What is the advantage of earning a Master of Health Care Innovation (MHCI) degree from Penn rather than an MBA? This is among the most frequent questions prospective students ask our advisors.

To provide an answer rooted in experience, we talked to some MHCI alumni who have also earned MBAs. The main differentiators they cited are the MHCI’s focus on health care, the immediate applicability of what they learn in class, and its close interprofessional community.

Emad Abdelnaby, MBA, MHCI ’23, and senior vice president of Legend Biotech, describes the MHCI as “much more specialized” than an MBA, “focused on health care, the interconnectedness of health care systems, how to optimize the delivery of care, and how to improve—hopefully—outcomes, as well as how to tackle health inequities.”

TOG Network Solutions Vice President Nicholas Felici, MBA, MHCI ’20 agrees. The MHCI helps students become subject matter experts, he says. It is “a degree for when you want to learn about the inner workings of health care. Everything from clinical to business, and related.”

On the other hand, continues Felici, an “MBA is a more broad-focused degree that covers general business principles.” You learn “what type of things you need to be to be successful in a business that is not specific to health care.” And while there are health care concentrations—Felici’s own was focused on health care sector management, which he pursued in his final semester at Duke—an MBA may be more applicable if “you don't see yourself in health care for your entire career.”

Learn more about the MHCI’s interdisciplinary curriculum and the courses you will take as a student in the program.

One of the MHCI’s most valuable strengths, says Robin Dubin, MBA, MHCI ’24, and founder of the patient advocacy organization AliveAndKickn, is that it is “extremely adaptable to the work you do."

"I'm directly applying the work I did in in all my different classes,” she says, “to the projects I'm working on now. And that is just a huge advantage.” Dubin’s MHCI experience, together with work done by a fellow alumna, has led to a new initiative focused on supporting families through a loved one’s cancer diagnosis—and helping patients with genetic predispositions to cancer communicate what preventive and diagnostic steps their families need to take.

The project draws on coursework in behavioral economics, operations management, and innovation methodologies like human-centered design. Dubin is “taking the work that we did in our classes and applying it to a new project that I am going to be hopefully launching in the world,” she says.

Linda Montgomery, MBA, MHCI ’22, and principal national account executive at Genentech, sums up the distinction this way: what students learn in an MBA is important and applicable, but the “MHCI is an active degree.” Innovation is “a verb that we are trying to apply.” Learn more about how MHCI students have applied their learning to craft innovative solutions to complex workplace challenges.

Networking is an essential aspect of an MBA degree. Felici says that in his MBA, he learned side by side with “people who work at Walmart, Amazon, Netflix, those type of companies.” And he learned and practiced “innovation principles that they use in their respective fields.”

However, one of the things that is particularly notable in the MHCI, Abdelnaby explains, “is the wide range of health care experience in the classroom, and the different perspectives that one is exposed to.” MHCI students are physicians, nurses, executives, directors, researchers, analysts, and consultants. They work in health systems and pharmaceutical companies, and for insurers, startups, technology firms, non-profits, and government agencies. And that is only a sample of the range of roles and employers.

Saptarshi Sinha, MBA, MHCI ’22, and COO and president of Allied Digestive Health, says, “We spend time getting to know each other, investing in classmates, investing in the professors, and reaching out to them. Having worked in health care for a long time, I didn't think I'd ever have access to classmates, teammates, who are bringing such a disparate and such a diverse health care perspective.”

Learn more about the MHCI’s network of more than 200 alumni and students, and how the degree has prepared them to advance in their careers.

Degree Comparison

The alumni consensus is that as a more general-purpose degree, an MBA might be right for you if you plan to lead an organization—and perhaps pursue a path that takes you out of health care. And it may be right for you if the focus of your work is on the financial details of an organization.

The MHCI, on the other hand, might be a better choice for building subject-matter expertise and thought leadership in health care. With its focus on systematic innovation and its hands-on approach, it makes sense for emerging leaders interested in solving complex problems within a fast-changing health care ecosystem. And it will help you build your network within the industry.

Consider your own career experience and professional goals. If you are curious about the difference an MHCI degree could make for you, contact our program managers. They would be happy to answer your questions and can connect you with MHCI alumni.