Returning to medicine after time in finance?

I've been accepted to enter medical school this fall, at a top-20 program.

However, I came across a opportunity in finance and entrepreneurship, which huge earning potential later down the road (5-10 years). I'm very interested pursuing this opportunity further. In addition to healthcare, I have always been interested in business and entrepreneurship.

However, I'm afraid that I will forever lose my chance to practice medicine, especially if this venture does not work out.

Here are my thoughts on my options:

1) Still go through medical school, but put off residency to go back to the business venture. What are my chances of matching into a good residency if I later return to medicine? I'm interested in some more competitive specialties

2) Turn down my acceptance. Later reapply to medical school if our venture fails or when I'm ready to go back to medicine. Admissions stigma? Chances of getting into top-20 school again? (I'm a strong applicant this year; 4 top-20 acceptances)

3) Defer medical school. Downside: school might not let me and can only defer 1 year

4) Take a leave of absence during medical school as many people do during undergrad. Is this possible?


Love to hear all your thoughts. With the curious and talented pool here, I'm sure some people have chosen to not directly practice medicine.

Of course, safest option is probably just to attend medical school and forget about this business venture.

Originally Posted by Xiao

1) Still go through medical school, but put off residency to go back to the business venture. What are my chances of matching into a good residency if I later return to medicine? I'm interested in some more competitive specialties

2) Turn down my acceptance. Later reapply to medical school if our venture fails or when I'm ready to go back to medicine. Admissions stigma? Chances of getting into top-20 school again? (I'm a strong applicant this year; 4 top-20 acceptances)

3) Defer medical school. Downside: school might not let me and can only defer 1 year

4) Take a leave of absence during medical school as many people do during undergrad. Is this possible?

1. Not a good idea. You have to explain in applications in the future (residency, state license, DEA, etc. ) why you were out of medicine. Seeing the you left medicine to go make money only to come back later does not make you look like you would be a devoted physician in my opinion.

2. That's fine. I don't know if school really keep track of this (maybe someone with more knowledge in admissions can answer). But to me, the non-traditional path shows that you tried a different avenue in life, but that medicine was your calling and you left that life to pursue your passions.

3. Same as 2

4. Terrible idea.

Most new business ventures fail. Its why being an entrepreneur is so high risk and so difficult. On top of that, markets and technology change so fast that it's hard to envision a novel business opportunity which could be put off for 1-4 years to be fit in either during or after your medical training, while remaining an equally viable option.

If you really felt you would regret not pursuing this opportunity, I think your best option is to try to defer medical school for a year. Any other of the options listed above burns bridges and limits your opportunities if medicine does become your chosen career.

Your safest option is to just continue on to medical school as planned, and skip this business venture all together. The med school applications process is hard, so you must have had some motivation/reason to think you'd be happy in medicine. That said, be as sure as you can be that you're passionate about medicine because its a long (expensive) road to a career that involves a lot of personal sacrifice. I'm a MS4 (so take this with a grain of salt) and think that it has all been absolutely worth it. But if you're not sure, the easiest time to change your mind is before you start school at all!

Find out if your accepted school will let you defer and what the terms of the deferment are. Keep in mind, you are looking at a pretty far off pay out, by your estimation. This increases your risk substantially. If you had a shorter time to a higher pay out, by all means, go for it.

Most people on this board believe medicine is a safe career. In some ways, it is. However, medicine is not immune to the risks that other people have mentioned in responding to your thread. Technology changes, skillsets become less lucerative, reimbursement changes, practice models change, costs increase.

I don't think defering medical school makes you an any less committed physician. People change. Priorities shift. Medicine is mostly a job, anyway. I see nothing wrong with defering medical school to make a bunch of money, especially considering the 4 years of negative income and the low pay/high time required in residency.

Originally Posted by Xiao

I've been accepted to enter medical school this fall, at a top-20 program.

However, I came across a opportunity in finance and entrepreneurship, which huge earning potential later down the road (5-10 years). I'm very interested pursuing this opportunity further. In addition to healthcare, I have always been interested in business and entrepreneurship.

However, I'm afraid that I will forever lose my chance to practice medicine, especially if this venture does not work out.

Here are my thoughts on my options:

1) Still go through medical school, but put off residency to go back to the business venture. What are my chances of matching into a good residency if I later return to medicine? I'm interested in some more competitive specialties

2) Turn down my acceptance. Later reapply to medical school if our venture fails or when I'm ready to go back to medicine. Admissions stigma? Chances of getting into top-20 school again? (I'm a strong applicant this year; 4 top-20 acceptances)

3) Defer medical school. Downside: school might not let me and can only defer 1 year

4) Take a leave of absence during medical school as many people do during undergrad. Is this possible?


Love to hear all your thoughts. With the curious and talented pool here, I'm sure some people have chosen to not directly practice medicine.

Do anything but Med School. But thats just my advice.

Originally Posted by jumpmanv15

Do anything but Med School. But thats just my advice.

Lol.