The University of Maryland Robert H. Smith School of Business and UMD’s School of Medicine Partner to Expand Business Education Opportunities for Medical Students and Faculty

With rapid technological changes and growing financial and management challenges in today’s healthcare industry, physicians and hospital executives will increasingly require business, entrepreneurial management and analytical skills to navigate the new landscape of medicine and patient care.

To meet this need among aspiring physicians and healthcare leaders who want an accelerated schedule, the University of Maryland’s School of Medicine (UMSOM) and Robert H. Smith School of Business have created the new MD/FlexMBA Dual Degree program. It will enable a joint medical and business degree in five years. Coursework for the Stem Designated Part-Time FlexMBA caters to the busy schedules of healthcare professionals and medical students by offering hybrid learning that includes online and on-campus options.  

“We are seeing an unprecedented revolution in healthcare that is being driven by biomedical innovation, the digitization of medical records and advances in artificial intelligence,” says Mark T. Gladwin, MD, the John Z. and Akiko K. Bowers Distinguished Professor and Dean, University of Maryland School of Medicine, and Vice President for Medical Affairs, University of Maryland, Baltimore “It has never been more critical for those in medicine to understand management, finance and quantitative analysis in order to succeed in practice and provide the best patient care, now and in the future. With the MD/FlexMBA we can provide ideal preparation for this, and with a fast-track schedule of completion.”

An MBA from the Robert H. Smith School of Business provides future physicians with the knowledge and skills needed to manage complex administrative systems, and to oversee core business fundamentals like accounting, finance, and operations management. It also helps the next generation of healthcare leaders successfully navigate innovations around medical technology and information systems, while driving the improvement of patient care.

“In today’s environment, excellent patient outcomes also depend on the financial well-being of both patients and providers,” says Smith School Dean Prabhudev Konana. “Physicians with business acumen are better equipped to create innovative solutions for the benefit of their patients.”

The MD/FlexMBA is designed to be completed in five years, with the MD curriculum spread over four. Fifty-four credits of MBA coursework are required, with 12 elective credits taken as part of the MD degree counting toward the MBA. For the most part, the MBA courses will be taken in person during the day at College Park or in the evenings at Smith’s Baltimore campus. Some courses can be taken virtually in the evening. 

Dean Gladwin says, “with new advances  in molecular medicine, we are prioritizing support for entrepreneurial activity that allows our physician-scientists to take these new discoveries to the marketplace.” He adds, “we look forward to collaborating with the Smith School and Dean Konana in preparing our faculty and providing scholarships to preeminent students who otherwise would not have been able to pursue this degree.” 

Three outstanding students admitted to the program will each receive the Deans’ MD/MBA Scholarship award of $32,000. In addition, the Smith School will offer a limited number of merit-based awards ranging from $15,000 to $25,000 to additional exceptional students in the program.

Smith and the School of Medicine are also teaming up to offer the Deans’ Physician Business-Leaders Scholar Award to outstanding SOM faculty who are ready to pursue an MBA. Up to three faculty members selected by an SOM Dean’s review committee will receive $31,000. The FlexMBA can be earned in as little as 24 months. 

Dean Konana says, “the Smith School is honored to embark on this journey with Dean Gladwin and the School of Medicine toward creating the physician-business leaders of the future.”

These interdisciplinary efforts are in line with the Smith School’s guiding principle, “Everybody’s Business,” which is based on the idea that knowledge of business principles and practice makes all University of Maryland students more productive and effective. It also reflects the tenets of UMSOM’s Renaissance Curriculum, which aims to prepare future physicians who are clinically excellent and possess humanism, professionalism, scholarship, leadership, critical thinking, and attention to social justice and diversity.

Read more about the graduate and undergraduate programs at the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business. 

Read more about the Renaissance Curriculum at UMSOM. 

About the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business

Located eight miles from Washington, D.C., 35 miles from Baltimore, and situated inside the Capital Beltway, the Robert H. Smith School of Business is a recognized leader in management education and research. One of 12 colleges and schools at the University of Maryland in College Park, the Smith School is plugged into the business, government, nonprofit and professional networks of the Baltimore-Washington, D.C., metroplex. We offer undergraduate, online and on-campus business master’s, full-time, part-time, online and executive MBA, PhD and DBA degree programs, graduate certificates, and non-degree and executive education programs. Visit rhsmith.umd.edu

About the University of Maryland School of Medicine

Now in its third century, the University of Maryland School of Medicine was chartered in 1807 as the first public medical school in the United States. It continues today as one of the fastest growing, top-tier biomedical research enterprises in the world -- with 46 academic departments, centers, institutes, and programs, and a faculty of more than 3,000 physicians, scientists, and allied health professionals, including members of the National Academy of Medicine and the National Academy of Sciences, and a distinguished two-time winner of the Albert E. Lasker Award in Medical Research. Visit medschool.umaryland.edu