The MBA mystique.

Is an MBA the solution for you? Do physician executives need to have a business degree to compete in today's competitive marketplace? What are clients looking for when they make hiring decisions? The answers may surprise you. This column is an attempt to dispel myths about physician executives and the MBA degree. Clients want to attract and hire physician executives who possess sometimes intangible skills--with or without the MBA credential. These intangible skills include the ability to educate other physicians to the new health care realities, a sales orientation emphasizing effective communication that focuses on patients and payers as customers, comfort with ambiguity, flexibility, and tact and sensitivity in negotiations.