Is an MBA worth its price?

Ever since the industry-reknowned Brakke Consulting study linking the corollary between economic acumen and income, the veterinary medical profession has been devising ways to create better small business owners. The National Commission on Veterinary Economic Issues was created, and veterinary colleges across the country are beefing up their business offerings.

Texas A&M University and Colorado State University now have five-year programs that offer DVM/MBA (master's of business administration) degrees; Iowa State Veterinary School has established a business minor in conjunction with the university's school of business, and Michigan State University College of Veterinary Medicine offers a three-week clerkship that features seminars in leadership, financial planning and human resource issues. Other colleges are re-examining their business requirements, too.

The question for most students already saddled with six-figure debt: Are these programs worth it? Will they help generate more income after graduation?

The answer depends on post-graduate aspirations, experts say. If a person plans to join the business world in lieu of a veterinary medical career, an MBA likely will help garner a sizable salary and a diversity of positions. But if you want to be a doctor, your best bet might be to do just that. Become a doctor.

"Starting salaries for a DVM/MBA as a veterinary clinician will be the same as any other new graduate because they don't have any veterinary experience, confidence and skills that go with being a clinician," says Jim Wilson, DVM, JD, partner with Priority Veterinary Management Consultants in Yardley, Pa. "The combination program retards a person's familiarity and comfort as a veterinarian. It puts medicine off for a year, at least, before they start functioning as a veterinarian and probably will do very little in their first year as a veterinary clinician."

When to start

Wilson is also faculty adviser to the Veterinary Business Management Association's (VBMA) chapter at University of Pennsylvania (Penn), which launched the program earlier this year. VBMA is a student-run collaboration that hosts speakers, offers networking opportunities and provides a forum for ideas and advice. Currently, 16 of the country's 28 veterinary institutions host student chapters. He also teaches classes in conjunction with the VBMA Business Certificate, which replaced the veterinary college's formal ties with the Wharton Business School.

The practical experience that can be earned in less-formal programs allows students and fledgling practitioners to concentrate on medicine while still putting business processes in perspective instead of learning business theory out of the context of practice.

"There are a bunch of MBA programs that will not accept applicants unless they have had four to five years of experience in the business world, and there is a very focused reason for that: You just don't have the immersion in the real world before you try to learn the academic business world," Wilson says. "It might be harder for your career to break it up with several years as a veterinarian and then the completion of an MBA program when you are older, but they will get a lot more out of the program."

Step-by-step

The best way to ramp-up your business acumen early might be at the myriad of practice management sessions at continuing education (CE) venues, such as national trade shows and academic events. Smaller, regional meetings offer similar content, too, and professional associations such as the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) have a calendar of continuing education that is regionally based, says Dr. Richard Goebel, professor at the Purdue University School of Veterinary Medicine and co-founder of the Veterinary Management Institute, an executive program in conjunction with Purdue's Krannert School of Management and AAHA.

"I encourage students to go to good-quality education meetings after graduation," Goebel says. "They've been steeped in medicine and surgery, and they know that pretty well, so in their first years of continuing education, their greatest needs are actually how to be successful in the business of veterinary medicine, so they should be plugging into CE right away.

"I'm biased for the AAHA programs; I think they are very good, but certainly others are very good, too. And I encourage them to read DVM Newsmagazine, Veterinary Economics and Trends magazines, and after they get a little experience under their belts, then plug into VMI."

Tailored business approach

AAHA's Veterinary Management Institute (VMI) consists of four integrated management modules, each comprising three days of instruction. Participants receive pre-session reading materials and assignments to complete prior to their arrival on campus. One module (18 class hours) is devoted to each of four management disciplines:

• Human resource management

• Financial management

• Strategic thinking

• Marketing management

The advantage to VMI, Wilson says, is that professors and lecturers are well versed in veterinary practice issues. The classes are specifically catered to small business owners who practice veterinary medicine, which is a glaring omission from a traditional MBA program.

"MBA programs typically focus on companies that start at $100 million a year or even $1 billion," Wilson says. "They don't have a good grasp for $600,000-to $2-million-a-year veterinary small businesses, which is about the average."

Penn's veterinary school scrapped its joint DVM/MBA program so it can cater the curriculum for veterinarians. The transition came a few years ago when it became apparent that the Wharton School of Business, one of the pre-eminent business colleges in the country, was unable or unwilling to break the mold that garnered the school its success. The VBMA Business Certificate offers 40 to 45 hours of additional course time in business-related subjects.

"Those students are far better prepared for the early stages of their veterinary careers as clinicians, and the hope would be that because of the advanced education that is practical and focused, more veterinary new grads will learn a lot more, and they might go back for their MBAs several years later," Wilson says.

Working at a successful practice can be good preparation, too. According to the Brakke study, those who work in financially successful practices are more highly compensated than those who don't, Goebel says.

"I also encourage them to try to pick a successful employer," he says. "It's your own best financial interest to do that, but you also (should) have a good business mentor, and by the time you become a partner or move on to your own practice, you'll have the skills and background needed to be successful."

Non-medical careers

Although aspiring practitioners might not benefit immediately from an MBA before their first jobs, many positions in the veterinary business world encourage or demand a business degree.

"Most of the people who complete their MBAs simultaneously end up being attracted into the corporate business world, which might be connected to medicine or the veterinary profession or animal care-giving profession, but there is much bigger money in other market segments," Wilson says.

MBA degrees allow students to immerse themselves in sales, marketing, public relations and product development, so skills can be segued to veterinary business as well as other medical industries. The decision to pursue advanced business degrees largely depends on immediate career goals and long-term aspirations.

"If you want to be a veterinarian and then go on to be a successful veterinary business owner, then graduate from vet school and go learn how to be a good veterinarian, and then go back for your MBA," Wilson says. "If you want to go into veterinary or medical business as a career goal, then do it simultaneously."