In recognition of the critical need for leaders educated in the intellectual disciplines and practices of medicine and management, Harvard Medical School (HMS) and Harvard Business School (HBS) established the MD/MBA program and enrolled its first students in the fall of 2005.

The program's mission is to develop outstanding physician leaders, skilled in both medicine and management, to take positions of influence through which they will contribute substantially to the health and well-being of individuals and society.

Participants are strongly encouraged to enter and complete a medical residency, or other kind of postgraduate clinical training, upon graduation from the joint degree program. MD/MBA graduates are expected to provide the informed leadership necessary for innovation and progress at the intersection of medicine and business. The opportunity to combine these disciplines drives the enthusiasm of faculty and the ambitions of degree candidates.