The Business Side of Healthcare

Unique MBA Gives Residents an Edge

A pressing need to prepare professionals for the finance, business and management aspect of various healthcare fields is what led Dr. Antonia Kolokythas to establish a formal pathway for postdoctoral trainees to gain such skills.

“Budgetary and other business concerns are daily challenges in healthcare,” said Dr. Kolokythas, professor and chair, EIOH’s Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Residency Program. “Until now, there were no residency training programs in medicine or dentistry offering a track for trainees to formally gain these critical skills.”

As part of an Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine (ELAM) fellowship project, Dr. Kolokythas established an innovative training opportunity: an Executive Master’s in Business Administration track for residents like Dr. Kyle Mecca, who are enrolled in the OMFS program, and can complete the EBMA requirements without spending additional months or years to do so.

“The MBA program is a unique opportunity to expand my knowledge in a field that I had not studied before, but will soon become a part of my daily decision making.,” said Dr. Mecca, of Pennsylvania, who previously completed a master’s in chemistry, a GPR residency and an OMFS internship, and wants to eventually run his own practice.

With a strong interest in promoting inter-professional education and collaboration between business and healthcare professionals, Dr. Kolokythas established partnerships with the University of Rochester’s Simon School of Business and School of Medicine and Dentistry to develop the innovative program that helps bridge the gap between healthcare and business, and prepare the next generation for successful healthcare leadership.

“Thus far, I have learned fundamental tools and concepts in microeconomics, advanced decision and data analysis, business organization and strategy, marketing management, and financial accounting,” Kyle said. “I have been working with a group of other students who come from diverse backgrounds and have varying areas of expertise. Together we work through difficult business cases and problems in each of our classes.”

At first, doing both the EMBA and the OMFS residency was a bit overwhelming for Kyle, but he’s learning more than he expected.

“I quickly learned how to manage my time and create a balance between oral and maxillofacial surgery, business school and my personal life,” he said.

Dr. Kolokythas plans to expand the program to include residents in specialty programs throughout the UR Medical Center. ♦