Physician MBA Program revamped to position physicians nationwide for health care leadership

Innovative program from IU Kelley School of Business Indianapolis addresses health care’s biggest issues

INDIANAPOLIS – The only physician-only MBA program from a top-ranked business school has launched new innovations to make the program more accessible to physicians nationwide while also enhancing its curriculum to prepare physicians to be the voice of health care reform.

For 10 years, the Physician MBA Program at the Indiana University Kelley School of Business Indianapolis has equipped physicians nationwide with business and management skills required to implement process, performance, policy and people solutions. These skills help graduates assume leadership roles within health care to address a system described as complicated, dysfunctional and broken, including many issues exposed and intensified during the COVID-19 pandemic, such as struggling financial performance and physician burnout.

“Health care in the U.S. needs to be more efficient, and we believe the path to efficiency is through MBA-trained physicians,” said Julie Manning Magid, vice dean of the Kelley School of Business Indianapolis. “With this degree, physicians emerge as leaders with the full skillset to transform individual institutions, the broad health care field and, most importantly, patient outcomes.”

Kelley School faculty members worked collaboratively with Physician MBA alumni to drive modality, structure and curriculum changes to provide greater flexibility, enhanced learning experiences and increased relevance in the dynamic business of medicine landscape. Highlights of the Physician MBA Program innovations include:

• Quarterly in-person sessions instead of monthly. The program is shifting to three-day in-person class sessions in Indianapolis every three months rather than two-day monthly sessions. This upgrade better accommodates physician schedules and allows for applied learning with peers, industry experts and health care leaders.
• More hands-on experiences and focus on leadership. Students will have four hands-on immersion experiences spaced throughout the program—beginning with the first week of class, moving to the midpoint of the program and concluding with an integrative capstone project.
  1. The program will begin with a five-day intensive leadership residency where students connect with colleagues, meet their executive coaches, study leadership theory and application and begin self-discovery of their evolution as leaders.
  2. The operations courses have moved into the same quarter at the start of the second year, providing a collective, immersive experience in operations, process improvement and Lean Six Sigma. The courses will merge into an individual process improvement project designed to transform the delivery of health care.
  3. The Healthcare Policy Experience course is moving to the program’s midpoint, which allows students to apply what they learn about policy and advocacy to courses in the final year.
  4. Students will conclude the program with a hands-on capstone consulting project that draws upon all the skills they’ve gained to solve a health care challenge. The project is part of the program’s new integrative experience: a block of courses that addresses the important relationship among leadership, operations, marketing, finance and strategy.

• Curriculum restructuring. The program updated how and when courses are paired for greater integration between courses, such as marketing and business analytics, and to enhance quantitative and qualitative learning, which is a foundation of the physician learning style.
• More one-on-one executive coaching. Students will have access to an executive coach throughout the program instead of waiting until year two. This update allows more opportunities to support students as they navigate their careers and leverage their voice to address health care challenges. Additionally, developmental coaching and strategic career planning are available whenever students need it, including following graduation.
• More emphasis on executive communications. New courses will be launched to enhance physician leadership capabilities by exploring crisis communications and best practices to follow during times of great change and opportunity. The course explores media interviews, advanced persuasion and leadership presentations to prepare physicians for health care challenges and the unexpected.

Physicians say they pursue an MBA so they can learn the “business of medicine,” explaining that while they have profound medical knowledge, they don’t have the business acumen needed to lead significant health care change. The 21-month Kelley Physician MBA is designed so physicians can apply new business knowledge and skills in real time, which has resulted in about one-half of students consistently promoted within the first year of the program and developing into influential leaders in various health care organizations.

“The Kelley Physician MBA stands apart for its curriculum and the integration of physicians, renowned business professors and industry thought leaders — all who are committed to changing how health care is delivered,” said Magid, who has taught business law and health care policy in the program since its inception. “Our graduates leave the program with the tools to solve health care problems and influence its future.”

The revised Physician MBA program will officially kick off in fall 2024. For more information on the Kelley Physician MBA program, visit our website.

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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 14,000 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 130,000 living alumni. The Kelley School of Business 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 #13 in the country. Learn more at kelley.iupui.edu.