Ms. Anesthesiologist

Hi, it’s Nisha with mbaMission. It’s not often that I get to evaluate the profile of a physician, but I have worked with physicians who have successfully applied to business school, so it certainly is possible!

What schools will want to understand, though, is: what is your motivation for pursuing an MBA now, when you’re relatively early in your medicine career? You mentioned starting your own pain clinic – what are the experiences/observations that have motivated you to consider this career path?

In addition, while MBA programs admire entrepreneurial ambitions, they also recognize that it can be difficult to establish your own venture right after graduating from business school. Therefore, you’ll want to think about what type of role you could take post-MBA that would enable you to lay the groundwork/gain the skills for starting your own clinic in the future. Also, going back to timing of the MBA: you may be in a more informed position to make the most of the MBA if you get a couple more years of experience in the medical field before applying (and, you may be able to build stronger relationships with potential recommenders in this time period as well).

Regarding your competitiveness for these programs – Booth is big on test scores, so you’ll want to get your GRE closer to the schools’ averages (about mid-160s in each section). That is another reason why it may benefit you to wait another 1-2 years to apply to school, so you don’t have to rush through the exam preparation and solidify your post-MBA career goals at the same time. I hope that this helps a bit – best of luck!