06/09/2025 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 06/10/2025 13:37
Physicians receive extensive medical training, from handling emergencies to advising patients on how to lead healthier lives; however, the business side of the healthcare industry is rarely a part of medical education.
The Mike Ilitch School of Business has created a joint program with the Medical School at Wayne State University to solve this problem. The M.D./M.B.A. program allows top students to earn an M.B.A. while completing medical school.
Physicians need to understand the financial side of how a hospital operates, including medical equipment and medication supply chains, logistics, and leadership best practices. Physicians who complete the WSU M.D./M.B.A. program receive training in these skills and more and are highly competitive candidates for leadership roles in hospital administrations and are well positioned to begin medical practices of their own, accelerating social mobility for graduates.
"We are very proud to offer a program as unique and impactful as the M.D./M.B.A.," said Virginia Kleist, Dean of the Ilitch School. "Through this collaboration, we give future physicians the tools to lead not just in clinical settings, but across the health care system. This dual degree enhances mobility for our students and, because so many of our graduates stay in Michigan, it strengthens the long-term health of our urban neighborhoods."
The courses at the Ilitch School offered through the M.D./M.B.A. program are designed to complement the WSU medical education. For example, Corporate Financial Management (FIN 7020), teaches students about the economic and financial aspects of organizational and operational issues in the healthcare industry.
This class is taught by Manoj Kulchania, a professor of finance who specializes in corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions and investments.
Kulchania created the course to prompt students to think about not only the proper medical outcome for patients, but to strategize cost-effective solutions as well. Doctors can choose less expensive testing that is easier on the patient's budget and still provides the needed care.
Physicians are also asked to make crucial decisions that patients don't see but have a major impact on the quality of care. For example, a physician may have to choose between a larger supplier that may provide cheaper medication and diagnostic equipment but be more prone to supply chain disruptions than smaller, local suppliers that may be more reliable, but expensive. Medical students in the Corporate Financial Management course are challenged to consider these factors.
Another factor physicians must consider as they complete their education is their own student loan situation. Four students in the Corporate Financial Management course chose to focus on this subject for their final class project.
Hunter Cohn, Chase Moscovic, Alexis Kralovich and Simran Quresh created a study titled "The Financial Implications of Medical Education: An ROI Analysis of School Type, Specialty and Training Location," that examined how different medical educations and specialties affect the financial outcomes of doctors' careers.
Their results showed that public, in-state schools offered a much higher return on investment than out-of-state, private schools, particularly when the physician is going into a lower paying specialty. This, coupled with an aggressive loan payment strategy gave the greatest ROI across specialties. Many of Wayne State's medical programs were found to be top choices when considering the speed of loan repayment across numerous specialties.
"We wanted to create something that would make these tradeoffs clear, and more approachable for students. This project showed us that financial literacy isn't just a bonus skill in medicine-it's essential for making thoughtful, sustainable career decisions," said Cohn, one of the students who worked on this project. "Loan repayment timelines are crucial in shaping financial outcomes, with faster repayment reducing long-term interest costs, but adding early financial strain. Overall, public institutions and aggressive repayment strategies improve ROI, but personal and career goals must guide the financial decision."
After submitting their project for their final exam, the group refined their poster and presented it at the 2025 Wayne State University School of Medicine Medical Student Research Symposium, where it received second place recognition.
Managing student loans can limit practitioners who wish to start their own practices, and discourages students from pursuing essential but lower paying fields including pediatrics and family medicine. By adding an Ilitch School M.B.A. to the traditional medical training, physicians graduating from this program have the financial literacy necessary to advance their professional and personal lives.
Students who wish to enroll in the M.D./M.B.A. program and receive a greater ROI on a Wayne State education must commit during their first year of study. If you are preparing to enter WSU Medical School and want to participate in this program, contact an advisor or head to the M.D./M.B.A. joint program webpage to learn more.
-Patrick Bernas, Information Officer III
The Wayne State University Mike Ilitch School of Business prepares students for challenging and rewarding careers, advances the boundaries of scholarly and practitioner knowledge, and enhances the economic vitality of the city of Detroit, the state of Michigan and beyond through its programs, research and community engagement. Established in 1946, the business school was renamed in 2015 in recognition of a $40 million gift from Mike and Marian Ilitch. Thanks to this lead investment, the school moved to a new state-of-the-art building in the heart of the District Detroit in 2018, and academic programming and collaboration with city businesses are expanding. For more information, visit ilitchbusiness.wayne.edu.