Switching into business. Please help!

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anonymous1992

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I am currently a first year student in the medical field, and after a series of personal events, I've come to the conclusion that I will not be happy with a career in medicine. I would like to switch into the business field. I am considering either getting a second bachelor's degree (BBA in finance or supply chain management) or getting a master's degree in finance or supply chain management. Which of these options will give me the best chance of finding a job after graduating? Which is easier to get accepted into with no experience?

If there's anyone out there who switched out of business into medicine or vice versa, any advice would be much appreciated.

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I am currently a first year student in the medical field, and after a series of personal events, I've come to the conclusion that I will not be happy with a career in medicine. I would like to switch into the business field. I am considering either getting a second bachelor's degree (BBA in finance or supply chain management) or getting a master's degree in finance or supply chain management. Which of these options will give me the best chance of finding a job after graduating? Which is easier to get accepted into with no experience?
Thanks in advance!
Go for an MBA, anything less is often asking to be an admin assistant. Depending on what you want to truly do will impact the specialization. Whatever the specialty still take coursework in accounting and finance even if that isn't your goal it is a necessity. Also aim for the biggest name school you can get into, right or wrong that will open doors. Lots of specialties are available, so spend some time looking at what they do. Most supply chain people I know spend most of their time doing paperwork, so just be aware.

I owned 2 businesses, have a minor in management/finance, have a background in corporate, and was a director of a dept at a major public hospital and there are 1000s with bachelor's degrees doing nothing but grunt work. So you can do it without a business degree but imo avoid a BA if you can get in otherwise. Many MBAs the same but they get promoted where the BAs often retire as assistants .

Best of luck and sorry med school didn't fit but kudos for figuring that out sooner than later!

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Go for an MBA, anything less is often asking to be an admin assistant. Depending on what you want to truly do will impact the specialization. Whatever the specialty still take coursework in accounting and finance even if that isn't your goal it is a necessity. Also aim for the biggest name school you can get into, right or wrong that will open doors. Lots of specialties are available, so spend some time looking at what they do. Most supply chain people I know spend most of their time doing paperwork, so just be aware.

I owned 2 businesses, have a minor in management/finance, have a background in corporate, and was a director of a dept at a major public hospital and there are 1000s with bachelor's degrees doing nothing but grunt work. So imo avoid that if you can get in otherwise. Many MBAs the same but they get promoted where the BAs often retire as assistants .

Best of luck and sorry med school didn't fit but kudos for figuring that out sooner than later!

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

Thank you for your advice!
 
You don't need a business degree to work in business. What specifically do you want to do? I agree that if you do decide to go back, an MBA is the way to go. You'll probably want some work experience (if you don't have any) prior to one -- it will help you get into a good school. Brand name matters a LOT for MBA, far more than for any other degree since business is all about connections.

Finishing medical school then doing business with that is also a possibility. You can look up non-clinical medical jobs, but it's a very expensive way to get a job.
 
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You don't need a business degree to work in business. What specifically do you want to do? I agree that if you do decide to go back, an MBA is the way to go. You'll probably want some work experience (if you don't have any) prior to one -- it will help you get into a good school. Brand name matters a LOT for MBA, far more than for any other degree since business is all about connections.

Finishing medical school then doing business with that is also a possibility. You can look up non-clinical medical jobs, but it's a very expensive way to get a job.
I'm interested in becoming a financial analyst, which is very different from what I'm doing now. But, I think healthcare management will be more appropriate given my background in the medical field. I only have a few part-time job experiences, and a liberal arts degree. Would working as an administrative assistant for a hospital help with admissions to an MBA program?
 
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Why financial analyst? That can be almost the opposite of working with people. Have you spoken with any FAs to see if you'd like that?

I'd like to stress for you and others who may be reading, it's common to hate medicine and feel burnt out in the first year, so speaking with a med school or other counselor is worth it before deciding medicine isn't right for you. Getting back into med school after dropping out is almost totally, completely, and utterly impossible. You might could take a leave of absence as well if you are considering dropping, just to explore options first.

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The advice for you would be the same as the advice for anyone else who is considering career-changing: do your due diligence, and spend some time "shadowing" in your new field before you throw away thousands of dollars on an unnecessary degree. It is important that you make any career change for the right reasons (i.e., not because you want to get away from medicine, but because you want to go toward something else that you like better). Since being in business doesn't require any degree at all, you're in luck: you can drop out of med school, start gaining work experience, and take your time figuring out what, if any, additional degree would be helpful to advancing your career. As others have already pointed out, getting an MBA is typically something people do after they've been out working for a while, not as preparation to go to work in business for the first time.
 
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I'm interested in becoming a financial analyst, which is very different from what I'm doing now. But, I think healthcare management will be more appropriate given my background in the medical field. I only have a few part-time job experiences, and a liberal arts degree. Would working as an administrative assistant for a hospital help with admissions to an MBA program?
No, not really. I would caution anyone who doesn't want to get pigeon-holed in "assistant" roles to stay away from exec assistant, admin assistant, etc. Talking to people to find out their track is helpful. I would expect that you'll find that anyone who has successfully climbed the ranks in finance, consulting, etc has never worked in that type of admin role. (Admins are wonderful, but completely unappreciated. Realistically I'd suggest doing an unpaid internship over doing that.)

I would strongly suggest more research before you jump into this. MD/MBA is a thing, and finance (and consulting of any kind) are both difficult fields. They're highly monotonous, and if you're a smart person (and presumably you are, since you got into med school), you'll get frustrated and bored at repeating a million pivot tables, redoing the same analysis, etc.

ETA: If you want to get into a top MBA, I'd hope that you went to a decent undergrad, you will need a top GMAT score, and you'll want to work at a reputable company, preferably showing some early management experience (or at least some experience doing the work of the people you want to eventually manage). They'll want you to get a good management job when you get out of the MBA, and if you don't have good work experience beforehand, no one's going to give you that job.
 
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