A typical day for Lisa Saul, MD, MBA’17, begins with meetings with co-workers and seeing patients one on one.
Today, she is in Washington, DC—heading first to the Federal Trade Commission, then to the Congressional Budget Office. Yesterday, she and 25 other Kelley Physician MBA students traveled to the U.S. Capitol, where they heard from the Honorable Cliff Stearns, a senior advisor at APCO Worldwide and former U.S. Representative for Florida’s 6th congressional district (1989-2013).
These mid-career physicians, who have gone back to school to receive MBAs, are learning their voices can—and should—be heard.
“As physicians, we are trained to deal with patients on a one-to-one level,” said Dr. Saul, who is an OB-GYN in Minneapolis. “Being here this week has given me invaluable insight into how I can impact several thousand patients at one time, in ways I never considered before. I’ve also gained perspective into how physicians can collaborate with each other to effect change, which I don’t think we really think about in terms of public policy and lawmaking.”
This healthcare policy course is a week-long immersion into health policy and regulations, unique to the Business of Medicine Physician MBA Program through the Indiana University Kelley School of Business. It gives physician MBAs a deeper understanding of the regulatory process, as physicians discuss healthcare policy with policy makers and regulators in Washington, DC. The program is put on with partner The Washington Campus, a non-partisan, higher education consortium based in DC.