Double and triple threats: When an extra degree pays off

Sam Sadeghi’s career seems to be on a trajectory that only goes up. The electrical engineer has been working full-time in his field since graduating with a bachelor’s degree from Ryerson University in 2004. He continued to work full-time while pursuing a master’s in power electronics, which he earned from Ryerson in 2008. The only time he didn’t work was when he took a four-month leave in 2009 to take core courses for his master’s in business administration at Wilfrid Laurier University.

... A clash of cultures is at the heart of another combined degree option: the M.D./M.B.A. Medical school is arduous enough, so those who choose to add business studies on top of it are a “self-selecting group of high achievers,” says Vedat Verter, director of the M.D.-M.B.A. program at McGill University. And, although total tuition is well over $100,000 for out-of-province students, medical students accept that their career requires a big start-up investment. The financial payoff is a small part of the decision-making process, Verter says, since the majority of students go on to practise a medical speciality and make a healthy income doing so.

... Sam Waserman is a high achiever hoping to marry his medical and business skills. He had a double major as an undergrad in life science and economics, and holds a master’s in international health policy and management. Now, he’s beginning his fourth year of the five-year M.D.-M.B.A. program at McGill. He’s planning to practise medicine, and he’s confident the combination degree will put him on the right path.

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