Pamplin, VCOM Launch Co-Degree Program

Pamplin Dean Richard Sorensen>

Virginia Tech’s Pamplin College of Business and the Edward Via Virginia College of Osteopathic Medicine (VCOM) have teamed up to launch a cooperative two-degree program that allows students to earn both the Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine and Master of Business Administration.

“After medical school, many osteopathic physicians go directly into private practice for which a certain amount of business education is needed,” says Pamplin Dean Richard E. Sorensen. “A business education is particularly valuable for physicians seeking positions as hospital or other health-care administrators or those seeking to manage their own practice.”

Under the dual-degree program, VCOM students would complete the requirements between their third and fourth years of medical school. “We may later offer students an option to complete the MBA before starting medical school,” Sorensen says.

Steve Skripak, Pamplin associate dean of graduate programs, says the program expects to admit three to five VCOM students a year, to be selected jointly by VCOM and MBA administrators. Admitted students must meet academic benchmarks for admission to the dual-degree program, he says, and would have passed their first round of medical board exams. Students would take a combination of existing MBA courses, new hospital administration courses to be created by VCOM, and free electives from either courses in the Pamplin College or from within an approved set of VCOM courses.

(From press release.)