The newest MBA class represents a range of backgrounds and experience—from business, science, the humanities, and military backgrounds (including a nuclear submarine captain). Enter Taleef Khan and Ramin Lalezari: both students in Washington University’s rigorous MBA and medical school programs. What’s it like to juggle the workload of two such demanding degrees? Washington University MD/MBA students Taleef Khan and Ramin Lalezari provide some insight into this unique post-grad experience:
What kind of coursework can students expect when earning a MD/MBA at WashU?
Taleef: The MD coursework is broken into two pre-clinical years and two clinical years. The first two years are lecture-based with an emphasis on learning the fundamentals of medicine. The third year is dedicated to applying those basics in the hospital through a number of core rotations ranging from surgery to internal medicine to psychiatry. The final year is a fully elective year in which students can sharpen their skills in the hospital before focusing their training to their specialty of choice as residents. The MBA, on the other hand, uses the first semester to focus on the fundamentals of business. The remaining semesters are elective, and students can choose which area of business they would like to focus on. The elective time allows students to explore coursework such as healthcare management, which is a particular interest of mine.
What is it like to be an MD/MBA student?
Ramin: It’s been really exciting to add a brand new dimension to the didactic and rotational studies I’ve done the last three years in medical school. Being able to understand the background procedures involved in the complex “supply-web” of health care is invaluable, and I’m enjoying the exposure to all its pieces.
Taleef: Being an MD/MBA student is thrilling because it combines two things I love very much: business and medicine. The dual degree, however, can be difficult to balance at times. Going from creating a differential diagnosis for a patient to making financial projections for a company can often seem like a struggle, but in an era of increasing cost and a changing healthcare landscape, I believe it is an important skill to have. Additionally, the ability to learn from intelligent students from both schools, and their different perspectives, has helped me grow as an individual and as a leader.
What does your academic schedule look like over the next few years?
Ramin: I have completed the first three years of medical school without interruption, taking the same courses and rotations as the rest of the class. I am now taking a full, one-year leave of absence to complete the first year of business school. This fall, I am completing Olin’s core curriculum. For half of Winter Break, I will be taking a rotation in head and neck surgery. The Spring semester will be again just business school courses (this time, electives). Over the summer, I return to medical school to complete sub-internships in a chosen specialty for four months. After that, I will be taking a mix of medical school rotations and business school courses to complete the 36 required weeks of final-year medical school rotations along with the 51 units of MBA coursework.
Taleef: I have completed three years of medical school thus far and am taking a year off to focus on business school. Next year, I will be back in the hospital to finish up my final year of medical school while also fulfilling any remaining requirements for the business school. The total time required for the dual degree is 5 years.
What do you hope to do after earning both degrees?
Taleef: After earning both degrees, I plan to begin training as a surgeon. Later on in my career, I hope to use my experience as a practicing surgeon and my business degree to impact the hospital I work in from an administrative standpoint. I also hope to utilize my business degree to pursue entrepreneurial endeavors that positively impact the operating room, whether in the way of new surgical tools or medical innovations that improve patient outcomes. Lastly, if the opportunity presents itself, I would love to start my own hospital and find new ways of providing high quality healthcare at low costs.
Assuming you have any, what do you do in your free time?
Ramin: I definitely still try to enjoy myself! My roommate offered to teach me to play the guitar, so I took him up on it and have recently been working on that. I really like to cook when I can, but full disclosure: I’m still terrible at it. I’m also a bit of a movie buff.
Taleef: I did not have much free time in medical school last year, but I’ve been spending a decent amount of time this year hitting the gym and working out. It’s nice to have more free time dedicated to taking care of my own health, something I neglected to do in medical school. Additionally, I’ve been trying to learn how to code using Lynda, an online tutorial website that Olin Business School provides to all of its students. It’s a nice change of pace from my time in the medical school; however, I miss the hospital immensely.
Taleef Khan and Ramin Lalezari are both MBA candidates at Olin Business School. Stay tuned for part 2 of our Q&A series.
