Existential Crisis: Medicine v Consulting

[RajanMed]

I'm a 2014 graduate dealing with a dilemma. I have always, since I was two years old, wanted to be a physician. In HS I was a medical volunteer, certified EMT, and even went to a specialized Math & Science HS. In College, I majored in Biology, did all of my EC's, got great professor rec's, did research, volunteered, the whole shabang.

I ended up scoring a 26 on my MCAT, which was disappointing to me, and ended up throwing away my first MD application. I graduated with honors, and decided to start working, and prepping for my 2nd application. My mind was still 100% I WANT TO BE A DOCTOR.

I found a job (and was really lucky to have done so) at a Big 4 Consulting Firm as a Technology Analyst. This spring, I will make Consultant. Now, at first, I hated my job, but slowly, I saw it allowed for a lot of time to myself, and work that, while I don't totally love, keeps me and my life pretty happy.

The pay is good, coworkers are good, and opportunities are good. In a year, I'd like to apply for a Business Operations position at Google, and hopefully go up the Product Management chain there, or at some other Tech Company. These careers are lucrative. Yes, competitive & stressful, but not much more than a Medical Career.

Now, I'd had this lifelong vision of me becoming a doctor, so I did retake the MCAT, scoring a much more respectable 514. I am certain that I will be able to get admission to a DO School at least, and really believe I could make it to my state MD School.




Advise me. That's what I'm looking for. On one side, I have this career, I'm married, we're happy, and I can see me going up the latter to Partner/Director one day. On the other hand is seeing myself become the Oncologist that I've always wanted to be.

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[Baller MD]

Stick with your current gig bruh. You have a good thing going. Why go mess with it? Medicine is going down the drain.

 

[bc65]

You're a consultant. You should get some data together to help you make a decision.

So, do some math. Figure out how much money you'll make in your current profession over the course of your career. Consider both scenarios: one in which you make partner, and one in which you don't. Then calculate your lifetime earnings as a physician. Include the cost of tuition and loans, and factor in the low income years as a resident in medicine and fellowship.

Then shadow some physicians. At that point, you will have some information to work with. In medicine, you will work nights on call. In consulting, perhaps there will be travel.

Good luck.

 

[RajanMed]

You're a consultant. You should get some data together to help you make a decision.

So, do some math. Figure out how much money you'll make in your current profession over the course of your career. Consider both scenarios: one in which you make partner, and one in which you don't. Then calculate your lifetime earnings as a physician. Include the cost of tuition and loans, and factor in the low income years as a resident in medicine and fellowship.

Then shadow some physicians. At that point, you will have some information to work with. In medicine, you will work nights on call. In consulting, perhaps there will be travel.

Good luck.

Thanks for the reply. I work in Business Analytics (SAP for anyone who is interested) so YES, I love stats. Money is not my #1 motivating factor, rather happiness is.

I have crunched the numbers for lifetime earnings (before tax ).

Consulting w/o Partner Track: 11,478,295
Consulting w/ Partner Track: 14,142,466
Medicine (Academic Oncology): 10,715,000

But again, money isn't my main motivating factor. Anything above 9M lifetime earnings is plenty generous for a comfortable retirement.



*Also, I work in a field of Consulting where no travel is involved. Thank you for asking these Q's, it's good for me to put my own thoughts somewhere.

 

[bc65]

Good work! Well, I agree that those numbers are close enough that the decreased salary and opportunity costs won't be a deciding factor. Did you also factor in the difference in your investments by the time you retire, assuming, for example, a 7% ROI?

Ultimately, the question you have to ask yourself is this: Which will make you more miserable: A comfortable life as a consultant, in which everyday you wish you had gone to medical school, so you could help people and do something rewarding with your life, vs. a life as a physician, in which every day you kick yourself for giving up a job where you made more money, and got more respect, in exchange for a job where you rarely do any good, where you make dying people miserable with chemo that makes them sicker , and they die anyway, and you have to deal with ungrateful angry patients and families?

I suppose that if you go to med school and hate it, you could go back to consulting and probably command a higher salary with your md degree and experience and make back the money you lost by going to school.

If you do want to try medicine, make sure you do a lot of shadowing first. You'll need it to get accepted anyway, and you really need to see what it's like before you jump in.

 

[eteshoe]

I'm a 2014 graduate dealing with a dilemma. I have always, since I was two years old, wanted to be a physician. In HS I was a medical volunteer, certified EMT, and even went to a specialized Math & Science HS. In College, I majored in Biology, did all of my EC's, got great professor rec's, did research, volunteered, the whole shabang.

I ended up scoring a 26 on my MCAT, which was disappointing to me, and ended up throwing away my first MD application. I graduated with honors, and decided to start working, and prepping for my 2nd application. My mind was still 100% I WANT TO BE A DOCTOR.

I found a job (and was really lucky to have done so) at a Big 4 Consulting Firm as a Technology Analyst. This spring, I will make Consultant. Now, at first, I hated my job, but slowly, I saw it allowed for a lot of time to myself, and work that, while I don't totally love, keeps me and my life pretty happy.

The pay is good, coworkers are good, and opportunities are good. In a year, I'd like to apply for a Business Operations position at Google, and hopefully go up the Product Management chain there, or at some other Tech Company. These careers are lucrative. Yes, competitive & stressful, but not much more than a Medical Career.

Now, I'd had this lifelong vision of me becoming a doctor, so I did retake the MCAT, scoring a much more respectable 514. I am certain that I will be able to get admission to a DO School at least, and really believe I could make it to my state MD School.

Advise me. That's what I'm looking for. On one side, I have this career, I'm married, we're happy, and I can see me going up the latter to Partner/Director one day. On the other hand is seeing myself become the Oncologist that I've always wanted to be.

Really? Since you were two years old?

All kidding aside - you are in a place in life where you wouldn't want to take on the sacrifices of becoming a physician. At least that's how it sounds to me. AND there is NOTHING wrong with that. If you are passionate about your career, you will tend to perform better. If consulting makes your life fill more fulfilled then don't throw a monkey wrench into the equation by pursuing medicine.

 

[RajanMed]

Really? Since you were two years old?

All kidding aside - you are in a place in life where you wouldn't want to take on the sacrifices of becoming a physician. At least that's how it sounds to me. AND there is NOTHING wrong with that. If you are passionate about your career, you will tend to perform better. If consulting makes your life fill more fulfilled then don't throw a monkey wrench into the equation by pursuing medicine.

Lol, well what I'm trying to impress upon readers by that statement is that I'd only ever wanted to be a physician, and becoming a consultant, going into work everyday like I do is something I never, in a million years, imagined for myself.

@bc65 Thank you again for this info. I don't know if Consultants get a lot of respect, I haven't gotten much, but that doesn't bother me, as long as I have a purpose for what I am doing. One thing that I feel unfulfilled by is the lack of tangible effect on other's lives. I deal with companies, and product development, when I'd rather be talking to someone about their day or how something I can do can make life easier for them. Also your statement made it seem like, you're damned if you do, you're damned if you don't! haha

 

[md-2020]

FWIW, in my experience, as 99% of my classmates either went into IB or consulting tracks post-graduation, consulting is rarely a long-term career, with most ppl jumping ship 2-5 years in for something else.

 

[RajanMed]

FWIW, in my experience, as 99% of my classmates either went into IB or consulting tracks post-graduation, consulting is rarely a long-term career, with most ppl jumping ship 2-5 years in for something else.

Right, I see myself moving into product management if I kick off my thoughts of going to med school.

 

[hsk013]

i think you would be an ideal candidate for top 10 mba programs. have you thought about studying for gmat instead of studying mcat?

 

[bc65]

Also your statement made it seem like, you're damned if you do, you're damned if you don't

Not exactly, but the reality is that most of the time as a doctor you're just doing a job. There's not a high correlation between when I feel I did a good job and when my patients are grateful for what I did for them. i.e. lots of patients are very happy when something gets better by itself. Other people are disappointed after a great recovery because there's a small scar. Almost all the time, the diagnosis is pretty obvious, so you won't be a hero like the doctor on "House". In day to day interactions, you will probably not get more respect from your colleagues or support staff as a doctor than you get in any other job. There will still be difficult interactions between you and other doctors, and nurses, and other staff. You're one of hundreds of doctors as work.

Before you get to that point, you'll be a student, and later a resident and fellow. That will take a total of about 9 years for you. For that entire time, you will be under enormous pressure, you will be at the bottom of the pecking order, you will be making mistakes, occasionally hurting or killing people, you will be sleep deprived, and you'll be questioning your decision to switch fields.

So if you switch careers, don't expect rainbows and unicorns. You, more than most pre-meds, need to have a burning desire to do this, so that for the entire 9+ years of your training, you are sure that the misery of wishing that you were a doctor and not being one is greater than the misery you will encounter actually being one.

 

[Goro]

It sounds like your heart is telling you to be a doctor. So follow your heart.

I'm a 2014 graduate dealing with a dilemma. I have always, since I was two years old, wanted to be a physician. In HS I was a medical volunteer, certified EMT, and even went to a specialized Math & Science HS. In College, I majored in Biology, did all of my EC's, got great professor rec's, did research, volunteered, the whole shabang.

I ended up scoring a 26 on my MCAT, which was disappointing to me, and ended up throwing away my first MD application. I graduated with honors, and decided to start working, and prepping for my 2nd application. My mind was still 100% I WANT TO BE A DOCTOR.

I found a job (and was really lucky to have done so) at a Big 4 Consulting Firm as a Technology Analyst. This spring, I will make Consultant. Now, at first, I hated my job, but slowly, I saw it allowed for a lot of time to myself, and work that, while I don't totally love, keeps me and my life pretty happy.

The pay is good, coworkers are good, and opportunities are good. In a year, I'd like to apply for a Business Operations position at Google, and hopefully go up the Product Management chain there, or at some other Tech Company. These careers are lucrative. Yes, competitive & stressful, but not much more than a Medical Career.

Now, I'd had this lifelong vision of me becoming a doctor, so I did retake the MCAT, scoring a much more respectable 514. I am certain that I will be able to get admission to a DO School at least, and really believe I could make it to my state MD School.




Advise me. That's what I'm looking for. On one side, I have this career, I'm married, we're happy, and I can see me going up the latter to Partner/Director one day. On the other hand is seeing myself become the Oncologist that I've always wanted to be.

 

[doc05]

1. this is not an existential crisis.
2. bc65 is right.
3. did you ever really want to be a doctor? or was it just a childhood "idea" that you couldn't let go?
4. consulting is rarely a long term career. but, if you can then segue into another area of the business world, you can do very well.
5. medicine isn't worth it. the idea of a "tangible effect on other's lives" isn't enough. you'll do plenty of good in the business world - creating jobs, etc.

 

[WingedOx]

FWIW, in my experience, as 99% of my classmates either went into IB or consulting tracks post-graduation, consulting is rarely a long-term career, with most ppl jumping ship 2-5 years in for something else.

Yeah, you can make a ton of money straight out of school, but get to my age, and you see a lot of people who burned out of consulting for various reasons...

 

[RajanMed]

1. this is not an existential crisis.
2. bc65 is right.
3. did you ever really want to be a doctor? or was it just a childhood "idea" that you couldn't let go?
4. consulting is rarely a long term career. but, if you can then segue into another area of the business world, you can do very well.
5. medicine isn't worth it. the idea of a "tangible effect on other's lives" isn't enough. you'll do plenty of good in the business world - creating jobs, etc.

1. I like to read, and from what I know an existential crisis involves a person questioning substance & purpose in their life, and I'm doing just that. I want to make the right decision for myself now so that I don't regret it down the line.
2. bc65 has great advice, I agree
3. I, with all of my heart, wanted to be a physician, and still want it for reasons that I think are sustainable.
4. I agree
5. I don't know if I agree with that. Creating a job vs. helping someone's health seem like they're on different levels of service to me.

thank you @doc05

Yeah, you can make a ton of money straight out of school, but get to my age, and you see a lot of people who burned out of consulting for various reasons...

Usually, you will not see people staying in consulting for more than 5 years, at which point you start cashing in on a variety of different exit opps, I've mentioned my interests in going down the product management service line at a Tech company (I would have to get my MS in CompSci, but that is very doable). And as far as being burned out is concerned...I think for the most part, and definitely in consulting, people create their own stress. If I want to be home at 5, go to the gym, and spend time with my family, I need to make that a priority and not let my work become my life. I think this is the case with most careers.

 

[KO_TV]

Thanks for the reply. I work in Business Analytics (SAP for anyone who is interested) so YES, I love stats. Money is not my #1 motivating factor, rather happiness is.

I have crunched the numbers for lifetime earnings (before tax ).

Consulting w/o Partner Track: 11,478,295
Consulting w/ Partner Track: 14,142,466
Medicine (Academic Oncology): 10,715,000

But again, money isn't my main motivating factor. Anything above 9M lifetime earnings is plenty generous for a comfortable retirement.



*Also, I work in a field of Consulting where no travel is involved. Thank you for asking these Q's, it's good for me to put my own thoughts somewhere.

Advise me. That's what I'm looking for. On one side, I have this career, I'm married, we're happy, and I can see me going up the latter to Partner/Director one day. On the other hand is seeing myself become the Oncologist that I've always wanted to be.

Happiness is #1 motivating factor? You have a successful career, are married, and stated you're happy. Going to med school, you'd arguably lose 2 out of the 3. Oncology isn't guaranteed either.

 

[RajanMed]

Hey all, just wanted to update people on my decision and to thank everyone for the advice. Sometimes it's difficult to glean from the experiences of people who haven't had the somewhat unique predicament of deciding between two career paths like medicine & consulting. So, it's been great to get advice from people that are in the medical field.

After great though, I decided against reapplying. My decision was primarily based off of the following (5) facts.

1. I don't want to return to school
2. I don't want to throw away my current career and start over
3. I wasn't 100% sure I'd be happy with a career in medicine
4. I had a largely idealized vision of a medical career in my mind
5. About two weeks after posting this, I received a job offer in the Product Management role that I was vying for


I have this acct linkedin with my email, so if anyone comes across this in the future and wants to ask me a question, please do so, as I'd be happy to help.

 

[Cytarabine]

Hey all, just wanted to update people on my decision and to thank everyone for the advice. Sometimes it's difficult to glean from the experiences of people who haven't had the somewhat unique predicament of deciding between two career paths like medicine & consulting. So, it's been great to get advice from people that are in the medical field.

After great though, I decided against reapplying. My decision was primarily based off of the following (5) facts.

1. I don't want to return to school
2. I don't want to throw away my current career and start over
3. I wasn't 100% sure I'd be happy with a career in medicine
4. I had a largely idealized vision of a medical career in my mind
5. About two weeks after posting this, I received a job offer in the Product Management role that I was vying for


I have this acct linkedin with my email, so if anyone comes across this in the future and wants to ask me a question, please do so, as I'd be happy to help.

Thanks for following up. I'm late to reply, but my recommendation would have been work in your career and feel it out. You're already there and in a great position, career wise, so you might as well ride it for a bit if you're happy and see if you can see continuing it long term. In the mean time, if I was in your shoes, I'd live frugally, put money away over the next 5 years or so. 250-300 saved and you can use it to pursue a debt free med school or decide you're happy where you are and invest it how you want

 

[EventualMD]

Stick with your current gig bruh. You have a good thing going. Why go mess with it? Medicine is going down the drain.

That's what they said about plumbing...

 

[rednote]

The fact that you are debating between consulting and medicine, I think you should just stick with consulting.

 

[steinclub]

Hey all, just wanted to update people on my decision and to thank everyone for the advice. Sometimes it's difficult to glean from the experiences of people who haven't had the somewhat unique predicament of deciding between two career paths like medicine & consulting. So, it's been great to get advice from people that are in the medical field.

After great though, I decided against reapplying. My decision was primarily based off of the following (5) facts.

1. I don't want to return to school
2. I don't want to throw away my current career and start over
3. I wasn't 100% sure I'd be happy with a career in medicine
4. I had a largely idealized vision of a medical career in my mind
5. About two weeks after posting this, I received a job offer in the Product Management role that I was vying for


I have this acct linkedin with my email, so if anyone comes across this in the future and wants to ask me a question, please do so, as I'd be happy to help.

I’m in a similar situation now, but havent started either path yet - I’m still in school. Didn’t think that I was going to get in this year after only 1 interview in February (waitlisted in March), so I snagged a job at a boutique firm next year. Got off of the waitlist this week. I have to decide next week, if I’ll take the med school seat. Thing is, my girlfriend and all of my best friends live in the city where the job would be, and the school would he much further away. I’m terrified of going to med school, knowing that i might be much happier in the short term at the job with my friends. I’m also terrified of not going to med school now and risking never being accepted again. Unfortunately, I already tried to defer the acceptance, citing my desire to fulfill my prior commitments to the job, but the request was denied.

 

[getdown]

I’m in a similar situation now, but havent started either path yet - I’m still in school. Didn’t think that I was going to get in this year after only 1 interview in February (waitlisted in March), so I snagged a job at a boutique firm next year. Got off of the waitlist this week. I have to decide next week, if I’ll take the med school seat. Thing is, my girlfriend and all of my best friends live in the city where the job would be, and the school would he much further away. I’m terrified of going to med school, knowing that i might be much happier in the short term at the job with my friends. I’m also terrified of not going to med school now and risking never being accepted again. Unfortunately, I already tried to defer the acceptance, citing my desire to fulfill my prior commitments to the job, but the request was denied.

2 things that are different between you and OP:
1. OP has not gone though the process while you have and are holding an acceptance.
2. OP had a more stable job with income potential equal or more than he would be making upon finishing medicine. You have a job at a boutique which I'm assuming is a clothing store. You'll either be paid minimum wage or be on commission. Eitherway, your future income potential as a doctor is infinitely better than whatever this boutique is unless of course you know it'll be next Calvin Klein.

Your fear of medical school is understandable but the future potential rewards FAR EXCEED the risks. Furthermore, you're basing your reasoning on SHORT TERM reasons. You're willing to forgo medical school forever if you decline this acceptance for the short term chance of hanging out with your friends?? Are you serious? Medical school is 4 years. It's not like you'll never see them again or have to cut off ties completely with medical school starting. There's phone, vacations and holidays that they can or you can visit them. I'm trying to be really nice but I personally think you're about to make a huge mistake and basing it on very short sighted and stupid reasons.

 

[biganthony233]

I’m in a similar situation now, but havent started either path yet - I’m still in school. Didn’t think that I was going to get in this year after only 1 interview in February (waitlisted in March), so I snagged a job at a boutique firm next year. Got off of the waitlist this week. I have to decide next week, if I’ll take the med school seat. Thing is, my girlfriend and all of my best friends live in the city where the job would be, and the school would he much further away. I’m terrified of going to med school, knowing that i might be much happier in the short term at the job with my friends. I’m also terrified of not going to med school now and risking never being accepted again. Unfortunately, I already tried to defer the acceptance, citing my desire to fulfill my prior commitments to the job, but the request was denied.

2 things that are different between you and OP:
1. OP has not gone though the process while you have and are holding an acceptance.
2. OP had a more stable job with income potential equal or more than he would be making upon finishing medicine. You have a job at a boutique which I'm assuming is a clothing store. You'll either be paid minimum wage or be on commission. Eitherway, your future income potential as a doctor is infinitely better than whatever this boutique is unless of course you know it'll be next Calvin Klein.

Your fear of medical school is understandable but the future potential rewards FAR EXCEED the risks. Furthermore, you're basing your reasoning on SHORT TERM reasons. You're willing to forgo medical school forever if you decline this acceptance for the short term chance of hanging out with your friends?? Are you serious? Medical school is 4 years. It's not like you'll never see them again or have to cut off ties completely with medical school starting. There's phone, vacations and holidays that they can or you can visit them. I'm trying to be really nice but I personally think you're about to make a huge mistake and basing it on very short sighted and stupid reasons.

LOL, sorry this line made me laugh "You have a job at a boutique which I'm assuming is a clothing store." Boutique AFAIK in this field is a very specialized consulting firm focusing on one specific (or small subset) of industries.

But to stienclub 100% go to medical school. As it was said by getdown, you just have an (I assume) entry level job at a firm, the OP was already on a partner track- you have higher odds matching into a a ROAD than making partner Id imagine- I have friends toiling away at BCG, Bain already for nearly 4 years, watching others leap frog them into partner tracks because of workplace politics etc. Plus, the firm may give you the boot in 2 years for any reason, they go under or get bought out, performance not up to snuff by their whatever metric etc etc. Med school is a significantly more sure thing, you would indeed be a dumba** and a F'ing fool to turn it down.

 

[getdown]

LOL, sorry this line made me laugh "You have a job at a boutique which I'm assuming is a clothing store." Boutique AFAIK in this field is a very specialized consulting firm focusing on one specific (or small subset) of industries.

But to stienclub 100% go to medical school. As it was said by getdown, you just have an (I assume) entry level job at a firm, the OP was already on a partner track- you have higher odds matching into a a ROAD than making partner Id imagine- I have friends toiling away at BCG, Bain already for nearly 4 years, watching others leap frog them into partner tracks because of workplace politics etc. Plus, the firm may give you the boot in 2 years for any reason, they go under or get bought out, performance not up to snuff by their whatever metric etc etc. Med school is a significantly more sure thing, you would indeed be a dumba** and a F'ing fool to turn it down.

Lol my bad. I totally missed the "firm" behind boutique in the original post hence the assumption he was talking about clothing store boutique. Whoops.

 

[Drew28982898]

Hey all, just wanted to update people on my decision and to thank everyone for the advice. Sometimes it's difficult to glean from the experiences of people who haven't had the somewhat unique predicament of deciding between two career paths like medicine & consulting. So, it's been great to get advice from people that are in the medical field.

After great though, I decided against reapplying. My decision was primarily based off of the following (5) facts.

1. I don't want to return to school
2. I don't want to throw away my current career and start over
3. I wasn't 100% sure I'd be happy with a career in medicine
4. I had a largely idealized vision of a medical career in my mind
5. About two weeks after posting this, I received a job offer in the Product Management role that I was vying for


I have this acct linkedin with my email, so if anyone comes across this in the future and wants to ask me a question, please do so, as I'd be happy to help.

Hey, I wanted to ask you some questions if you could send me a DM that would be greatly appreciated. Hopefully your email is still connected.

 

[Goro]

Hey, I wanted to ask you some questions if you could send me a DM that would be greatly appreciated. Hopefully your email is still connected.

OP was Last seen Mar 22, 2016

 

[gyngyn]

Closing