MD/MBA Programs: Dual Degree List and Admissions
Compare MD/MBA programs, 5-year timelines, AMCAS rules, and career paths. See official AAMC dual-degree data and practice a leadership interview question.
MD/MBA programs combine a Doctor of Medicine and a Master of Business Administration into a single track that typically takes five years to complete, according to the AAMC. About 9% of medical students pursue dual degrees per AAMC enrollment data reported in AAMCNews on July 2, 2025, and most MD/MBA students apply to the business school during their second year of medical school. Sources: AAMC: Considering a Combined Degree: MD-PhD, MD-MBA, MD-MPH, MD-JD, AAMCNews: More medical students want more than an MD (July 2, 2025), AAMC: 2027 AMCAS Applicant Guide. Last checked November 3, 2026.
What is an MD/MBA program and who is it for?
An MD/MBA dual-degree program pairs clinical medical school training with a business curriculum covering economics, finance and marketing strategy. The AAMC notes that physicians regularly make business decisions, from choosing diagnostic tests and checking what treatments insurance covers to growing a medical practice and deciding whether a clinic can afford a new machine.
According to AAMC enrollment data, about 9% of medical students pursue dual degrees. An earlier benchmark, the AAMC's 2018 Graduation Questionnaire showed about 90% of medical students earning a traditional MD, 3% earning an MD-PhD, and the remaining earning a degree from another joint MD degree program.
To practice explaining why you want both degrees out loud, Confetto, an AI mock interviewer for medical school and other healthcare program interviews (MMI, traditional, panel), runs realistic interviews with follow-up questions on your own application. Start your free week.
Because medical school seats are scarce, you still need a strong clinical application first. For context on overall selectivity, see our guide on what percent of med school applicants get in, or compare clinical tracks in our MD vs DO and PA vs MD guides.
| Program | Typical combined length | When you typically apply or start the second degree | Additional test listed by AAMC |
|---|---|---|---|
| MD-MBA | 5 years | Indicate interest upon MD acceptance or on AMCAS, typically apply to business school in Year 2 of medical school (some complete Year 1 of the MBA before medical school) | MCAT, plus GRE or GMAT depending on business school requirements |
| MD-MPH | 5 years | Apply while applying to medical school, after MD acceptance, or after Year 2. Begin MPH coursework after Year 1 or Year 2 | MCAT, plus any exam required by the school (confirm on the school's admissions page) |
| MD-JD | 6 years | Apply to law school separately during Year 2 of the MD program. Pursue a JD during the third and fourth years, and complete remaining MD and JD coursework during the fifth and sixth years | LSAT (offered multiple times a year) |
| MD-PhD | Seven to eight years | Apply with AMCAS using the Combined MD-PhD Program type and two additional essays | MCAT, plus other tests if required by the school |
How long is an MD/MBA program and how is it scheduled?
According to the AAMC, the combined length of an MD/MBA program is typically five years. Earning the four-year MD and a traditional two-year master's degree together saves one year when schools share overlapping credits between the two curricula.
Medical and business schools schedule those five years in two main ways, per the AAMC's combined-degree guide and AAMCNews:
- Year off after third year (most common dual-degree structure): You complete your first three years of medical school, take a year off from medical school after your third year to earn your master's degree, and return to medical school for your final year. At the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California, MD/MBA students follow this path with some overlapping credits for both degrees and some overlapping time in the fall of their final year because the MBA takes a bit longer to complete.
- First year of the MBA before medical school: Some students complete the first year of the MBA program prior to beginning medical school, and then complete a traditional medical school program.
Named schools offering MD/MBA and management pathways
In 2023, several medical schools formed the Medical Education Dual Degree Consortium to consolidate information on existing dual-degree programs and study how they support students. A 2024 study of 19 medical schools offering MD-master's programs found that schools build these tracks to expand student skill sets beyond an MD, foster interdisciplinary collaboration, expand career goals, develop leaders and further the school's mission.
Below are the specific medical schools and dual-degree management pathways detailed in AAMCNews. By our calculation from AAMCNews, dual-degree enrollment at the Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine's Minnesota campus (16%) is nearly 1.8 times the 9% national average.
| Medical school | Program timing and enrollment | GMAT/GRE and business school admission | Interviews and advising focus |
|---|---|---|---|
| University of Miami Miller School of Medicine | MD-MBA enrollment has tripled in recent years to as many as 30 MD-MBA students in each class (per Gauri Agarwal, MD, associate dean of curriculum). Standard AAMC combined length is 5 years. | Gain admission to the business school separately. GRE or GMAT may be required in addition to the MCAT depending on business school requirements. | Advises students preparing for complex health systems, private practice management, or leadership roles such as CEO of a health system. |
| Keck School of Medicine of USC | Offers an MD-MBA dual degree (per Ron Ben-Ari, MD, senior associate dean for medical education). Students take a year off after their third year, with overlapping credits and overlapping time in the fall of the final year. | Gain admission to the business school separately (typically applying in Year 2 per AAMC). GRE or GMAT depends on business school requirements. | Advises that an MBA shows a student is driven and accomplished, and helps students plan how to apply the degree beyond residency. |
| Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine (Minnesota and Arizona campuses) | At the Minnesota campus, about 16% of students enroll in dual-degree programs. Arizona campus offers several dual degrees in partnership with Arizona State University. | Separate admission to the partner graduate or business program. Check partner institution requirements for GRE or GMAT policies. | Faculty and enrichment directors press applicants on why they want the second degree to ensure they have a plan and are not doing it just to add more letters after their names. |
| Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons | Offers dual degrees including MD-MBA advising (per Salila Kurra, MD, associate dean for student career development, and Monica Lypson, MD, MPH, vice dean for medical education). | Gain admission to the business school separately (typically in Year 2 per AAMC). GRE or GMAT depends on business school requirements. | Advisors ask practicing clinician candidates why they are thinking about getting an MBA or MPH and require a coherent 10- or 15-year plan. |
| Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long School of Medicine at UT Health San Antonio | Offers dual degrees managed by Stephanie Gutierrez, MEd, founding chair of the Medical Education Dual Degree Consortium (created in 2023). | Separate admission to the graduate or business program. Check program requirements for GRE or GMAT rules. | In advising conversations, asks whether students see themselves as a chief medical officer or department chief needing skills in making budgets, human resources and overseeing staff. |
How and when to apply: AMCAS, Year 2 applications and GMAT/GRE rules
Most MD/MBA students do not apply to both schools at the same time before freshman year. According to the AAMC, students can indicate their interest in the MD/MBA joint degree upon being accepted to medical school, or on their initial AMCAS application, but they typically do not apply to the business program until their second year as a medical student.
You must gain admission to the school of business separately. In addition to the MCAT exam, MD/MBA students may be required to complete the GRE or GMAT depending on the business school's requirements. Confirm the exact testing and waiver policy on each partner business school's admissions page before you register for a second exam.
If you are starting your primary medical school application now, pair the steps below with our medical school application timeline.
- 1. Select the right AMCAS program type: In the Medical Schools section of the 2027 AMCAS application (which opens May 5, 2026), selecting the 'Combined MD Degree-Graduate Program' type notifies the school's Regular MD Program that you are interested in applying to one of its combined MD-graduate programs, either alone or in combination with the Regular MD Program. You will then be asked to indicate the specific combined program.
- 2. Know how to change your program type post-submission: Unlike MD-PhD applicants, who must write two extra essays (a 3,000-character MD-PhD Essay and a 10,000-character Significant Research Experience Essay), Combined MD Degree-Graduate applicants only submit the standard 5,300-character Personal Comments Essay on AMCAS. If you submit under Regular MD and change your mind before the school's deadline passes, select Update Application in AMCAS, go to Medical Schools, change the program type, and select Resubmit Application and recertify. Updating your program type does not delay processing or add a fee unless you add new schools.
- 3. Self-report GMAT or GRE scores under Other Tests: If you have already taken the GMAT or GRE, enter those scores in the Standardized Tests section of AMCAS under 'Other Tests' (if a test has multiple sections, enter each section individually). Select 'None' if you have no other exams to report. Do not send official GMAT or GRE score reports to AMCAS, because AMCAS does not verify non-MCAT test scores.
- 4. Classify prior business and dual-degree coursework accurately: When entering transcripts in the AMCAS Coursework section, classify Accounting, Finance, Human Resources Studies, Management, Marketing and Organizational Studies under Business (BUSI), and Economics under Behavioral and Social Sciences (BESS). Both count toward your All Other (AO) GPA, not your BCPM science GPA. If you previously enrolled in a dual-degree program where graduate coursework counted toward both your undergraduate and graduate degrees, AMCAS requires you to list that coursework twice, once with the appropriate undergraduate status and once with graduate (GR) status.
What you can do with an MD/MBA, and whether it helps in the Match
Graduates from MD/MBA programs work across clinical leadership, corporate healthcare and private practice. According to the AAMC's combined-degree guide and AAMCNews, specific career paths include:
- Health system and hospital leadership: CEO of a health system, chief medical officer (CMO), department chief, or hospital administration management, where physicians make budgets, work with human resources and oversee staff.
- Private practice management: Growing a medical practice, managing staff, understanding which treatments insurance covers, and determining whether a practice can afford new machines.
- Industry, policy and biotech: Management roles in pharmaceutical or insurance companies, health care policy research, or medical device entrepreneurship with biotech companies.
Does an MD/MBA make you more competitive for residency?
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According to AAMCNews, a lot of students pursue a second degree in hopes of improving their credentials for their preferred residency matches, and the 2024 study of 19 medical schools noted 'enhancement of competitiveness for residency application' as one reason schools offer dual degrees. However, medical school deans are divided, and match outcomes data does not show an automatic edge.
In AAMCNews, one comparison of match outcomes between traditional MD and dual-degree applicants found that combined MD programs 'do not appear to increase applicant match competitivity' (the study authors noted that their database did not track whether secondary degrees were earned before, during, or after the MD curriculum). As Ron Ben-Ari, MD, senior associate dean for medical education at the Keck School of Medicine of USC, explained to AAMCNews, an MBA shows that a student is driven and accomplished, but scholarship and research are often more attractive to residency directors because it is less clear how you will apply an MBA during residency.
The takeaway for your interviews: never pitch an MBA as a residency resume booster. Frame it around a coherent 10- or 15-year plan for the system, budget or clinical operations problems you want to solve in your career.
How to prepare for MD and MBA dual-degree interviews
Whether you are answering questions about your dual-degree interest in a medical school interview or sitting for your separate business school admission interview in Year 2, AAMCNews reports that those who oversee dual-degree programs press students to think about why they want the second degree. At Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine, Monica Harbell, MD, notes that faculty check that applicants have a clear plan for the second degree and are not doing it 'just to add more letters' after their names.
At Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, Salila Kurra, MD, associate dean for student career development, tells students who want to be practicing clinicians to expect this exact question: 'Why are you thinking about getting an MBA or an MPH? Where do you see yourself in the future? You need a coherent 10- or 15-year plan.'
Use this four-part checklist (written by our team from AAMC advising guidance) to build your coherent 10- or 15-year plan before you interview, and review our guide to the most common medical school interview questions for the rest of your prep:
- 1. Name your clinical specialty or setting first: State the kind of patients you want to care for so neither committee doubts your commitment to clinical medicine.
- 2. Point to one operational problem you have actually seen: Describe a real bottleneck from your shadowing, scribing or work experience, such as clinic scheduling, equipment budgeting or insurance prior authorizations.
- 3. Name the exact MBA skills you need to fix it: Connect that bottleneck to core MBA subjects from the AAMC curriculum list (economics, finance, marketing strategy, making budgets, human resources, or staff leadership).
- 4. State your 10- or 15-year plan and target role: Name a concrete target role, such as chief medical officer, department chief, health system CEO, practice owner or medical device founder, and explain why taking a dedicated business year in medical school prepares you better than waiting until mid-career.
Practice question
You say you want to be a practicing physician. Why are you thinking about getting an MBA, and what is your 10- or 15-year plan?
See an example answer
I want to practice general internal medicine and eventually serve as a department chief or chief medical officer at an urban safety-net hospital. For the past two years I worked as a medical assistant in a three-physician primary care clinic. Our biggest daily problem was not clinical knowledge. It was that our diabetic patients kept missing follow-up visits because our scheduling template and staffing budget left no room for evening hours, and we did not know how to calculate whether extending clinic hours would pay for itself through reduced no-shows. An MD will teach me how to manage a patient's A1C, but I need formal training in finance, budgeting and human resources to run the department that delivers that care. My 10- or 15-year plan is to split my week between seeing primary care patients and managing clinical operations and budgets for an internal medicine department, so that workflow and staffing decisions are made by someone who still works in the exam room. (Example answer written by our team. The applicant is invented.)
It answers Columbia Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons associate dean Salila Kurra's exact 10- or 15-year plan question directly: it commits to clinical practice first, points to a specific operational bottleneck from real clinic work, names the exact MBA skills needed (finance, budgeting, human resources), and defines a concrete leadership role. To rehearse both your medical and MBA interview answers out loud, start your free week on Confetto.
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take to get an MD/MBA?
An MD/MBA dual-degree program typically takes five years to complete, according to the AAMC. Most students take a year off from medical school after their third year to complete their business coursework and then return for their final year of medical school, while others complete the first year of the MBA before starting medical school.
When do you apply to an MD/MBA program?
You can indicate your interest in a Combined MD Degree-Graduate Program on your AMCAS application or upon being accepted to medical school, per the AAMC. However, students typically submit their formal application to the business school during their second year of medical school.
Do MD/MBA programs require the GMAT or GRE?
In addition to the MCAT, MD/MBA applicants must gain admission to the business school and may be required to take the GMAT or GRE depending on the specific business school's requirements. If you take the GMAT or GRE before applying to medical school, you can self-report your score under 'Other Tests' on the AMCAS application, though AMCAS does not verify non-MCAT scores.
What percentage of medical students pursue a dual degree?
About 9% of medical students pursue dual degrees, according to AAMC enrollment data. At some schools the share is higher, such as the Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine's Minnesota campus, where about 16% of students enroll in dual-degree programs.
Does an MD/MBA help you match into a competitive residency?
Not automatically. While some schools view dual degrees as a way to enhance residency applications, a comparison of match outcomes cited by AAMCNews found that combined MD programs do not appear to increase applicant match competitiveness.