Buffalo Business - Autumn 2016

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The business of health

By Matthew Biddle

From left: dual-degree students Jasmin Dhanjal, DDS/MBA ’18; Conrad Gleber, MD/MBA ’17; Laura Bielecki, PharmD/MBA ’18; Bisi Aiyelabowo, PharmD/MBA ’17; Russell Van Coevering, MD/MBA ’17; and Ishita Mehta, PharmD/MBA ’17. Photo: Tom Wolf

With the health care industry facing an uphill battle to curb costs and improve efficiency, the School of Management has strategically focused on this changing field with a robust and growing portfolio of programs and partnerships in health care management.

  • Dual and collaborative MBA/health-related degrees: UB graduate students in medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, social work, public health and audiology may pair their health-related program with an MBA to master the business of their field. In partnership with the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, the school offers a five-year program leading to a bachelor's in biomedical engineering and MBA.
  • MBA health care management concentration: Full-time and Professional MBA students prepare to lead health care organizations, with courses in such areas as health policy, law, information systems, strategy and organization.
  • Accelerated MBA for medical residents: Residents in a Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences program can complete an MBA in three semesters, simultaneously advancing the clinical and management skills needed to lead a practice, take an administrative role and understand the business of medicine.
  • Executive MBA: An increasing number of physicians earn their MBA through the Executive MBA program, which provides a format that fits their busy schedules, intensive leadership development and an environment in which to learn best practices from faculty, fellow clinicians and others from diverse industries.
  • Non-credit-bearing program: Now in its second year, the Executive Development in Health Care Management certificate program gives clinicians a broad base of business skills in negotiation, team leadership, operations management, finance, change management and other areas.
  • Faculty research: School of Management faculty conduct research to identify ways to improve health care supply chains, information technology, marketing, operations and more, with colleagues across the nation and from health-related fields.

"To change our health care system, we need an integrated, interdisciplinary set of solutions, at a level that influences policy, practice and designs," says Dean Paul Tesluk. "I aspire for the School of Management to have an active role in leading those discoveries."