While physicians serving in leadership roles is nothing new, the demands of physician leadership and the medical field overall have shifted significantly over the last several years.
Regis DeSilva, MD, a cardiologist and associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School in Boston, told Becker’s that the medical field today demands more from physicians than what is traditionally taught in medical schools.
“Getting an MD alone is practically worthless in today’s [leadership] environment,” he said. “The reason for that is that it’s been taken over by MBAs and business people, and they don’t pay any attention to garden-variety MDs.”
Dr. DeSilva, who also has a master’s degree in public administration from Harvard, said that younger physicians should strongly consider getting a second degree or other additional qualification, specifically in anything related to executive leadership or business.
“Even if it’s an online MBA, it counts for more than an MD today, because [MBAs] are the decision makers,” he said. He added that his own masters degree, which focused on public administration and health, carries less value in the healthcare world than a business degree.
He added that, since the 1980s, he has witnessed firsthand the shift in medicine toward leadership with more of a business background.
According to 2022 data from consulting firm Mercer, 33% of CEOs of standalone hospitals have an MD, compared with 44% of teaching standalone hospitals. Additionally, 38% of CEOS of health systems have an MD, compared to 37% of teaching systems.
While C-suite roles often promise significantly higher compensation, Dr. DeSilva said that most physicians are more deeply satisfied by their roles working directly with patients. Even if they are interested in executive roles, many still need both the training and the shift in mindset necessary to take on the business of medicine.
“There just aren’t enough doctors around with the training to take up leadership positions, and the people who take up these positions, in many cases in smaller hospitals and medical centers, don’t have the right kind of training,” he said. “I think we are valued in terms of intellect, but we don’t have any skills. We are good at what we do — we are also naive. We think that by being truthful and telling it like it is, [we’re doing the right thing] …. But that’s not the way the business community operates. And we’re beginning to learn that now.