A partnership between the Kelley School of Business and IU School of Dentistry creates a program to meet the needs of today’s health care environment
INDIANAPOLIS — A new dual degree program at Indiana University, combining patient care training and the business of health care, is now available for students to apply. Students who successfully complete this program will receive a Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS) degree from the School of Dentistry and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree from the Kelley School of Business in Indianapolis.
Dual degree students will begin their business training in Kelley’s Graduate Certificate in Medical Management in the summer of the third year of their DDS degree and take two years to complete the DDS and MBA concurrently.
“We are excited and proud to introduce this dual degree, which offers an individualized and relevant learning pathway for future dentists,” said Julie Manning Magid, vice dean of the Kelley School of Business Indianapolis. “This new degree will combine the study of clinical dentistry with management and leadership education from a top-ranked MBA. It offers these providers the best dental instruction along with the business skills necessary to succeed in today’s complex healthcare environment.”
Students in the dual degree program will complete 205 credit hours: 163 credit hours in dentistry and 42 credit hours in business courses delivered through the Kelley Evening MBA Program, which is ranked the top part-time MBA in Indiana by U.S. News & World Report. The MBA courses include foundational business courses including accounting, finance, marketing, strategy, and supply chain as well as healthcare-specific courses. They are delivered across four, 12-week quarters every year using a hybrid online and in-person delivery model.
Laura Romito, DDS, MS, MBA, associate dean of education and academic affairs for the IU School of Dentistry, earned an MBA and understands the need to provide business and leadership foundations to prepare future dentists for managing the business of dentistry.
“It is advantageous to understand the business aspects of the dental profession beyond what is provided in the predoctoral curriculum,” Romito said. “An MBA provides the business skills and knowledge needed to manage and grow your own dental practice or to take on leadership positions in large organizations or corporate dentistry. A DDS/MBA dual degree better prepares students for an ever-changing world that increasingly requires dentists to be adept in both clinical knowledge and business skills.”
More than 70% of dentists in Indiana are trained at IU, and these dental professionals need to know how health care works outside the dental chair to provide patients with a valuable service without compromising quality patient care. DDS/MBA dual degree students will learn from accomplished, award-winning Kelley faculty with years of experience researching and teaching at the intersection of health care and business.
A pediatric dentist and member of the IU School of Dentistry faculty, Angela Yepes, DDS, MBA’22, quickly identified that she needed business training when she joined her husband’s growing practice. Yepes earned a Kelley MBA and found each business lesson relevant to running a dental office.
“During my time in the dental school, we concentrated our efforts in learning about teeth. We sometimes forget that dentistry works like any other business,” Yepes said. “Having business knowledge is essential for any dentist to thrive. The Evening MBA Program will open your mind to the business of dentistry and complement your scientific knowledge.”
The DDS/MBA dual degree is among four healthcare programs from the Kelley School of Business Indianapolis. Other offerings include the one-year Graduate Certificate in Medical Management for non-physician healthcare professionals and those who want to break into health care, the Physician MBA Program that designed specifically for physicians and an MD/MBA dual degree with the IU School of Medicine.
For more about the DDS/MBA dual degree, click here. To hear what a few students have to say about the program, click here.
About the Kelley School of Business Indianapolis
The Indiana University Kelley School of Business has been a leader in American business education since 1920. With an enrollment exceeding 15,000 students across two campuses and online, the Kelley School is among the premier business schools in the country. Kelley features an innovative curriculum built on personal development, teamwork and experiential learning with an emphasis on global and social responsibility, which is reflected in the accomplishments of more than 127,000 living alumni. The Kelley School in Indianapolis is home to a full-time undergraduate program; a graduate certificate for professionals in health care; master’s and graduate certificate programs in accounting, internal audit and taxation; the Physician MBA and the Evening MBA, which is ranked #15 in the country by U.S. News & World Report. Learn more at kelley.iupui.edu.
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