IT to MD

Discover Your Odds of Getting into Medical School
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TripleDegree

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There seems to be a trend of former IT professionals now looking at career change opportunities such as med school because of a dismal future - outsourcing, offshoring, reduced spending, etc etc.

If you're one, let us know your story.
 
TripleDegree said:
There seems to be a trend of former IT professionals now looking at career change opportunities such as med school because of a dismal future - outsourcing, offshoring, reduced spending, etc etc.

If you're one, let us know your story.
Click to expand...


I spent the last 15 or so years in IT, I sort of gravitated to it from engineering. I've done pretty much everything except programming. Software tech support, managed software tech support groups, network architecture, project management, my own networking business, finally worked for IBM Global Services as a project management consultant. My job there went away (along with the entire department I worked for) after I was recalled to active duty following Sept 11.

It finally got to the point that I didn't want to touch another machine ever again (including my own, I went from having 5 computers plus two file servers at home to just one laptop).
 
IT Intern at investment bank, ended up in technology consulting in New York with Accenture for 2 years. Ran server migrations, wrote a few scripts, database work. Client-facing roles (which if you ask me, are awful. i don't know why everyone wants one. lots of meetings.)

Realized that I couldn't dedicate my life to something I didn't feel strongly about. Moved to medicine (was premed as an undergrad before being tempted by the lucrative tech salary, resulting in an undergrad comp sci major instead). Quit job to do SMP in Boston. Applying this cycle.

However, i'm fighting my engineering GPA (employers were quite pleased with it. adcoms, on the other hand, are not).

edit: i still love machines. or perhaps more accurately - i love the internet. machine is useless to me without a connection.
 
I started out as a biomedical engineering major. After my internship I hated it and went to computers because they interested me. Started my masters and during that time start working at a Medical College as a research assistant for Medical Informatics projects. At that time I realized that I really miss working with people and I can't work with machines all my life. I also became very interested in Alzheimer's disease. So decided to go to Medical School.
 
I worked for a year in the marketing dept of an IT company, does that count?
 
I was in IT for 12 years -- started doing GIS (geographic information systems --> maps), ended up doing web apps and database design. I still love technology, but I love it for how it makes things easier for me rather than just for being cool. 😉
 
We have a bunch at my school.

My brother was a programer (comp sci) before med
 
I was pre-med when I started college back in 1992. After a lackluster performance in Orgo I got discouraged and decided I needed more time to reevaluate my motivation for medicine. In the meantime I changed my major to Computer Science in order to get a job upon graduation. The field was just starting to get hot.

I enjoyed the more math-based courses (since it's Math that I really love, not CS per se) and did ok overall. I was super naive about the real world and for some reason I was thinking that after graduation I'd be doing "sciency" type work on computers (i.e. research). I couldn't have been more wrong! I got a job as a Systems Analyst a few months before graduation and what should have been a break of a couple of years has turned into an 8 year sentence (I took a year off the job to teach).

Within months of starting the job I realized I didn't like it. There we no interesting scientific applications, only boring business ones. My company has a proprietary system for benefits administration and once you work on one client it's all pretty much the same. The technology is archaic. The people are kind of trashy. In short, the environment is completely uninspiring.
I feel nothing for this type of work and it does nothing for me. However, you can easily get used to the paychecks, especially if you came from a poor background. I was stupid with the money at first and then kept having to stay longer and longer to pay back for things. I knew I didn't want to do this forever but at the same time I got caught up in the day to day grind.

Sometime in late 2003 I started thinking that even though I felt "old" in a way, I would still need to work for another 30 years. Then I literally panicked when I thought of still being here at 65! I knew I had the potential to do well in a scientific or academic career. Why was I settling for an office job that really anyone can do? I started thinking about what I was really interested in. Why should some people get to work in those fields and not me? I knew I had the interest in medical science since I was young. And so I finally applied to a postbacc program and have been taking courses since January 2004.

I intended to do it all part-time and keep my safety net longer but as of this September I plan to be a full-time student. I can't take this bs anymore. I hate feeling like the living dead all day long. I hope to finish all my coursework for Spring 2006.

I am still technically undecided about whether I'll go for an MD or a PhD. Or if maybe I'd go for a PhD in ethnomusicology instead. But one thing's for certain. Life's too short to spend it trapped in the corporate world if it's not your type of thing. I will do what I am most passionate about regardless of how I'll be compensated financially.
 
TripleDegree said:
There seems to be a trend of former IT professionals now looking at career change opportunities such as med school because of a dismal future - outsourcing, offshoring, reduced spending, etc etc.

If you're one, let us know your story.
Click to expand...


I've been in IT for 5 years, mostly security software. Got tired of sitting on my ass staring at a computer screen 10 hours a day. Got tired of my company not turning a profit in 27 months which means no bonuses. I've realized at my young age that job satisfaction is just as important as salary. I'm not making a difference in anyone's life...........gotta change that.
 
Well, I graduated with a History degree, but took computer courses afterward and spent 3 years in IT (and managed to get laid off twice). Other jobs have kept me stuck in an office for 12 years altogether.

The thought of spending the rest of my working years in a cubicle is so thoroughly depressing that I have decided I need radical change. I've played around with the idea of becoming a vet for 6 years or so -- it seemed like a profession I'd be good at, and not just because I love animals. Now I've just decided to go for it.
 
Worked in software for the past 8 years including 3.5 years in a failed startup (lost lots of money). Now I'm ready to get out from behind the monitor.
 
Wow, I always thought I was weird for having worked in IT and now doing medicine, but I see I'm not alone!

I was one of those 'hard core' premeds back in college (I wanted to be a doctor since I was 13 blah blah). My parents had sent me to an elite college and didn't want me puttering around getting a nonmarketable degree so I agreed I'd do something engineering related (it would give me a marketable set of skills).

I was thinking biomedical engineering but found my school's biomedical engineering program lacking (should have stuck around a year, the program has gotten so big it just got a nice shiny new building of it's own). I liked my programming class back in high school so I did computer science instead. Through sheer willpower, and despite the fact I really couldn't program (I just don't 'think' that way), I managed to get through my classes.

The heavy load of schoolwork, along with my own high expectations and the incessent academic competition in college burnt me out and I didn't want to do another four years of med school. I decided that finishing my degree w/o worries about grades or med school would alleviate the stress in my life. Fearing I would leave with 'only' a bachelors, my parents convinced me to stay another year to finish up a Masters as well (to do a combined BS-MS program).

I graduated right after the bubble burst in '02, and started working for a software company that specialized in healthcare. I hated it. I didn't like working with computers as much as I thought, I HATED cube life, I didn't like sitting there not talking to anyone for eight hours a day, and as the months went by, I hated being told to work long hours with no incentives. It must just have been my company, but we were really busy, and management deliberatedly overworked us. Overtime was the norm, with 70+ hours during busy season (which was about 30% of the year). Corporate life seemed so money oriented and empty, I guess I felt I wanted some purpose with what I did and my job didn't fulfill that.

Moreover, I was starting to feel jealous of friends that were going through medical school. I felt I was really missing my calling. I felt a deep regret about not doing medicine and saw co-workers (and there were plenty) that were once also med school bound but for various reasons fell off the track and couldn't get back on it after kids and mortgage. I felt it was a wake up call for me. If I really wanted something, I HAD to go out and get it NOW.

So I took the MCAT, realized I did poorly on it, quit my job, and now focused on taking some postbacc classes and retaking my MCAT as well as getting more clinical experience under my belt.

I am lucky to have sympathetic parents who are willing to take me back in, and for the first time in a long time, I feel I am once again on the 'right' track. It's nice to hear of others who have worked in IT longer than me and still decided to take the plunge into medicine.

You have NO idea how many times I've heard people ask me why did I quit such a nice job without even an acceptance letter in hand.....most think I'm nuts to make such a sacrifice. I was making more money than a lot of adults coming out of college, certainly more money than most of my college friends, and I was willing to give it all up for four more years of school, plus 3-7 years of slave labor, but as someone else pointed out, we are talking about working until we are 65........for me that's another 40 years. I think I can sacrifice a couple of years of my life so I can get a job that I'll probably be doing for the next 30 years. Besides, it's easier to go from medicine back to IT than to go from IT to medicine when I'm 40, right? 🙂
 
Halycon440,

Wow !! ..what you have written below could be me verbatim. I too am working at a benefits admin firm (HA) and am looking to get into med school...
hoping to start this fall after wasting 5 long years !!

Halcyon440 said:
I was pre-med when I started college back in 1992. After a lackluster performance in Orgo I got discouraged and decided I needed more time to reevaluate my motivation for medicine. In the meantime I changed my major to Computer Science in order to get a job upon graduation. The field was just starting to get hot.

I enjoyed the more math-based courses (since it's Math that I really love, not CS per se) and did ok overall. I was super naive about the real world and for some reason I was thinking that after graduation I'd be doing "sciency" type work on computers (i.e. research). I couldn't have been more wrong! I got a job as a Systems Analyst a few months before graduation and what should have been a break of a couple of years has turned into an 8 year sentence (I took a year off the job to teach).

Within months of starting the job I realized I didn't like it. There we no interesting scientific applications, only boring business ones. My company has a proprietary system for benefits administration and once you work on one client it's all pretty much the same. The technology is archaic. The people are kind of trashy. In short, the environment is completely uninspiring.
I feel nothing for this type of work and it does nothing for me. However, you can easily get used to the paychecks, especially if you came from a poor background. I was stupid with the money at first and then kept having to stay longer and longer to pay back for things. I knew I didn't want to do this forever but at the same time I got caught up in the day to day grind.

Sometime in late 2003 I started thinking that even though I felt "old" in a way, I would still need to work for another 30 years. Then I literally panicked when I thought of still being here at 65! I knew I had the potential to do well in a scientific or academic career. Why was I settling for an office job that really anyone can do? I started thinking about what I was really interested in. Why should some people get to work in those fields and not me? I knew I had the interest in medical science since I was young. And so I finally applied to a postbacc program and have been taking courses since January 2004.

I intended to do it all part-time and keep my safety net longer but as of this September I plan to be a full-time student. I can't take this bs anymore. I hate feeling like the living dead all day long. I hope to finish all my coursework for Spring 2006.

I am still technically undecided about whether I'll go for an MD or a PhD. Or if maybe I'd go for a PhD in ethnomusicology instead. But one thing's for certain. Life's too short to spend it trapped in the corporate world if it's not your type of thing. I will do what I am most passionate about regardless of how I'll be compensated financially.
Click to expand...
 
wow.. i didn't know there were so many of us.. i decided to do the IT thing since I have always been interested in technology and the premed competition wasn't my thing.. i started working at a big consulting firm and realized that i wasn't going to spend my life feeding the corporate machine.. i finished up the pre-med requirements, took the mcat, applied to schools.. and i'm starting this fall... it has been an interesting and entertaining journey so far..
 
7 years in IT. I'm 22, so that's a large portion of my life, and just about my entire work history.
I'm self employed, make great money, and can't wait to get out. I have always wanted to be a doctor and am now making the moves to make my goal a reality.
I run a business, go to school full time, and am looking for a way to start juggling some clinical experience later this year.
I spent the last 3 years installing patient record systems all over the US. As such, I've followed up on these installs for support work and 90% of my clients are doctors. This lends itself very well to me gaining some experience in a real setting. I've had several doctors already tell me I am welcome to shadow them!! 😀

Well, that's my little story. It's good to see I'm not alone in making such a crazy change.
 
5 years in IT -- as programmer
always wanted to do medicine so finally got the umph to do it and now it's been 2 years!! 😀
 
It's nice to see that there are so many people out there who have decided on a career change. I have been feeling kind of down lately with my dad complaining that I'm '26 and still living at home' (not really, I just moved back in this year to take some classes fulltime) and it looks like no med school acceptance in sight. Just yesterday, one of the older premeds found out I used to work for IT and had a masters in computer science and asked me, 'then why don't you just stay in IT?'. This place is kind of nice to be in (well, maybe not Dr. Lounge, my skin isn't thick enough to withstand that place :scared: ). I feel like no one knows what I'm going through, but reading this thread does make me feel slightly better knowing there are others like me! 🙂
 
Its kinda cool that you could go to a social gathering, and be able to converse at an esoteric level with both the long-haired technogeeks, as well as the health professionals.

😀
 
TripleDegree said:
Its kinda cool that you could go to a social gathering, and be able to converse at an esoteric level with both the long-haired technogeeks, as well as the health professionals.

😀
Click to expand...


Don't know what you are talking about.......I don't socialize with technogeeks, only the cool kids! 😉
 
i am in the same boat. sort of. i have been work and going to school at the same time. I been doing software development for the past year while finishing up my degree, suppose to graduate in may. I hate the work that i do. i work for an radar engineering firm. I have my own office. there have been days where i would go to work and leave without having to speak to ANYONE. i cannot imagine doing that for the rest of my life. so i am starting pre-med classes next semester.
 
TripleDegree said:
There seems to be a trend of former IT professionals now looking at career change opportunities such as med school because of a dismal future - outsourcing, offshoring, reduced spending, etc etc.

If you're one, let us know your story.
Click to expand...

I have a BS in Mechanical Engineering. I worked as an ME for a year and hated it. Transitioned into Software and programmed for five years until getting laid off. The layoff was actually a blessing because I had already started to get bored with programming and being around engineers who had no personality at all. I decided to enter the medical field to keep a job. I'm currently a student in Respiratory Therapy. I plan to apply to Med School in about three years.
 
WOW!!! I just finished reading this thread, sooo many stories that are just like mine and I thought that my case was unusual. I was a bio major in college. I originally thought about med school, but quickly realized that I really loved optometry and spent 3 years working for an optometrist part time after school. That was during late 90's when IT field was hot and I was convinced that spending 4 years in school was not a financially smart decision, so I switched to comp science. I was Systems Analyst for 4 years working with Imaging systems: Filenet, Visiflow... I started hating my brain dead job that anyone off the street could do and I just felt like I'm wasting my life away in a small grey cubicle. Then a year ago, I got laid off and as my boss was telling me that, I realized that this is a sign. My boss gave me a goodbye present, a giftcard to borders bookstore. When I left work, I drove straight to borders and spent that giftcard on a Kaplan MCAT book to start preparing for OAT for Optometry school. Now I work at another brain dead job, that I'm quitting in a few month because I'm starting optometry school this August. Getting laid off turned out to be the best thing that happened to me. I absolutely cannot wait to start school and to finally start doing what I love.
 
I'm shocked to see so many ppl stray away from IT. I thought I was the only one...
Seems like all feel like me on this
So my question is, do you guys find it tough to make that career change from IT to health? Did you quit work and go to school full time or what?

Some IT companies pay for your education BUT it has to be in relation to your job which soethign I wonder if any of you have encounterd?
 
bump.

I've completed my IT to MD transition 🙂. Well, I suppose technically I'm not since I won't be getting my MD for 4 years yet.. But I'll be starting in the fall. Best of luck to those still transitioning!
 
I'm also starting medical school in the fall... I'm very excited...

I walked into IT in 1993, right after getting married... had to take a job somewhere.. it just happened to be with a doc conversion company... over the years ended up in graphic design, web design, web development... got laid off twice... contracted, worked full time.. worked for myself.. you name it I did it.. I got used to the money.. and like someone else said.. I took advantage of it for a long time.. wasting... after my last lay off, I took a job in the financial industry working for "the man" for less pay than I had before.. because the bubble had burst and I was scared about not being able to pay for all the stuff that I'd wasted my money on... I hated it.. I hated working in finance.. I hated the dull people that I worked with who wanted nothing more than to make a quick buck...often at the expense of others...it just made me sick..literally... I went back to school part time a couple months after I went to work there.. then worked there a year and half until I was so sick that I couldn't do anything but quit my job.. I knew the only solution was to go back to school full time.. fast forward.. it took me 1.5 years to finish full time and I graduated in December of 04...I start med school this Fall... to people who know me, the transition at this point makes a lot of sense.. my husband is still in IT and he loves it.. but we're two very different people.

so in short, you're not alone....
 
I just wanted to thank you guys for alll the stories and advice. You don't understand how nervous I was of my decision to switch until I heard from all of you. I graduated Summa Cum Laude with a degree in Computer Engineering in 2002. Even while I was studying in college, I wanted to switch over to medicine. I remember telling that to my engineering advisor and she was surprised because I was at the top of my undergraduate class. Anyhow, I didn't switch and graduated in 2002. Working as software engineer, but my dream is to be a doctor and now more then ever. I've seen what I'd be if it wasn't a doctor and it's not me.

I want to help people in a more direct way. I feel that being a doctor is what will allow me to utiilize my strong science skills to apply them towards medicine and health, allowing me to focus on the well-being of human beings. I want to be able to directly apply my knowledge to medicine and am very excited to start.
 
IT to MD: Whatever you do, do not complain about IT in your essays or interviews. Med schools do not want people who are looking to escape IT. They want people who have a passion for the science and practice of medicine. Get the best clinical/volunteering/research experience you can. You need to convince them that you know what you're getting into.
 
gary5 said:
IT to MD: Whatever you do, do not complain about IT in your essays or interviews. Med schools do not want people who are looking to escape IT. They want people who have a passion for the science and practice of medicine. Get the best clinical/volunteering/research experience you can. You need to convince them that you know what you're getting into.
Click to expand...


I agree.. don't make it a focal point of your essays or interviews... However, I guarantee that you will be asked why you left a lucrative career for medicine (I was at every single one of my interviews). SIMPLY state why... leave a lot of the emotion at the door... just the facts ma'am... 🙂

I left it out of my essays entirely.
 
Just out of curiousity how old are/will most of you be your first year of med school?

Me, 28.
 
i'm currently a second year resident and this thread brings back some memories of when i was applying to med school in '98-'99... there were tons of people i knew who had started off on the premed track but then switched to a computer related field... i remember all of them talking about "MIS" (mgmt info systems) and have no clue what the heck that was. anyway, 90% of them were telling me that i was clueless because the real cash was in IT, and internet start-ups... they were right too (at that time it was). i kept reading about 25 year-old instant millionaires driving ferraris. a lot of my friends had dollar signs in their eyes and often talked about how stock options were going to make them millionaires in no time, and how they were going to live a life of traveling, and partying....

now it's 7 or so years later, and most of them are in different fields. none of them drive ferraris. some live back at home. and yes, many are reverting back to their original premed roots. some of them are even calling me up and asking for advice on how to get into med school!

anyway, if there are others reading this thread, remember that you should follow your heart and not your dollar signs when making big career plans. you should just do what makes you happy. medicine offers a stable career with a relatively high reimbursement... but one day (maybe sooner than later) the reimbursement will be much lower. you might again be disappointed by the lack of $$$, and then you'll be unhappy again. make sure that medicine is truly a field that you want to work and be in, regardless of the $$$.

as encouragement, i am tremendously happy being in medicine. mainly because i get to work with bright, hard-working, creative people every single day, and i get to take care of peoples' health and make a direct impact in their lives. it's a great goal to shoot for, and i wish you all the best of luck.
 
I suppose everyone has seen the movie "Office Space"? Well, that wasn't too far off from being my life for almost 10 years. My field wasn't exactly "IT" but I supported various engineering projects and companies. I truly felt like a cog and that I wasn't making a difference in people's lives. Sometimes the purpose of my corporate existence seemed like it was to fill a contract line item or to provide a "CYA" for my company on a project where I felt that I was expendable if there was a huge budget cut. I also think that my personality and interests were largely incompatible with those in my field. Engineers, techies, and financial/business types seemed too materialistic and less sensitive to helping people compared to me. Sure, there are politics and corporations everywhere including medicine but I'd like to think that they are to a lesser extent when your main goal is to care for patients.

My motivation for starting medicine stemmed from my good relationships with people in the health care field, my satisfying volunteer experiences (some of which I didn't realize I was voluneteering!), and my parents' interest in health and fitness (they're like the LaLannes!). Above all, I have the best wife in the universe who has supported me throughout my journey from wearing corporate monkey outfits to white coats! Having the opportunity to pursue medicine is truly a privilege and a blessing for me.

When I have to memorize a ton of factoids for med school or become exhausted from pulling long shifts in the hospital, I will have the perspective from my work experiences that life could be worse such that I could be working long hours for a cause which I have no passion. I often get panicky, irrational thoughts, for example, whenever I walk into one of those corporate retail megastores and think how miserable I would be if I was laid off, couldn't find a job right away, and ended up working overtime at somewhere like Best B*y or Comp U#A (perhaps I am having corporate PTSD :laugh: )!!
 
Halcyon,

Wow, that's me to the tee. I work for a huge company managing client networks. At first the money was sweet, never had much when I was younger. But I'm sick of working hard and getting absolutely no satisfaction. I'm making no difference in the world and get beat up constantly by clients and coworkers so they can make more money. I've been lazy my whole life and have come to realize that has landed me here. However, that's been changing over the last two years. I love interacting with people and care deeply for people who are hurting. I want to leave my mark on the world not simply make a buck or two. There's no mobility in IT especially due to cutbacks, outsourcing, and layoffs. I don't want to spend the rest of my life on the edge of a layoff. I hate that a bunch of cronies have say over whether or not I have a job to sustain my family simply b/c their shareholders want to earn a penny more a share. As you can see, some of my motivations become apparent. I mostly want to work for my patients. They're success is a direct reflection of me as a physician/PA?? I want my family to be secure in me. I want satisfaction from my career. None of this is possible in IT.
 
Wow, this thread is awesome. I guess I'm also part of the club. I was pre-med in college but when I got out the internet boom was just gathering steam so I jumped in with everyone else. I learned html then javascript then C++ and Java and sql all on the job. After working in a couple of dot coms that imploded I ended up in a nice old established company developing internal intranet based applications. After a couple of years of that I decided I hate doing this and wished I had done medicine after college like I had originally planned. It took me a about a year of questioning myself to really take the plunge but with my wifes support I quit my job and started studying for the MCAT. Because I was out of school for so long I enrolled in a local college and took cell biology which I must say really helped for the MCAT. I also had to repurchase all the basic science textbooks because I found that review books were not enough for me after bieng away from it for so long. I took about a year of studying for at least 3 hours a day but I just took the MCAT in April and scored 30+. I also was lucky enough to find a part time job in lab the pays peanuts compared to what I was making but its an investment in my future. I also managed to find an ER doc to shadow a couple of hours a week so hopefully I'll be able to get into school for 06. Good luck to all of you making the same transition. Yes, its hard but its do-able!
 
Celiac Plexus said:
i'm currently a second year resident and this thread brings back some memories of when i was applying to med school in '98-'99... there were tons of people i knew who had started off on the premed track but then switched to a computer related field... i remember all of them talking about "MIS" (mgmt info systems) and have no clue what the heck that was. anyway, 90% of them were telling me that i was clueless because the real cash was in IT, and internet start-ups... they were right too (at that time it was). i kept reading about 25 year-old instant millionaires driving ferraris. a lot of my friends had dollar signs in their eyes and often talked about how stock options were going to make them millionaires in no time, and how they were going to live a life of traveling, and partying....

now it's 7 or so years later, and most of them are in different fields. none of them drive ferraris. some live back at home. and yes, many are reverting back to their original premed roots. some of them are even calling me up and asking for advice on how to get into med school!

anyway, if there are others reading this thread, remember that you should follow your heart and not your dollar signs when making big career plans. you should just do what makes you happy. medicine offers a stable career with a relatively high reimbursement... but one day (maybe sooner than later) the reimbursement will be much lower. you might again be disappointed by the lack of $$$, and then you'll be unhappy again. make sure that medicine is truly a field that you want to work and be in, regardless of the $$$.

as encouragement, i am tremendously happy being in medicine. mainly because i get to work with bright, hard-working, creative people every single day, and i get to take care of peoples' health and make a direct impact in their lives. it's a great goal to shoot for, and i wish you all the best of luck.
Click to expand...

This is great advice and a good counterbalance to the cynicism found in the Residency forums.

I am (still!) in the IT industry, but only until August 15th! I took the plunge 3+ years ago, took my prereqs, did some volunteering, and worked in a lab. All while working full time as a network engineer. I was accepted to to a great school and now my life is going to change forever.

The reasons I switched are the same as found all over this thread. I hope I'm not going to regret it, though it is a little late for that, eh?
 
Hey what's up everyone... Just founded this website the other day. Anyways, I graduated in 99 with a BS in CS. Worked a year in DC got laid off, worked two years in Atl and also got laid off... both due to market conditions. Was a java/web programmer/consultant. Decided that programming wasn't for me so I went back to school in Jan 04 to get my premed requirements. Took the MCAT in April as a measurement to see where I'm at (received a 28L - 11P,7V,10B). Will take it again in Aug with some studying this time and hopefully will get into Med School in Fall 06.
 
Um, yeah, me too...

I currently work in the IT department for a large telecommunications company. About 3 years ago, news came down that applications development work was going to India. During this time, I decided that IT (in general, and being a "code monkey" in particular) would not be a career that would take me to retirement (30+ years from now). Also, I'd been doing IT for almost 10 years at that point, and it was just starting to not be a "fun hobby I happen to get paid for."

I considered going into several different areas of work, none of which enthused me, or inspired me. Then...I was visiting my eye doctor, and I was instantly reminded of my childhood desire of being an optometrist "when I grow up." I remember vividly, the voice in my head asking the question: "Why didn't you pursue Optometry?" The voice answered back: "Why don't you do it now?"

I returned to my desk and googled "Optometry Education" and looked at the skills and educational requirements for an optometrist. While it takes an incredible amount of dedication and hard work, I didn't see any requirements that I wasn't capable of doing...

Two weeks later, I started attending classes to satisfy the pre-requisites for Optometry school. I haven't looked back. I keep waiting for someone to tell me my idea is crazy and I'm out of my mind for trying. Here it is, almost 3 years later, and NOT ONE PERSON has said that to me.

I studied my butt off and took the OAT. In a few days, I'll complete the required undergraduate courses. I was selected to interview and I was accepted at both of the Optometry schools I applied to. I will be attending Southern College of Optometry in Memphis, Tennessee next fall (2006)! I'll be 37 when I start and (almost) 41 when I graduate.

It is somewhat ironic that my employer's (I'm not naming any names 🙂) new marketing slogan has turned into motivation for my career change:

Can I leave a great career at a Fortune 100 company to pursue my lifelong dream of being an Optometrist and escape the rat race?
Yes you can.
 
Let's see, I worked for years in IT in software support and software engineering. I pretty much was doing it to save up money so I could go back even though I knew it wasn't for me. (CS seemed ok in college but once I got out I realized I was kidding myself and I'd rather be a doc.) Of course as others have said it's pretty easy to used to the paycheck. Still I wonder about the mindframe of some of the people in IT. I mean I knew an engineer who wrote a function that returned false when it worked and true when it probably failed. (And just to be clearer, this function was a regular old "DoThisAction" type of function and I asked him if this was an oversight and he told me he meant it to work that way. I realize it's technically not "wrong" but it does boggle the mind.)
 
Old thread resurrected!

I graduated with a CS degree in 1999 and immediately went to work as an IT consultant. It took me five years before I quit my job and started a post-bacc program two summers ago. As of today, I've gotten five interviews that led to five acceptances. Keep your heads up, IT folks -- a poor GPA, lack of medical experience during my career, and numerous other obstacles can all be overcome with hard work.
 
If you're coming from IT, you have a hurdle to get over. Adcoms are looking specifically at your personality and how social you are. And so, it is very important to get lots of volunteer experience and be sure to be friendly, talkative, and social when you interview. If you interview with short answers and have little to say, you're done. Do a mock interview with your premed advisor to important your interviewing skills.
 
gary5 said:
If you're coming from IT, you have a hurdle to get over. Adcoms are looking specifically at your personality and how social you are. And so, it is very important to get lots of volunteer experience and be sure to be friendly, talkative, and social when you interview. If you interview with short answers and have little to say, you're done. Do a mock interview with your premed advisor to important your interviewing skills.
Click to expand...

Yes, it helps to be friendly and socially well adjusted. It makes no difference whether you're an IT worker or anyone else, though, and the notion that adcoms are specifically going to scrutinize your personality because of your background is ridiculous.

From my conversations with a few adcom members, it's actually more important to be consistent with the rest of your application when you come in for the interview. If you sell yourself in AMCAS and your personal statement as an outgoing, gregarious person with many outside interests, you will puzzle an interviewer who finds you to be quiet and withdrawn. Similarly, if you seem like a relatively quiet person on paper, you will raise a few eyebrows if you blast into the room and babble incessantly for the entire interview.
 
gary5 said:
If you're coming from IT, you have a hurdle to get over. Adcoms are looking specifically at your personality and how social you are. And so, it is very important to get lots of volunteer experience and be sure to be friendly, talkative, and social when you interview. If you interview with short answers and have little to say, you're done. Do a mock interview with your premed advisor to important your interviewing skills.
Click to expand...

The funny thing I found as a software engineer is that if you were completely non-social you were also a terrible SE. I mean for one if you never talked to anyone(including the boss) you made decisions that may have seemed ok but made sense to no one else.(Like that boolean function I mentioned.) Also the completely non-social SE's would think they knew what the customer needed or wanted and got it wrong so much of the time. (You could just ask the boss since he dealt with the customers, he could tell you want they actually wanted/needed) Finally often another guy in the office had tried something similar and could warn you of problems you might not have thought of. (Admittedly I wasn't the most social person there but I also didn't stay in my cube all the time either.)
 
BS Honors in Computer Science 2000. Senior Software Egnineer for the Boeing Company -- spent 5 years programming the F/A-18 Super Hornet (primarily cockpit display code for close air support, but I worked with just about everything from weapons to nav to threat correlation). Still doing software on the side to help pay for post-bacc classes.

Actually, I started college pre-med but got sucked into technology. Never really dropped the idea of being a doctor. Finally got enough courage to walk away from the easy money to do the post-bacc.

I'll be 30 when I start medical school if everything goes as planned. I have a doctor wife, two kids, and a dog.
 
This whole thread has been very interesting to read. I started out with an Advertising degree and after graduation in '96 went to work in hotels (summer olympics in Atlanta) and stayed with that for several years. I finally went back to school to get a master degree in IT then began working for a software company worked my way up from support to account management. I recently changed companies thinking that it would somehow fill the void I seem to have. I have to say that I do my job very well and work with a great number of people. I have a friend that just graduated from medical school and is about to complete his intership. I am not someone who 'always wanted to be a doctor', but my wife recently has had some medical problems (everything is fine). While dealing with my wife I found myself doing a great deal of research and really enjoying what I was doing. Since then I have not been able to stop thinking about it. However, I have been held back thinking I was too old to begin walking down this path, I am 32 years old. I know that I would have to begin by going back and taking the sciences that I am missing.
 
I have been working part time on med school during most of my IT career. I have been working in IT 12 years now. Most of my IT career has been as a database architect. I specialize in developing very large databases (VLDB, ie data warehousing environments) and the associated analytical systems.

I have always wanted to be in medicine, and started really working towards this goal since I was 24. IT has really taken a front seat to school, because fulltime school isn't really conducive in supporting a child. However, once medschool starts I go into a role reversal with the wife and she turns into the sugar mommy! 😉

I am over the hump on my undergraduate work...which I have been working on part time for the past 5 years. I am currently a junior at the University of Kansas (molecular bioscience). I also split time with JCCC for some of my gened and gensci classes.

I have done things a little backwords with my curriculum. Most of my upper level work at KU (molecular, micro, physorg, genitics, neuro, a&p, and cellstrucr) was completed before physics, inorganic and organic chem. So most of my junior and senior year has been focused on finishing up what everyone else in the program has already completed in the first and second years! 😉 It has been so much fun. I really enjoy the school. (most of the time)

I am hooked, the more I learn...the more I realize that medicine is the right place for me. I am 'chomping at the bit' now that I am closer to med-school. ...just taking it one step at a time and enjoying every minute.

Rock Chalk! (for all you jayhawk fans)
 
medical.jayhawk said:
Rock Chalk! (for all you jayhawk fans)
Click to expand...

Being from Mizzou I have a strong urge to turn this into a flaming college rivalry thread -- must . . . concentrate . . . very . . . difficult . . . not . . . to . . . bring . . . up . . . chickens 😀

KU is a good school. Good luck to you.
 
rkl_OD2be said:
I will be attending Southern College of Optometry in Memphis, Tennessee next fall (2006)! I'll be 37 when I start and (almost) 41 when I graduate.
Click to expand...
I didn't see this post until now for some reason, but...

Welcome to another non-trad OD-to-be!!! 😀
 
I worked in IT for around 7 years mostly software development. I did enjoy it but could never do the kind of projects I wanted and did mostly business apps. I got laid off in 2000 and flippantly said to my wife I should go to medical school and she took me seriously 😱

I am in my 2nd semester and love the challenge - my worst day of school so far blows away my best day in the cubical. It is a bit more of a challenge starting over again with a bunch of twenty something’s - but they are smart motivated kids and I am impressed with their abilities.
 
ed2brute said:
Being from Mizzou I have a strong urge to turn this into a flaming college rivalry thread -- must . . . concentrate . . . very . . . difficult . . . not . . . to . . . bring . . . up . . . chickens 😀

KU is a good school. Good luck to you.
Click to expand...

Thx...

😱 Hey.....after what happend on the 16th.....the Tigers made us look like chickens down on the basketball court....now I have to wait until Mizzou comes to the Phog for a chance at some smack-talk. 🙂
 
Graduated with a BS in Computer Science and did Mod & Sim for 3 years at a Research Laboratory. I had an "allergic reaction" to all the BS and decided to quit and take a year off to travel. I wound up travelling for a good 6 months when, in the hills of Barcelona, medicine occurred to me (yes, sad to say, a generic little epiphany). Now I'm back and starting premed classes. I've done the EMT classes and am volunteering at a local hospital. I'm having so much fun and I'm looking forward to 6 years of school and 30 years of practicing medicine. I'm excited about watching software develop in Healthcare(If you've ever been in a medical records room, you know what I'm talking about).
 
Sitting in a cube for the next 35 years living the Dilbert lifestyle. With the only other choice being management. I personally can't stand the isolation. Plus I.T. is a thankless career. If it breaks, everybody bitches, if it works....silence.
Sorry for the pointless post, but I'm working on an I.T project, it's very late, and I saw this IT to MD thread, so figured I'd take a look.


Barfalamule said:
Graduated with a BS in Computer Science and did Mod & Sim for 3 years at a Research Laboratory. I had an "allergic reaction" to all the BS and decided to quit and take a year off to travel. I wound up travelling for a good 6 months when, in the hills of Barcelona, medicine occurred to me (yes, sad to say, a generic little epiphany). Now I'm back and starting premed classes. I've done the EMT classes and am volunteering at a local hospital. I'm having so much fun and I'm looking forward to 6 years of school and 30 years of practicing medicine. I'm excited about watching software develop in Healthcare(If you've ever been in a medical records room, you know what I'm talking about).
Click to expand...
 
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