Peer Learning & Networking

A Fresh Physician Network

Each year, the Kelley School of Business Physician MBA enrolls new students from across the country. Cohorts include physicians from diverse specialties, practice environments, cultural backgrounds and healthcare delivery models. Through careful selection of student candidates, our program ensures rich conversation and a variety of peer learning opportunities that our students often regard as one of the greatest benefits of the MBA experience. Not only do you learn alongside your own class of students, you connect with other Physician MBA cohorts and alumni, expanding your physician network to hundreds of healthcare leaders.

Getting together with your cohort of physicians made a world of difference. We loved seeing each other, we had a lot of fun, and we worked hard during those weekends. You looked forward to this environment of connecting with your peers, socializing, and learning something in person from the faculty. I really enjoyed my cohort.
Giridhar Chilukuri, MD, MBA’19 | Regional VP of Health Services for Humana

The Physician Learning Style

To increase long-term knowledge retention for practicing physicians earning CME credits, studies have shown it’s important to understand the physician learning style. This circular learning model follows these steps:

Recognize what physicians already know
Introduce new knowledge
Apply that knowledge
Reflect on the new learnings before continuing the cycle again

Kelley professors innately understand this learning style, which is at the center of this program’s delivery model. Physicians first learn material online, reconciling new information with what they already know. When you arrive in Indianapolis for quarterly in-person class sessions, you'll apply what you’ve learned alongside your peers, enriching the conversation with diverse viewpoints and experiences. At the end of the in-class learning period, you'll return home to your practice reflecting on what you've learned before starting the next learning module.

Learning together.

Peer learning is so central to the Physician MBA Program that group work and connection with other students is embedded in the class structure. Each physician is assigned to a team of five students, specifically chosen to work together for six months. By working alongside peers to complete team projects, physicians improve their capabilities in collaboration and leadership. As they rotate through the roles of presenter, data researcher, analyst and presentation preparer, physicians strengthen their ability to lead, listen and contribute in new ways.

Each six months throughout the program, these teams will change, affording students the opportunity to build new leadership skills, expand their networks and gain new sounding boards among their peers. By the end of this program, physicians graduate with not only an MBA but also lifelong friendships and a strong peer support network.