Why I Got My MBA and My Thoughts on Whether It’s Needed in Pharma

I often get asked if you NEED another degree (in addition to an M.D.) to get a job in the pharmaceutical industry.

The short answer is NO!

Of course, when I give that answer, I realize that I’m doing so while having an M.B.A after my name… Ironic, huh?

Early in my pharma career (about a year in), my boss advocated for me to get my M.B.A. He was an M.D. and had worked his way up in pharma to a Vice President of Medical Affairs. He got his M.B.A. during his pharma career and really felt it would be advantageous for me as well.

I greatly appreciated his mentorship, advice and belief in my potential.

My reason for wanting my M.B.A. was that I had already heard from some colleagues that physicians didn’t “understand business” and I thought having those 3 letters after my name would signify my “understanding business” AND I am a forever learner and actually LIKE school! So, the opportunity to get my M.B.A. was intriguing.

Northeastern’s Executive MBA program is an eighteen month program that involves one day per week, alternating Fridays and Saturdays). It was intense and A LOT of work. Typical classes including Finance, Marketing, Operations, Supply Chain, Business Statistics, Business Law, Human Resources and Accounting were included in the curriculum. The program was team and project based so there was a lot of out of class work to be completed in addition to the days of classwork.

Before I entered the program, I was recruited to another company. I negotiated having my M.B.A. tuition covered by the new company because my former company was going to pay for the program. This was a major negotiating win because this was a $60,000 EMBA program!! (one lesson learned… always get things like this in writing! It became an issue and ultimately was resolved but definitely learned to document after that!)

My kids were 6 and 8 years old when I started the program. I spent MANY late nights after they were in bed doing homework, studying for exams and completing team projects.

Much of the formal learning I had in my EMBA program was useful, especially Accounting and Financing (I’m a BS Biology who never stepped foot in the business school in undergrad). However, you can learn a lot of these on the job as well.

My advice regarding additional degrees is the following:

• another degree is likely NOT the differentiator that will help you land your first pharma/biotech role
• the education is nice, but not necessary to be successful in pharma
• additional degrees are a MAJOR time and financial investment that must be weighed carefully
• it’s worth asking if you can get tuition reimbursement if you really want to get an additional degree (AFTER you’ve landed your role in pharma!)