Practicing Medicine Goes Well Beyond Treating Disease

As the School of Medicine transitions to a new systems-based curriculum, a group of UMMC physicians and surgeons has been hard at work designing a course entitled “Business in Medicine” available to senior medical students as an elective block this Fall.

The goal of this course (CON663A) is to educate doctors who are poised to be the next generation of leaders in medicine. It has been designed to expose future physicians to the breadth of healthcare as an industry, specifically going beyond the diagnosis and treatment of disease.

With national health expenditures approaching nearly 20% of the gross domestic product (GDP) in the United States, there is a critical need for healthcare leaders who are educated in both the clinical and management practices of medicine.

While the nation’s hospitals struggle with an increasing burden of chronic disease further stressed by limited resources, rising healthcare costs, and decreasing reimbursement, there is a heightened call for physicians to take on greater responsibility and more influential roles in transforming and managing care.

“Doctors well-versed in the ‘how and why’ financial decisions are made at the health-systems level will undoubtedly be better-equipped to advocate for and deliver more efficient and effective care for their patients,” says Dr. Marc E. Walker, a plastic surgeon and hand surgeon at UMMC leading the course development effort. Dr. Walker obtained his MBA at Harvard Business School because “understanding the environment in which doctors practice medicine enables us to reach patients well beyond our clinic walls.”

In that vein, students in the course will be challenged to work through several real-life, case-based obstacles faced by some of the most well-known leaders in the field. They will also have the opportunity to hear from a host of local, regional, and international experts in healthcare delivery along the way.

Space is limited for the M4 elective this Fall, so encourage students to enroll while they still can! The course will be expanded class-wide for M2s beginning in Spring 2025.