Newswise — If you had asked Lee M. “Monty” Duke II, M.D. ’15 (MBA) about his future career plans when he was a young boy growing up in Vienna, Va., he would have told you he was going to be a professional baseball player.
A lifelong lover of the sport, Duke played on the men’s baseball team at the University of Virginia, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in psychology. “The discipline, camaraderie, and teamwork that I was exposed to as part of a baseball team are values that have stuck with me throughout my life,” he says.
Though his professional career led him into the medical field rather than the major leagues, it’s no surprise, perhaps, that Duke strives to bring those “baseball” values to life for those who work with him.
Senior Vice President and Chief Physician Officer for Lancaster General Hospital (LGH) in Lancaster, Pa. since 2008, Duke and 21 of his reporting physicians and operational administrators will graduate this May from the Pharmaceutical & Healthcare Marketing MBA for Executives program in the Haub School of Business. The cohort enrolled in the program together in the spring of 2013.
“I’m almost 61 years old,” says the veteran physician and father of three, who resides in Lancaster, Pa. with his wife, Catherine. “I didn’t take on this program necessarily to fulfill some ambition or make a career change, but to experience it alongside my team.”
“I felt that if I were to ask them to take this on, and I felt it was important that they commit to it, then it seemed only fair that I commit to it, too,” says Duke.
When he took his leadership at LGH in 2008, after having served as a physician with the hospital for over 17 years, Duke says he inherited a legacy of support for physician leadership and continued education. “The MBA program at Saint Joseph’s was a natural next step for us and a critical one in achieving LGH’s goals to provide the best care and keep up with the changes in the healthcare industry,” he says.
As expected, going through the MBA program with fellow LGH physicians and leaders was a highlight for Duke. “The opportunity for us to learn together, commiserate on occasion, and work on projects with one another was a unique and valuable experience for me,” he says.
In order for the members of the LGH cohort to continue to work full-time while completing the program, the Haub School’s MBA program provided an entirely online curriculum − a valuable accommodation for the group, but also somewhat of a challenge for the leader.
“Having been removed from a didactic education setting since graduating from medical school in 1980, the biggest adjustment for me wasn’t being back in the classroom − it was the technology,” he laughs. “The ability to access a class remotely from a hotel room or wherever using a laptop was a very new experience for me, and often a challenging one.”
Despite the trials, Duke says the program was invaluable and the opportunity to look at the healthcare industry through a business lens provided him, and his colleagues, with an education he never would have received otherwise.
As an organizational leader, Duke was also touched by the dedication of the SJU faculty with whom he and his team interacted.
“I was impressed with not just their mastery of the subject matter and their experience in the real world, but also their collective sense of purpose,” says Duke.
“It’s clear that they believe in the mission of their organization, of Saint Joseph’s University.”
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