MD or continue in business...

[SirMonkey]

Hi guys,

Backgroung situation:
Was hoping to get some people's thoughts on a decision I'm up for making in the near term. Some background: graduated a couple years ago, got into and deferred medical school for 2 years at a top 20 school, and have been working in New York on Wall Street in investment banking / M&A advisory.

I was very excited about the medical school I got into but also felt that some business experience would be useful in the short-term. That being said, I felt the 2 years I'd give up on the track to become a doctor and live / work / play in the city would not mean much in the long-term. The more I go through my short-term career in New York, the more I have realized that my life is more fullfilling when the focus is put on others. In terms of a service career, the desire to become a physician has gone from seeming to be the right choice to one in which I KNOW is the right choice to fullfill me in the long term.

Complication:
I recently received a private equity offer for the year I am supposed to matriculate for medical school. Private equity is the kind of business that is extremely hard to break into and recruits very early. In terms of skill-sets developed, it is a combination of almost every facet of business - the dealmaking side of banking, investment acumen side of asset management, and the operational improvements side of consulting. The compensation for a 24 yr old is also extremely good; offer is for about $425k a year, all in (base, bonus, phantom equity in the fund). The position is a minimum 2-year committment.

The decision:
Essentially trying to figure out what to do. I highly doubt the medical school will defer my admission for another year or two so that is not an option.

A benefit of going into private equity is obviously the compensation, but aside from that is a really unique learning opportunity; where else are you going to be able to buy, run, and sell companies. I have friends who are de-facto CFO's of highly leveraged companies (enterprise value ~$1B); and, they are around 25! In the short-term, again, I think this would be a great experience (much like my current 2 years in banking). And, I'd save a lot more for medical school / thereafter.

The cons are more complicated: first, I'm delaying the path to becoming a physician, which is absolutely, without a doubt, what I want to be doing with my life. While in the long-term another 2-3 years won't matter, it is adding up in the short-term. It feels like I'm delaying what I really want to be doing for a really neat experience. I think private equity would be an extremely neat experience and could do it / learn a lot in the 2 years, but it's not a sustainable career for me. Finally, I'm giving up a deferral; I'll have to re-take the MCATs (scores will be expired) and re-apply. This last bit is a nuisance, but manageable given that going to medical school is what I want to do and would be worth the effort again.


I know both are great options and appreciate any input. Looking forward to responses / your thought-processes.

Thanks in advance.

PS. I was a frequent user of studentdoctor when going through the application process; happy to talk to anyone re: pursuing a similar path, framing your deferral request, or just life in general. Thanks again!

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[MsJLewis]

first, I'm delaying the path to becoming a physician, which is absolutely, without a doubt, what I want to be doing with my life.

I think you answered your own question.

Still... $425K is AMAZING! But if don't care about the money, then go ahead and start med school already!

 

[notdeadyet]

Take the job and squirrel the money away. The ability to get out of med school debt free will give you the ability to choose a specialty or career track without eyeballing salary as much as the rest of us.

Do it for two years and when you quit, devote a year to your application. Do not work. Do significant amounts of volunteering for different organizations. Make one of your volunteer engagements fundraising or something that is an extension of what youi do now so that your resume has a nice narrative. Study hard and nail your MCAT to the best of your ability.

Where you go to med school doesn't matter much. If you were able to get in to a top 20 school now, your odds of getting into some kind of med school in a few years is excellent. This job is obviously something you want to do, it will give you great professional freedom later in medicine, and you'll be about, what, 27-28 when you graduate? You probably won't even be in the oldest quartile at a lot of med schools. Go for it.

You'll get a lot of different responses. My prediction is that most of those saying "Get thee to a med school stat" will be pre-meds. Current med students will be mixed. Practicing physicians writing out student loan checks? "Take the job".

 

[IceMan0824]

I presume this is for a pre-mba associate spot.

Total compensation of $425K with phantom equity pay, hmmm, are we talking about The Blackstone Group, LP here?

In which case (and I am biased), I say go with the offer. I know how substantially harder it is to get a large cap PE offer, especially in this market versus attending medical school (any medical school).

I presume you at least enjoy the work you did at your bank, since not only did you not quit during those years, but you went out of your way to start interviewing with PE firms.

In which case, I would advise that you work at the PE firm. If you hate it, you can apply to medical school after working for a while. Hell, you can even quit before your two-year obligation (read your contract carefully), thought I doubt you will ever get a job on the Street if you do. If you also find out that you despise medical school or the physician career, you have a large cap PE on your resume (assuming you completed the two year obligation) and contacts and networks that will allow you to transition back to a career on the street if necessary or attend business school.

Beside, having the ability to have sufficient money set aside (at a young age) gives you not only numerous options in medical school, but also in life. Who know, you can be the doctor that does volunteer work all his life and never charges a fee for his service.

Any how, I'm biased. I'm envious.

 

[jult24er]

My impression was, most people are miserable IBanking and in Private Equity and that the upside is the compensation. If that was the case, i would say go to medical school now, you know that's what you want to do and you'll be ok financially as a doctor.

But since you seem to actually value and enjoy the years you're spending in finance, that makes it more complicated. If you really think its a good expereince and that you can enjoy the two years of your life in private equity, I'd say do it, thats a ton of money. You'll still get to have a carear in medicine, and as notdeadyet says, you will have that much more freedom in what you do with it.

 

[wisconsindoctor]

Congrats on doing such a great job at such a young age.

I grew up in a poor family. So what I'm about to say is from my own life experiences. Go with the money. Gain some more vaulable life skills and put some money away. Let's say that you do get this job for $450k a year. If you pocket every single penny for that one year, you will have enough money in the bank to pay for medical school in cash. What does this do? It allows you to focus on your career and not have to worry about your finances. As a result, the amount of time that others need to focus on making sure they make enough money to make ends meet, you are out there thinking about a new technique for treatments, and so forth. You will have less stress as a doctor. End result? Perhaps you may provide better care then the doctor next to you?

Let's say that you don't take this job and you don't have much money put away. If you go to medical school now, you will go into debt around the $150k to $200k range (assuming). If you take the job, you won't have this debt hanging over your head. I know what it feels like having to worry day and night about paying for gas to get to work, how to get the utilities paid each month, coming up with 100 dollars in a week because you are short again on your monthly rent (or mortgage payment), and so forth.

I have a feeling you grew up in an envrionment where money wasn't an issue.

Medical school will be there in two or three years. This job offer won't be there in two or three years. The second that you start medical school your nuts are in a vice and there is no way out. Your job offer, if you take it, will allow for the chance to get out if you decide that medicine is not for you.

 

[SirMonkey]

Thanks for your responses.

Notdeadyet - I'll be ~27 when I enter med school, not graduate. That brings up another follow up question - how is the experience different being a 22-24 yr old vs a 27yr old starting school? I still want that study, have good, young relationships with people; the idea of being married or close to being married in school frightens me and seems boring. Obviously, I don't have much insight here...will poke around the board for some posts on this.


Iceman - it's less about what's more "competitive" (PE vs. med school) and what's the rational / best decision. I think you're right about having it on the resume and being able to leverage it later on in life. I'm thinking about an MD / MBA and need to look into what opportunities exist re: running a department in a hospital or small, private hospital. I also think the credibility to raise money for some kind of non-profit, social health work would be strengthened from PE. But again, these are more side-item benifits as I do not know right now if I want to do either of those things later on - only possibilities. And no, I am thankfully not going to Blackstone; all the reputable shops comp about the same and so the value prop for the Blackstone name diminishes drastically relative to some other very solid, shops. I also think shops like BX and Carlyle are going to have tough times in a maturing PE market ahead; Bain Cap b/c of their operational focus, KKR b/c of capstone, and TPG b/c of their "nimbleness" stand to do better than BX and Carlyle in my eyes, as do the likes of top middle market shops like HF, Berkshire, GGC, and Lee Equity. But, that's another conversation for another board...

Jult24er - I think a large chunk of people are miserable; it's funny how your perspective changes when you have an out and know you're not stuck in the "rat race" for the 20+ years - things like financial and demand driven modelling can become more of intellectual exercises than mundane tasks, though there still are many, many mundane tasks at the bottom of the totem pole in finance...

WisconsinDoctor - Ironically, maybe, I grew up in an environment where money was in fact an issue. I think my perspective has changed recently b/c of the increased premium I am placing on happiness. But, maybe that's skewed by proposed, financial security? Good point to think about.

Thanks again for the responses.

 

[ghettobrown159]

im sorry to sound rude, but are you out of your mind? if you honestly want to add value to the world, you are in the best position to do it now seeing as you have an EXCELLENT offer from the PE firm. A life of service is great, but with the direction you are heading you have the capability to make a strong impact on the finance world. And if you still find that service is your passion, you will certainly have the time and resources to do so later in life, except on a much bigger scale.

 

[ghettobrown159]

and if youre honestly worried about financial modeling the rest of your life you can easily lateral to a BB bank on WS without a problem as VP or even MD, where youll basically be a relaxed salesperson flying in from his mansion in the hamptons every morning. ur an idiot. i hate you

 

[WellWornLad]

Take the job, it's an incredible opportunity. Starting med school at 27 is not such a big deal. However, a couple of points to think about:

1) You'll almost certainly have to retake the MCAT. I don't know of any U.S. schools that will take an MCAT that is older than 3 years. If you're in a high-demand position, you might not have time to study the material. That means perhaps delaying your application another year, or perhaps taking a dive on your MCAT score.

2) You'll need to show medical schools that you're interested in helping the community with your new wealth. I suggest starting a scholarship. I'll even bite the bullet and be the first awardee.

Doesn't hurt to try...

 

[jult24er]

Thanks for your responses.


Jult24er - I think a large chunk of people are miserable; it's funny how your perspective changes when you have an out and know you're not stuck in the "rat race" for the 20+ years - things like financial and demand driven modelling can become more of intellectual exercises than mundane tasks, though there still are many, many mundane tasks at the bottom of the totem pole in finance...

.

How about socially? Would (did) you have time to enjoy life while in PE (Ibanking)?

 

[notdeadyet]

Notdeadyet - I'll be ~27 when I enter med school, not graduate.

I know that. I should have written "start" not graduate. My bad.

That brings up another follow up question - how is the experience different being a 22-24 yr old vs a 27yr old starting school?

Very little to not at all. A 27 year old blends in well with the 23-24 year old crowd.

I'm leaving out 22 year old intentionally. To me, the big divide that is noticeable in medical school is between those who graduated college and worked vs. those who went straight through. Even those who worked for a gap year have a different sensibility than those who applied as juniors. This isn't to say that there aren't some amazing people who went straight to medical school, just that a year of struggling to make rent brings you a bit down to earth in a way that's hard to replicate via classes.

So whether you go back at 24 or 27 won't have a huge bearing on your outlook or how you're percieved. I wouldnt' sweat it.

I still want that study, have good, young relationships with people; the idea of being married or close to being married in school frightens me and seems boring.

Then med school might be a wakeup call. Med school is most definitely not an extension of undergrad. It's not as wild and wooly. Most med school classes have a healthy number of people who are married and I'd guess about half of many classes are people in long term relationships that are on their way to being married. I was a bit suprised as well at how relatively stable things were. I'm sure it varies by school, but med schools tend to skew heavily to the stable/responsible type. They would have never let me in when I was the median age.

 

[08applicant]

Take the job offer. It will open doors and won't shut you out of medical schools. However, consider two things:

#1: While it's appealing to work and enter med school with a nest egg, you can do math and so you realize that your fantastic salary will be severely diminished by taxes/PE lifestyle/NYC cost of living, and then you'll be looking at zero financial aid. You'll still come out debt-free and with ~$50-100k in the bank, but not enough to be a lifetime humanitarian doctor as some have suggested.

#2: While your extended hiatus won't keep you out of medical school, if being in the top 20 is a necessity for you, think hard about whether you want to pass up your spot. You'd be taking a gamble as to whether a brand name school will buy your story after so much finance. It's possible that they'll eat it up, and you'll be in the admissions brochure of a top 10 school with a great story. On the other hand, you might end up with a lower MCAT on the retake, and a difficult story to pitch to a skeptical medical audience.

Good luck!

 

[TehDoc]

Crazy man wants to turn down a total package of 425k a year before going to medical school.. Save the money, you won't regret it.

 

[SirMonkey]

Jult24er - yes, I find time to enjoy myself in NYC. I think people, in general, will overstate the hours, the amount of work, etc to boost their importance. The reality is yes, you work long hours; but, you also have / make time to go out. And, when everyone around you is doing it, it doesn't seem that bad. Moreover, there's a TON of downtime in banking waiting for edits to come back to the analyst. All in all - yes I am enjoying myself; NYC is a great place to live in your early 20's.

08applicant - you're absolutely right on the taxes, though numbers are quite a bit off. Again, reality is what I will receive in pocket is significantly less than gross. Uncle sam is always there as your silent partner...

 

[radi0headfan]

maybe you could at least try for the deferral? be very upfront with the school and tell them your situation...and since you're also interested in MD/MBA, even though what you're doing is probably far-fetched from what someone w/ an MD/MBA eventually does, maybe there is some valuable experience that can be cross-applied?...before appealing to them, you could maybe take the GMAT and show them that you're serious about the MBA...say everything works out and they let you defer, you can always reconsider the MBA when the time comes

i know this is probably an overly optimistic view, but hey, just a thought ..if deferral doesn't work out, i would take the offer given that you dont find reapplying/restudying too much of a hassle... ill be 25 when i enter, so in my eyes, 27 isnt really that far off..by the time you're out of residency, you'll probably be in your mid 30's...but i think anything b/w 30-35 is all the same anyways ..gluck w/ your decision and keep us posted on what you end up doing!

 

[makushin]

Stay in finance. There are many paths to a service focused career. We need more people like you in NYC and Washington.

 

[MilkmanAl]

Here's another vote for taking the job. That money is far too good to pass up. While medicine is your dream, it certainly sounds like you'll thoroughly enjoy your finance position, as well. Set yourself up for life, and hit med school in 3-5 years. It'll be well worth the wait.

 

[nontrdgsbuiucmd]

Hi guys,

A benefit of going into private equity is obviously the compensation, but aside from that is a really unique learning opportunity; where else are you going to be able to buy, run, and sell companies. I have friends who are de-facto CFO's of highly leveraged companies (enterprise value ~$1B); and, they are around 25! In the short-term, again, I think this would be a great experience (much like my current 2 years in banking). And, I'd save a lot more for medical school / thereafter.

The cons are more complicated: first, I'm delaying the path to becoming a physician, which is absolutely, without a doubt, what I want to be doing with my life. While in the long-term another 2-3 years won't matter, it is adding up in the short-term. It feels like I'm delaying what I really want to be doing for a really neat experience. I think private equity would be an extremely neat experience and could do it / learn a lot in the 2 years, but it's not a sustainable career for me. Finally, I'm giving up a deferral; I'll have to re-take the MCATs (scores will be expired) and re-apply. This last bit is a nuisance, but manageable given that going to medical school is what I want to do and would be worth the effort again.

Hello, from an finance mba/former finance guy who is pursuing med school,

If you really want to pursue medicine as your career, I'd go for it now. You have an acceptance, know that wall street is not a sustainable path for you, and have stated that you don't want to defer the dream for a few years.

The salary offer is incredible and 10x what the average american earns. What will you say when you have the offer to make 10x that number in another 5 years? And realize that if you work until late 30's you can retire? If it's tough now, think how tough it will be in a few years to get out.

If medicine is the path that you really want, it will require tough choices, most of us don't have a choice like yours and the money seems to good to pass up. But in my experience, the opportunity to become very wealthy is not attractive (in the long term) compared to the opportunity to personally help others in a medical capacity, guess that's a choice each of us needs to make.

By the way, as one admissions director told me, the more successful you are in your (former) career, the higher the burden of proof is to that you truly want to enter medicine. This was not an issue at all in your earlier acceptance, it'll likely come up if you need to reapply, are you prepared for the possibility of not being accepted if you apply in 3-4 years?

 

[Cegar]

Would another medical school let you in if they know you were accepted and declined to attend?

I'm not really sure.

 

[Cegar]

This will NOT happen. The only question is whether the OP is willing to trade down in prestige of MD school. I doubt that teh OP would have to resort to these options but one can always go to a DO school or a carib school if becoming a doctor is absolutely essential. Let's see:

Option A: A few years of really interesting work and a fat bank account followed by an MD at podunk U (at worst) if (and only if) the OP decides that they really want to be a physician.

Option B: MD from prestige U.

Option A looks better to me. I think the most telling thing is that the OP is more excited about the content of the work in finance than in medicine.

You mean the OP is more excited about the content of the work in medicine than in finance?

 

[SirMonkey]

Thanks for the recent responses. Seems like a big dealbreaker is what I find more interesting. I originally deferred because I wanted to try out genereal corporate finance work. It "seemed" interesting - everything does when it's new and played up as a very "sexy" field. The excitement, as you can imagine, dies off fairly quickly (~6 months) when you're actually working. It's the same story for private equity I imagine, though I'm hoping the excitement will be more like a year, given the increased variety of the job role.

At the end of the day guys, excitement and interest in a job / school that you're not in is limited by the fact that you're not doing it yet. You can shadow doctors, work in a clinic, etc to get what it feels like to be a doctor, but until you're waking up and doing it 9 - X PM every day, you won't really know how you really feel about it. Same goes for banking, private equity, or anything else I feel.

I do know that it would be interested to work in PE, very different, and an opporunity to learn a lot. In terms of satisfaction 10 years down, it's not what I want out of life. Long story short, I have an interest in both, but long-term, 10+ years out and for the rest of my professional life, I'd like to be a practicing physician.

Nontrdgsbuiucmd - you bring a good point up about the the rising opportunity cost of leaving as salary increases. I thought of that and it really comes down to another question - at what point does the marginal value of each dollar diminish to you? Meaning, after $X amount of dollars in the bank, each additional dollar has significantly less value to you and so now, the opportunity cost of say, leaving the job and going to med school, is in fact, lower (opp cost measured as total value, not total dollars). It's actually quite an interesting question - what kind of lifestyle do you want (this kind of house, this kind of cars, this many kids, this amount of lifestyle allowance per month, etc) to build up to your yearly cash needs; then, you can back out what kind of "nest egg" you need for that lifestyle, assuming some rate of return on your capital).

Unfortunately, this analysis for me (and I think for a lot of people) yields staying in PE for more than 2 years, and to be honest, I'm not sure about the salary progression beyond 2 years, as it's not very transparent. You make money in the industry by staying in for long, not for doing a 2 year stint.

Okay, so more to think about.

Finally, regarding getting in, someone at work put me in touch with a physician on the admissions board at another top 20 school - not the school I deferred to but a very similar one. I'm going to talk it over with him to get his response on applying again later. I think some schools like non-trad applicants more than others.

 

[Cegar]

Thanks for the recent responses. Seems like a big dealbreaker is what I find more interesting. I originally deferred because I wanted to try out genereal corporate finance work. It "seemed" interesting - everything does when it's new and played up as a very "sexy" field. The excitement, as you can imagine, dies off fairly quickly (~6 months) when you're actually working. It's the same story for private equity I imagine, though I'm hoping the excitement will be more like a year, given the increased variety of the job role.

At the end of the day guys, excitement and interest in a job / school that you're not in is limited by the fact that you're not doing it yet. You can shadow doctors, work in a clinic, etc to get what it feels like to be a doctor, but until you're waking up and doing it 9 - X PM every day, you won't really know how you really feel about it. Same goes for banking, private equity, or anything else I feel.

I do know that it would be interested to work in PE, very different, and an opporunity to learn a lot. In terms of satisfaction 10 years down, it's not what I want out of life. Long story short, I have an interest in both, but long-term, 10+ years out and for the rest of my professional life, I'd like to be a practicing physician.

Nontrdgsbuiucmd - you bring a good point up about the the rising opportunity cost of leaving as salary increases. I thought of that and it really comes down to another question - at what point does the marginal value of each dollar diminish to you? Meaning, after $X amount of dollars in the bank, each additional dollar has significantly less value to you and so now, the opportunity cost of say, leaving the job and going to med school, is in fact, lower (opp cost measured as total value, not total dollars). It's actually quite an interesting question - what kind of lifestyle do you want (this kind of house, this kind of cars, this many kids, this amount of lifestyle allowance per month, etc) to build up to your yearly cash needs; then, you can back out what kind of "nest egg" you need for that lifestyle, assuming some rate of return on your capital).

Unfortunately, this analysis for me (and I think for a lot of people) yields staying in PE for more than 2 years, and to be honest, I'm not sure about the salary progression beyond 2 years, as it's not very transparent. You make money in the industry by staying in for long, not for doing a 2 year stint.

Okay, so more to think about.

Finally, regarding getting in, someone at work put me in touch with a physician on the admissions board at another top 20 school - not the school I deferred to but a very similar one. I'm going to talk it over with him to get his response on applying again later. I think some schools like non-trad applicants more than others.

The only thing I caution you on is rejecting the acceptance to stay in another field a bit longer.

Admission committees might see that as a disinterest in medicine no matter what you tell them to the contrary or how lucrative your offer was.

But I assume you'll be asking your contact about that.

 

[notdeadyet]

The only thing I caution you on is rejecting the acceptance to stay in another field a bit longer.

Actually, the bigger point will be asking for a deferral, getting one, and then walking away from a medical school.

SirMonkey- have a good answer to that one. Turning down a school offering you an acceptance is not the pi$$ing in the holy water that folks around here tend to make it.

But you asked for a deferral, which is usually a tacit agreement in which you agree to return to medical school after an agreed upon year or two. A medical school allows you to grab an experience that you wanted to do and you explicitly agree to return to medical school for a seat waiting for you at the end.

You're essentialy breaking a contract, either written or unwritten. I understand your motives and it seems like the best thing for you to do, but have a damn good reason for it or other medical schools might be reluctant to take you on down the road, if you find yourself still interested in medicine.

 

[StevenRF]

Do you have any idea what specialty you want to go into? An extra two years is nothing if you just want to go IM for 3 years, but if you plan on going to some of the surgical fields, you could hit up to 8 years for residency and 2+ for fellowships. Finishing training in early/mid thirties versus fourties....

As for the money, with those two years you could come out completely debt free and then some versus ending up 250k in the red accruing 7-14% for your entire residency. That's freedom and security. Heck, calculate the opportunity cost assuming no growth in salary for 10 years in PE versus 10 years in medical training. You're giving up millions and completely changing your lifestyle.

A couple of my friends and acquaintances just took PE jobs. The general consensus is that they are miserable. Well I just spent the last 2 months studying for step 1, and I'm pretty miserable too. In fact, the last 2 years royally sucked. Being at the bottom is horrible regardless. The difference is that they get the income and perks while I get a vow of poverty for a decade.

 

[8744]

Hi guys,

Backgroung situation:
Was hoping to get some people's thoughts on a decision I'm up for making in the near term. Some background: graduated a couple years ago, got into and deferred medical school for 2 years at a top 20 school, and have been working in New York on Wall Street in investment banking / M&A advisory.

I was very excited about the medical school I got into but also felt that some business experience would be useful in the short-term. That being said, I felt the 2 years I'd give up on the track to become a doctor and live / work / play in the city would not mean much in the long-term. The more I go through my short-term career in New York, the more I have realized that my life is more fullfilling when the focus is put on others. In terms of a service career, the desire to become a physician has gone from seeming to be the right choice to one in which I KNOW is the right choice to fullfill me in the long term.

Complication:
I recently received a private equity offer for the year I am supposed to matriculate for medical school. Private equity is the kind of business that is extremely hard to break into and recruits very early. In terms of skill-sets developed, it is a combination of almost every facet of business - the dealmaking side of banking, investment acumen side of asset management, and the operational improvements side of consulting. The compensation for a 24 yr old is also extremely good; offer is for about $425k a year, all in (base, bonus, phantom equity in the fund). The position is a minimum 2-year committment.

The decision:
Essentially trying to figure out what to do. I highly doubt the medical school will defer my admission for another year or two so that is not an option.

A benefit of going into private equity is obviously the compensation, but aside from that is a really unique learning opportunity; where else are you going to be able to buy, run, and sell companies. I have friends who are de-facto CFO's of highly leveraged companies (enterprise value ~$1B); and, they are around 25! In the short-term, again, I think this would be a great experience (much like my current 2 years in banking). And, I'd save a lot more for medical school / thereafter.

The cons are more complicated: first, I'm delaying the path to becoming a physician, which is absolutely, without a doubt, what I want to be doing with my life. While in the long-term another 2-3 years won't matter, it is adding up in the short-term. It feels like I'm delaying what I really want to be doing for a really neat experience. I think private equity would be an extremely neat experience and could do it / learn a lot in the 2 years, but it's not a sustainable career for me. Finally, I'm giving up a deferral; I'll have to re-take the MCATs (scores will be expired) and re-apply. This last bit is a nuisance, but manageable given that going to medical school is what I want to do and would be worth the effort again.


I know both are great options and appreciate any input. Looking forward to responses / your thought-processes.

Thanks in advance.

PS. I was a frequent user of studentdoctor when going through the application process; happy to talk to anyone re: pursuing a similar path, framing your deferral request, or just life in general. Thanks again!

Idiot. You can make $425,000 per year at 24 and you are seriously considering throwing it away for a shot at this mother****er? Are you insane? Take the banking job, try not to live like a crack head, sock away a hundred thousand or so per year and if, at some time in the next ten years you grow tired of having a respected, intricate, useful, high-paying job and crave seven-to-ten years (sounds like a prison sentence) of being treated like a lawn boy or a sweat shop seamstress then by all means throw it all away and apply to medical school again.

Your opportunity cost for going to medical school and the bare minimum residency: Around $3,000,000 (Three Millions bucks!) which, given the time value of money you will never make up as a doctor.

 

[Character]

watever makes u happy

 

[worker_bee]

If I knew it was possible to make 425k doing something else at age 24 there's no way I would have gone to medical school.

 

[wisconsindoctor]

I've thought about your post for the past couple of days. Nothing personal, but you would be a fool to pass up a $425k salary. You would make in a year what most Americans make with 18 years in the work force. You would make in two years what most Americans roughly make after 36 years in the work force.

The grass is always greener on the other side. Yes money is not everything, but I don't know to many people that go from a $425k salary to not making a single dollar for 4 years and then basicaly making minimum wage (hours/salary) for the next 3 to 7 years (depending on residency type) and coming out of that time period with a 6 figure debt.

Try to keep things simple. Come out to the midwest where I live (a lot of poor people) and you see just how great you have it. You might then go back to New York (where a lot of rich people live) and know just how great you do have it.

If you can't see yourself without doing something in medicine, then do that when you are in your 40's after earning several million of dollars. Pay for medical school in cash and then enter the field you match into.

 

[loganhayes]

If medicine is your passion, dive now while you still have it and no regrets. A high salary is great, but how much from it can you really save? Are you confident that you will have that job for a long time? With the current economy, people can get fired any time.

I have a friend with a similar situation as yours. Got a 40+ MCAT from an ivy, 3.9GPA in Math/Engineering. This should have sealed the deal in the top 20 med schools, right? Well, instead, she got 0 acceptance. I could not believe it myself.

Adcoms will look differently at your background; whether or not you will stay or how dedicated you are to medicine. And med schools are getting more and more competitive every year. Think about it real hard. I'm giving up a career with a six-digit salary myself. In fact, med school would cost me $1.5 million in potential income alone, excluding actual cost of tuition. I'm going to start in August this year and not looking back. The only good thing about continuing to work is that you can be debt-free in med school and do not have to live like a student. It is a great feeling, I must admit.

 

[8mile]

Idiot. You can make $425,000 per year at 24 and you are seriously considering throwing it away for a shot at this mother****er? Are you insane? Take the banking job, try not to live like a crack head, sock away a hundred thousand or so per year and if, at some time in the next ten years you grow tired of having a respected, intricate, useful, high-paying job and crave seven-to-ten years (sounds like a prison sentence) of being treated like a lawn boy or a sweat shop seamstress then by all means throw it all away and apply to medical school again.

Your opportunity cost for going to medical school and the bare minimum residency: Around $3,000,000 (Three Millions bucks!) which, given the time value of money you will never make up as a doctor.

I think the OP is worried more about not being able to keep the PE job for more than 2 years, as the attrition rate may be something he can't overcome (for whatever reason). Did you go to an Ivy, OP?

My question is are you more worried about not having a job in PE after the two years and do you see medicine as a way to stably provide for yourself? There are plenty of exit options for a man with your credentials in finance.

 

[Quadratic]

If medicine is your passion, dive now while you still have it and no regrets. A high salary is great, but how much from it can you really save? Are you confident that you will have that job for a long time? With the current economy, people can get fired any time.

I have a friend with a similar situation as yours. Got a 40+ MCAT from an ivy, 3.9GPA in Math/Engineering. This should have sealed the deal in the top 20 med schools, right? Well, instead, she got 0 acceptance. I could not believe it myself.

Adcoms will look differently at your background; whether or not you will stay or how dedicated you are to medicine. And med schools are getting more and more competitive every year. Think about it real hard. I'm giving up a career with a six-digit salary myself. In fact, med school would cost me $1.5 million in potential income alone, excluding actual cost of tuition. I'm going to start in August this year and not looking back. The only good thing about continuing to work is that you can be debt-free in med school and do not have to live like a student. It is a great feeling, I must admit.

A lot actually. He could really live off of a quarter of his salary for two years, pay tuition, and still have money in the bank and stash the other money in interesting yielding accounts. Even if he saves the other in a 3% interest account, he still makes over $6,000. Which isn't bad if you ask me.

 

[SirMonkey]

Thanks for your responses. 8mile, I did not goto an ivy, but an "ivy like" school. It's a 2 year program; occasionally an associate will be asked to stay a third year. But, it's generally B-school after that. I'm not particularly worried about job security; fact of the matter is, long term, I want to be a physician - that's not a debate-able point in my mind.

Guys, I appreciate the responses. But, to be honest, it's less about the money (though that is an amazing perk, I agree). Yes, the money is good. But, I'm also working for it quite a bit. It's more about the learning opportunity. Frankly, I was looking for a discussion on how skill-sets developed in PE can be applied directly to a career as a physician.

Do you think 4-5 years solid business experience coupled with an MD/MBA would open doors regarding running a hospital, starting a non-profit clinic, etc? Anyone on here done this? (Would be very interested in chatting...) Or, is this not a needed requirement?

I've poked around on the message board / online to look at profiles of people who have started hospitals / an exhaustive list of high-level processes to be managed at a hospital / experiences running one's own clinic, etc. - have found nothing meaty so far.

 

[nontrdgsbuiucmd]

Do you think 4-5 years solid business experience coupled with an MD/MBA would open doors regarding running a hospital, starting a non-profit clinic, etc? Anyone on here done this? (Would be very interested in chatting...) Or, is this not a needed requirement?

I've poked around on the message board / online to look at profiles of people who have started hospitals / an exhaustive list of high-level processes to be managed at a hospital / experiences running one's own clinic, etc. - have found nothing meaty so far.

Hi Guy, I'm shooting for 09 start, but am definitely thinking about what you're thinking about, wanted to share some thoughts.

Having been in corporate worlds for 10+ yrs (including a number of years post-mba) and spent the last 8 months in med labs, 2 hospitals, shadowing a physician, etc, I've found hospitals to be much "slower" and less sensitive to changing client demands than business; the effort involved in starting a new hospital versus opening a new home depot or similar are just night & day; hospitals in particular are considered part of the community; as such, there's somewhat of a city/county/governmental interest in any changes to hospitals. This is likely more relevant to a hospital leaving an area than coming in, however.

By "slower" I do not mean slow to help patients, but rather I've seen very little attention paid to things other than helping the individual patients in the hospital at that time; as I'd read elsewhere, medical folk look at helping the individual patient, business folk look more at helping the entire group/staff/community body/long term best interest of the hospital.

My concern about possibly running a hospital or running a department is I get the impression that the environment is pretty political, "don't step on any toes", realize that the environment may take years to change, build concensus among the administrative staff prior to pushing for any major change, etc.

A sibling is a physician, she was with a mid-sized practice & then started her own; this may be of interest, particularly in that one could "hire" (or be the senior physician) for a larger group of physicians and run the office as well as seeing clients. She'd mentioned that one option for me, if I felt that residency would be too tough financially to handle, would be to go directly into hospital administration following med school.

I think starting a not-for-profit could be really cool, but would see that as a more realistic part-time pursuit, or possibly one to be started after working as a physician for enough years to build up a financial cushion; an option would be to start with a not-for-profit for a while, volunteer to sit on their board once they get to know you, and build some experience to better understand how they function.

Why I think an MBA is a good thing if you're following this path:

1) pedigree - anyone seeing your cv will know you understand numbers & management in general.
2) org behavior - this was interesting to better understand business/professional interaction
3) smattering of marketing/entrepreneurship/finance/international/ electives would make you well rounded for a future admin/managerial role

I believe all the top schools have fly in/fly out fri/sat alternate weekend offerings if this was done after med school.

no I don't think it's "necessary", but it'll help open doors in the future.

 

[acej]

I'm a finance major who knows alot of people that are involved in the biggest investment firms across NYC and I call this story bull****.

25 year old working as CFO's

I have friends who graduated from the top B schools and they are still in the process of working the hierarchy. It took my friend a PhD and 10 years experience to even start working on hedge funds and you just graduated school and have an offer for 425k.

 

[SirMonkey]

Proverbial bump.

 

[CardiacCathRat]

Proverbial bump.

i hate to sound pessimistic, but i am not sure if the above story is true.

http://www.gsb.stanford.edu/cmc/reports/

you can click on the employment report from the stanford graduate school of business (arguably our nation's best) and search compensation by industry. why would you be getting paid more than what m.b.a.'s earn?

i had a friend at the gsb go to blackstone after her m.b.a., and she got 400k.

 

[dropout]

I'm a finance major who knows alot of people that are involved in the biggest investment firms across NYC and I call this story bull****.

25 year old working as CFO's

I have friends who graduated from the top B schools and they are still in the process of working the hierarchy. It took my friend a PhD and 10 years experience to even start working on hedge funds and you just graduated school and have an offer for 425k.

I left medicine to work at a hedge fund. 425k at a top private equity firm, following two years as a stellar banking analyst, is definitely possible - but of course it's certainly the exception than the rule. much of it depends on timing and how desperate the firm is to find good people.

one of the junior guys at my hedge fund made $1M after 1 year of banking and 1 year of prior hedge fund experience. this is obviously the exception, but he had a great year. he's 25.

 

[dropout]

i hate to sound pessimistic, but i am not sure if the above story is true.

http://www.gsb.stanford.edu/cmc/reports/

you can click on the employment report from the stanford graduate school of business (arguably our nation's best) and search compensation by industry. why would you be getting paid more than what m.b.a.'s earn?

i had a friend at the gsb go to blackstone after her m.b.a., and she got 400k.

the stanford numbers don't give the whole picture, at least for the finance segment. the bonus numbers on the website are just the "guarantee." it's completely expected that the final bonus will be much higher (at least 2x the base salary for bulge bracket bankers, although maybe not in a crappy year like this one).

i assume stanford just compiled initial job offer packages and didn't bother updating the compensation stats at the end of the year.

 

[p30doc]

Regardless if this story is false or not. Follow your heart, life is too short to not be doing what you want if given the opportunity.