Scarce resources, increasing competitive pressure and new forms of care - the demands on doctors' business knowledge are constantly increasing. dr med. Christian Elsner, Managing Director of the University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, Lübeck Campus, summarizes the requirements for the management and leadership skills of doctors as follows: “Today, in addition to specialist knowledge of the health and billing system, doctors also need knowledge of the political framework.

In addition, an interdisciplinary perspective on economic and medical issues is required. Doctors must also be familiar with tools for quickly structuring and making decisions about complex business issues. Knowing how to motivate employees is also becoming increasingly important.”

In the jungle of further training offers: courses in health economics or MBA programs

Health economics courses – whether full-time or part-time – provide participants with knowledge in business administration, human resources, law, and hospital planning with a very strong focus on certain socio-legal framework conditions and the specifics of healthcare companies. The German doctor and project manager in the Medical Processes & Quality Department at the University Hospital of Basel, Dr. med. Christian Abshagen, says: “Health economics courses are much more macroeconomically oriented and emphasize country-specific aspects of health systems and policies. However, practical management theory is largely missing from the courses offered. In the jungle of further training offers, opaque or even missing accreditations of the providers are also noticeable.” Dr. med. Andreas Schnarr, specialist in otolaryngology and allergology, adds: “The participants in specialized courses focused on health economics all come from the health sector. A class in a generalist MBA program, on the other hand, looks more diverse.

Here the engineer sits next to the opera singer and both of them possibly learn from a chemist." Abshagen, who completed the full-time MBA course at the Leipzig Handelshochschule (HHL), describes the advantages: "Because of the different professional and cultural backgrounds of my fellow students, I have Learned in an interdisciplinary way as a team.” In this context, medical colleague Elsner particularly appreciates the large network with companies and students that he has gained through participation in the MBA program at HHL. His colleague Schnarr, who started his part-time management studies at HHL a few weeks ago, adds: “Intense collaboration with fellow students from other professional groups broadens your perspective. This means I not only experience a development in my professional skills but also in my personality. In the student team you get the drive you need to initiate your own projects, critically review them and then install them.”

MBA studies enable you to create

But it’s not just this “think outside the box” that doctors value. Abshagen: “Through my MBA studies at HHL, I learned about business administration and management know-how that is also used by successful companies. Although you certainly can't translate everything one-to-one, I find that hospital management can learn a lot from the content of a generalist management course." Schnarr adds: "In the MBA course I learn skills that enable me to actively shape and not just passively taking a place in the system.”