A new program at the Rice University – Jones Graduate School of Business will give Rice business faculty the chance to train physicians in the necessary management skills for a successful business career.
The Rice Education in Management for Physician Trainees program (REMP) is a new 14-day certificate program aimed at developing the management skills of 32 physician trainees. Born out of a recommendation from faculty as well as academic and medical centers throughout Texas, REMP aims to teach physicians the skills outside of clinical training that they need to succeed in medicine. The program focuses on communication and leadership skills, teamwork, professionalism and systems-based management practices which will allow doctors to better handle the many challenges of the health care system which go beyond medical skill.
According to organizers, the need for the program is recognized by the Association of American Medical Colleges and other healthcare organizations, which acknowledge that the way physicians are trained has not changed significantly since 1910. Nonetheless, the healthcare industry itself is constantly changing and being faced with new challenges—many of which are business problems.
Dr. Binata Mukherjee is the Director of the Jones School’s Health Care Initiative and a driving force in initiating the program, which originated in 2015. “We realized that the medical and health care landscape has been changing,” she says. “Physicians need management education, but it is nowhere in their curriculum, (either) in medical school or residency or afterward. They do not have a formal management education, but they are expected to take leadership positions. Even at the point of care delivery, the physician is a leader, whether performing a tracheostomy or putting a tube in the esophagus.”
Many in both the academic and medical community acknowledge the need for such a program and to adapt to the changing needs of the industry. Thankfully, the Jones REMP program is aimed to address many of these needs and goals.
“We need physician leaders to be in the middle of the mix so that the ever-evolving changes in health care are informed by clinical expertise,” said executive vice president and CMO at Houston Methodist. “… physicians need to be educated in the fundamentals of leadership; strategic thinking; organization behavior and design; finance; operations and change management. The REMP program has been designed to enable emerging physician leaders to obtain these skills.”