Department of Surgery, SUNY-Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, USA.
Department of Surgery, Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA.
World J Surg. 2018 Jun;42(6):1655-1665. doi: 10.1007/s00268-017-4370-3.
In response to systemic challenges facing the US healthcare system, many medical students, residents and practicing physicians are pursuing a Master in Business Administration (MBA) degree. The value of such proposition remains poorly defined. The aim of this review is to analyze current literature pertaining to the added value of MBA training for physician executives (PEs). We hypothesized that physicians who supplement their clinical expertise with business education gain a significant competitive advantage. A detailed literature search of four electronic databases (PubMed, SCOPUS, Embase and ERIC) was performed. Included were studies published between Jan 2000 and June 2017, focusing specifically on PEs. Among 1580 non-duplicative titles, we identified 23 relevant articles. Attributes which were found to add value to one's competitiveness as PE were recorded. A quality index score was assigned to each article in order to minimize bias. Results were tabulated by attributes and by publication. We found that competitive domains deemed to be most important for PEs in the context of MBA training were leadership (n = 17), career advancement opportunities (n = 12), understanding of financial aspects of medicine (n = 9) and team-building skills (n = 10). Among other prominent factors associated with the desire to engage in an MBA were higher compensation, awareness of public health issues/strategy, increased negotiation skills and enhanced work-life balance. Of interest, the learning of strategies for reducing malpractice litigation was less important than the other drivers. This comprehensive systemic review supports our hypothesis that a business degree confers a competitive advantage for PEs. Physician executives equipped with an MBA degree appear to be better equipped to face the challenge of the dynamically evolving healthcare landscape. This information may be beneficial to medical schools designing or implementing combined dual-degree curricula.
针对美国医疗体系面临的系统性挑战，许多医学生、住院医师和执业医师正在攻读工商管理硕士 (MBA) 学位。这种做法的价值仍未得到明确界定。本文旨在分析目前关于 MBA 培训对医师主管（PEs）增值的文献。我们假设，通过商业教育补充临床专业知识的医生将获得显著的竞争优势。我们对四个电子数据库（PubMed、SCOPUS、Embase 和 ERIC）进行了详细的文献检索。纳入的研究发表于 2000 年 1 月至 2017 年 6 月之间，专门针对 PEs。在 1580 个非重复标题中，我们确定了 23 篇相关文章。记录了被认为可以增加竞争力的属性。为了最大程度地减少偏差，为每篇文章分配了质量指数得分。结果按属性和出版物进行了分类。我们发现，在 MBA 培训背景下，被认为对 PEs 最重要的竞争领域是领导力（n=17）、职业发展机会（n=12）、对医学财务方面的理解（n=9）和团队建设技能（n=10）。与参与 MBA 相关的其他突出因素包括更高的薪酬、对公共卫生问题/战略的认识、谈判技巧的提高和工作生活平衡的改善。有趣的是，减少医疗事故诉讼策略的学习不如其他驱动因素重要。这项全面的系统评价支持我们的假设，即商业学位为 PEs 提供竞争优势。拥有 MBA 学位的医师主管似乎更有能力应对不断发展的医疗保健格局的挑战。这些信息可能对设计或实施联合双学位课程的医学院校有益。
