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The Business of Medicine
PCOM's DO/MBA Degree Program, the osteopathic profession's first graduate program in business administration, increases your career options and practice management skills while you prepare to become a physician. Learn what they don't teach you in medical school. On the business side, medical students today sense a need for solid business sense to manage a practice successfully in an age of increasing competition and regulation.
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PCOM does an excellent job of training you as an osteopathic physician. A cooperative program with St. Joseph's University now makes possible an augmented degree track that can enhance your efficiency and skills as a clinician by equipping you for the business management side of medicine.
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The DO/MBA program provides the business know-how every physician needs. A solo practitioner learns to make business decisions about managing time, money, personnel and practice building. Those joining group practice enter a small business that markets medical services, subject to all the lore and pitfalls of the business world. And physicians serving administration positions in academic health care centers, major hospitals, clinical departments or public health delivery gain a credential for senior management positions.
A Five-Year Track
An attractive feature is the ability to pursue an uninterrupted medical education while fulfilling MBA course requirements at nearby St. Joseph's University. The key is a flexible PCOM curriculum allowing you, in effect, to complete your second year of clinical didactic medical courses over two years while completing MBA curricular requirements. So in just two academic years and two summer sessions you will earn an MBA in addition to completing your sophomore medical year. The total MBA-DO program length is five years.
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After acceptance and completion of PCOM's standard first year, you carry two business courses the first summer. During the second year, your medical course load is reduced by half as you take two evening business courses each semester. The second summer and the third academic year follow the same pattern.
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Upon completion of the two-year business curriculum, St. Joseph's University awards your MBA degree. You then resume a full-time medical education during the last two years of clinical clerkships. Upon completion of the five-year combined medical and business program, the DO degree is awarded at PCOM's commencement along with special recognition of your dual degrees in business and medicine.
MBA Degree Requirements
The MBA curriculum is designed to provide a solid background in a broad range of business skills useful to the physician as business manager. The program requires completion of 12-14 MBA courses of three credits each. (Depending on your undergraduate record, a business math course may be required.) The courses are:
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Accounting Concepts
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Managerial Economics
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Financial Management
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Skills for Successful Team Projects
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Developing Decision Making Competencies
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Accounting, Finance and Economics for Health Care
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Creating and Measuring Customer Value
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Creating and Measureing Shareholder Value
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Developing Managerial Skills Sets
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Health Care Marketing
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Contemporary Information Technologies
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Empowering Human Potential at Work
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Strategic Management in Health Care Organizations
All MBA courses are evening classes held at the main campus of St. Joseph's University. The MBA courses offered at St. Joseph's branch campuses are also open to DO/MBA students.
Tuition and Financial Aid
The total cost of tuition and fees for the MBA program and half-time PCOM course work is equal to the cost of an additional year of PCOM tuition. All costs are payable to PCOM on the regular schedule, and the college pays your MBA tuition and fees directly to St. Joseph's University.
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Students in the joint degree program continue to be classified as full-time PCOM students and receive all standard college services, including health insurance.
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All primary sources of financial aid are available for this additional year of study, including Stafford Loans (formerly GSL loans) and HEAL loans. Financial aid continues to be administered by PCOM; no separate arrangements with lending sources are necessary.
Admissions Requirements and Procedures
First-year PCOM students in good standing are eligible for joint degree program admission, and MCAT scores are accepted in lieu of the GMAT. You must have an undergraduate GPA of 2.75 or above and MCAT scores in the 50th percentile or above. Admission may be conditional on the successful completion of second semester medical studies.
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Submit your application to the Graduate School of Business, St. Joseph's University, along with three letters of recommendation and your undergraduate transcript. First-year PCOM grade reports and MCAT scores are forwarded by PCOM to a joint admissions committee.
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Application to the DO/MBA program must be made before March 1 of your first PCOM year, and decisions are announced by April 1. Comprised of PCOM and St. Joseph's University faculty, the joint admissions committee reviews all materials and makes final admission decisions. A personal interview is not required.
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For more information and an application packet, contact Robert Cuzzolino, EdD, Vice President for Graduate Programs at PCOM, (215) 871-6770. Ms. Adele C. Foley, Director, MBA Program, St. Joseph's University, (215) 660-1690, is available to answer questions about the business curriculum.
Get Down To Business
Prepare for the complex world of managed care. PCOM's joint DO/MBA program with St. Joseph's University is the first of its kind in the nation. It's a step beyond the costly trial-and-error method of learning to manage a practice, or on-the-job training in health care administration. Earn a dual degree and be ready for the business side of health care tomorrow.
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