Family medicine residents in the Kansas City area have the opportunity to complete their specialty training and earn a master's degree in business administration simultaneously -- a breakthrough for the specialty. Rockhurst University, Kansas City, Mo., is developing the pilot program with support from the AAFP Foundation.
From 36 to 45 family medicine residents are expected to begin the first business course in the dual program in June. They will earn their MBAs and complete their residencies in 2007.
The MBA curriculum will require 51 hours of course work with an emphasis on leadership in health care. Classes will be scheduled to accommodate residents' training demands.
"The idea is to give family physicians administrative expertise and leadership skills as well as a recognized credential to facilitate their becoming leaders in health care," said Perry Pugno, M.D., M.P.H., director of the AAFP Medical Education Division.
Physicians' need for business acumen has grown with the spiraling complexity of reimbursement regulations, employment law and business tax rules, according to Myles Gartland, Ph.D., assistant professor of economics and health care leadership curriculum coordinator at Rockhurst.
Their training often pushes them into top leadership roles within the health care community, but their medical education doesn't train them to handle the stress and burdens that accompany such roles, he added.
Today's medical students are acutely aware of the need for business savvy, said Pugno. He foresees as many as 200 applicants to family medicine residencies in the Kansas City area as a result of the dual program.
The Academy worked with Rockhurst University to establish the dual program, and the AAFP Foundation provided $55,000 in support of its development. Rockhurst has already offered a successful dual MBA/doctor of osteopathy degree with the University of Health Sciences for four years.
"The characteristics that make a good family doctor are also suited to leadership positions in health care," said Pugno. "They have excellent communication skills, a broad perspective and comfort with complexity. They are good at collaborative decision-making, and they take care of patients in all kinds of settings: medical, surgical, emotional health. That gives them a perspective on what other disciplines in health care are dealing with."
The Academy and Rockhurst University have begun groundwork for expanding the program to FP preceptors and -- through intensive online classes and other mechanisms -- to family physicians who live outside the Kansas City region.
The MBA will be offered to residents in the Baptist-Lutheran Family Practice Residency, University of Health Sciences/Medical Center of Independence Family Medicine Residency Program and University of Missouri-Kansas City Family Practice Residency.
To reach writer Leslie Champlin, e-mail lchampli@aafp.org.
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