IT to MD

[Captain Fantastic]

Plus I.T. is a thankless career.

Medicine doesn't see too many "thank yous," either. Just wouldn't want you to be disappointed.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[windycitycassie]

Well, someone resurrected this thread once when there was a 6 Month gap, so I'm not breaking any rules I hope.

I've been in IT for a few years, since 1998. However, I have a BA in history from Knox College in IL, which I know possibly makes little sense (started pre-med in college way back then as well but my advisor told me not to bother and I switched). For years I've been debating redoing things and going to med school and my current job has sort of gotten me to the point where I am going to do it, finally.

I work in healthcare/HIS in network security and took the job just because I wanted to be somehow exposed to medical stuff, and it seems to have helped get me off my butt. In addition, while I make really really good money, I honestly don't like what I do or feel challenged and would need an MBA to go any further (which is of even less interest to me).

So, I'm going to start a getting prereqs out of the way + some and do the 'usual' around here so I can apply in a few years. I mean, I'm 32 as it is.

I wonder what they'll (they as in whenever I finally get to the interview point) make of me in college 10 years ago and going pre-med -> History -> living in Japan -> US -> Computers...and then back to medicine.

Cassie

 

[businessmd06]

MSIS Grad 2001.... worked for Deloitte in IT consulting / VoIP stuff.... left the crappy consultant life and opened up a regional office of a merchant bank for credit card processing. Make great money, have flexability in schedule / work from home, and still starting my post bac in May.... sometimes money is not worth it if you don't like what you do, or if you have no fullfillment in what you do.

Good luck all... I am still a bit nervous because I am giving up quite a life financially... but you only live once

 

[JMW]

Well I'm another one, I'm a network engineer working in DC as a contractor for the federal government. I've been working in networking/IT for the past 7 years. I started getting dissatisfied with IT a few years ago but managed to get work in Iraq and Africa for a while which kept me distracted from making a change. Now at 32 I'm realising that if I'm going to get out of the cube life and follow my dream then the time is now.

I'm at the early stages of looking into what is really required and how realistic it is for me. The financial aspect worries me quite alot. Money is definately not my motivation for changing to medicine but I don't want to be debt ridden for the rest of my life. From what I have read so far on this and other premed sites the financial crisis in medical education is very real. Considering that I need to get a bachelors and then med school plus residency and I'm looking at being 40+ before I can start repaying my student loans, saving for retirement and hopefully paying off a mortgage.

Still I never did find much satisfaction in having money anyway and the value of having a rewarding life/career is hard to put into dollars, so who cares right? apart from my girlfriend, bank manager, family etc.

I'd also like to add that I've found this website an excellent source of things to think about and answers to my many questions.

l

 

[medhacker]

Well I'm another one, I'm a network engineer working in DC as a contractor for the federal government. I've been working in networking/IT for the past 7 years. I started getting dissatisfied with IT a few years ago but managed to get work in Iraq and Africa for a while which kept me distracted from making a change. Now at 32 I'm realising that if I'm going to get out of the cube life and follow my dream then the time is now.

I'm at the early stages of looking into what is really required and how realistic it is for me. The financial aspect worries me quite alot. Money is definately not my motivation for changing to medicine but I don't want to be debt ridden for the rest of my life. From what I have read so far on this and other premed sites the financial crisis in medical education is very real. Considering that I need to get a bachelors and then med school plus residency and I'm looking at being 40+ before I can start repaying my student loans, saving for retirement and hopefully paying off a mortgage.

Still I never did find much satisfaction in having money anyway and the value of having a rewarding life/career is hard to put into dollars, so who cares right? apart from my girlfriend, bank manager, family etc.

I'd also like to add that I've found this website an excellent source of things to think about and answers to my many questions.

l

Best wishes JMW!

 

[aggie-master]

In high school I wanted to be a dentist, but it seemed like everyone was telling me that I wouldn't be able to make the grades to get into dental school because college would be very difficult. I decided to go into MIS so that I could get a job if the dental school plans didn't work out. Somewhere along the way, my dental plans were lost and I ended up going to work in the IT field after college without ever applying to dental school. Two and a half years into my IT career I decided that I definitely needed to apply to dental school and I've been working full time while taking the prereqs since then. I'm applying next month.

 

[windycitycassie]

Well I'm another one, I'm a network engineer working in DC as a contractor for the federal government. I've been working in networking/IT for the past 7 years. I started getting dissatisfied with IT a few years ago but managed to get work in Iraq and Africa for a while which kept me distracted from making a change. Now at 32 I'm realising that if I'm going to get out of the cube life and follow my dream then the time is now.

I'm at the early stages of looking into what is really required and how realistic it is for me. The financial aspect worries me quite alot. Money is definately not my motivation for changing to medicine but I don't want to be debt ridden for the rest of my life. From what I have read so far on this and other premed sites the financial crisis in medical education is very real. Considering that I need to get a bachelors and then med school plus residency and I'm looking at being 40+ before I can start repaying my student loans, saving for retirement and hopefully paying off a mortgage.

Still I never did find much satisfaction in having money anyway and the value of having a rewarding life/career is hard to put into dollars, so who cares right? apart from my girlfriend, bank manager, family etc.

I'd also like to add that I've found this website an excellent source of things to think about and answers to my many questions.

l

Good luck, JWM. Does your employer pay for anything? I only get $4,000/year in tuition reimbursement, but it still will help in not accruing any debt while I work towards going to medical school (that part will incur debt though).

I understand your age conundrum, but I just think that even if it takes me until 40 something, that gives me at least a couple of decades of doing something I'll love doing instead of something I feel like I'm doing 'just because'.

 

[moranwoods]

Not quite IT, but former EE here.

Dad was a engineer and it just seemed like the right way to go. Got an MS to avoid getting a real job. Hired by Boeing in 2001 ... canned by Boeing in 2003 after 9/11.

After the layoff, I traveled Europe for a month and did some hard thinking.

I wanted to drive the same crappy car for the next 10 years, accumulate boat-loads of debt and enjoy the stress of test-taking again. The right career choice was obvious -- medicine!

 

[etudiante04]

Not quite IT, but former EE here.

I wanted to drive the same crappy car for the next 10 years, accumulate boat-loads of debt and enjoy the stress of test-taking again. The right career choice was obvious -- medicine!

Yup, sounds like medicine!! I am surprised, though, with the number of IT professionals making a career change. The ones I see at my work appear to be very happy, but they work long hours and are often tired.

But I wish everyone the best in their career aspirations.

 

[cyclohexanol]

Former CS major, wrote firewall/VPN appliance firmware for 2 years (mostly C stuff on VxWorks , but some perl, tcl, java) , came back to school and got my degree in MCB . I just applied to medical school, and I know of a few others with similar backgrounds at my school and others in the area.

I tend to think us engineering types are well-suited to medicine and the imminent problem solving opportunities. Good luck to everyone making the transition!

[SIZE=-3]trying to increase my smiley:text ratio [/SIZE]

 

[JMW]

Good luck, JWM. Does your employer pay for anything? I only get $4,000/year in tuition reimbursement, but it still will help in not accruing any debt while I work towards going to medical school (that part will incur debt though).

I understand your age conundrum, but I just think that even if it takes me until 40 something, that gives me at least a couple of decades of doing something I'll love doing instead of something I feel like I'm doing 'just because'.

I'm fortunate that my employer does have a tuition reimbursement policy. I've started taking some basic college level Maths and English courses. I just finished my first two and I'm starting my second quarter now.

At this point I'm really interested in trying to get some exposure to medcine to see what it is really like. I don't know exactly how to do this. I'm looking for volunteer opportunities at the local hospitals but if anyone has any good ideas on how to get this exposure then I'm all ears.

 

[windycitycassie]

I'm fortunate that my employer does have a tuition reimbursement policy. I've started taking some basic college level Maths and English courses. I just finished my first two and I'm starting my second quarter now.

At this point I'm really interested in trying to get some exposure to medcine to see what it is really like. I don't know exactly how to do this. I'm looking for volunteer opportunities at the local hospitals but if anyone has any good ideas on how to get this exposure then I'm all ears.

Good for you. I am lucky enough to work in a health care system in IL, but I still have to -apply- to get in the health care opportunity volunteer program...should know in a month if I'm in at least.

I've seen a few threads on the boards about some exposure, and you are on the right track. Google for volunteer on any hospital name in your area, call them, and then try things like nursing homes... Or if you have a primary care physician, maybe s/he would let you shadow them. (we're derailing the thread some now I suppose).

Some people do genuinely love IT, of course. My coworkers seem happy enough, but they're also the sort of person who just likes to glide through life and doesn't care if they really get anything out of their job or likes what they do.