Business experience vs Research

[7331poas]

Hello,

I am going to keep this vague. I am a computer scientist and I have the opportunity to have extended business experience (1.5 years) working with a company that services technology needs in healthcare (very large). However, if I were to do this I believe I may need to drop some of my other ECs like Research and teaching (both of which I have a year and large hours dedicated to it per week).

Would I be worth my time to drop or diminish these ECs in order to pursue the employment opportunity? Assume my app is competitive to the very top. Would this significantly hurt MD PhD chances as well? (being out the lab vs industrial experience)

Thanks.

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[Lawpy]

You're fine provided you can describe in detail your prior research and teaching experiences in interviews.

 

[7331poas]

You're fine provided you can describe in detail your prior research and teaching experiences in interviews.

Would I benefit from this experience over saying in the lab and teaching? I could possibly apply my CS understanding elsewhere but in a diminished role.

I am looking mostly at the best way to maximize my app for top schools.

 

[Lawpy]

Would I benefit from this experience over saying in the lab and teaching? I could possibly apply my CS understanding elsewhere but in a diminished role.

I am looking mostly at the best way to maximize my app for top schools.

Stanford, Harvard, Columbia, Yale, Penn etc all like applicants with very diverse experiences besides the usual research/academia route. This is also why medical students from these places tend to go into business and consulting routes. The business experience you are exploring is a good one since it focuses heavily on healthcare, which nicely ties into the rest of your app in a unique way. That's why if you already have good research and teaching experiences, you should be fine pursuing a business route.

This is for MD-only btw. I think MSTP would prefer you to continue working on your research, which is achievable via bioinformatics route

 

[7331poas]

Stanford, Harvard, Columbia, Yale, Penn etc all like applicants with very diverse experiences besides the usual research/academia route. This is also why medical students from these places tend to go into business and consulting routes. The business experience you are exploring is a good one since it focuses heavily on healthcare, which nicely ties into the rest of your app in a unique way. That's why if you already have good research and teaching experiences, you should be fine pursuing a business route.

This is for MD-only btw. I think MSTP would prefer you to continue working on your research, which is achievable via bioinformatics route

Do you think if I did this business experience for just a summer (3 months full time) and then returned to research plus teaching for a 2nd year (and apply at the end of the next cycle) that would be significant enough to be effective on a top application? I am just thinking through what would be the ideal setup.

Would that be the best balance for an effective MD application and maintain my chances for MD PhD. I cant speak for MSTP programs, but I know with our PhD programs here (not MD related), industry experience can be considered vital in the applications because they bring in different industrial techniques to the lab (chemistry).