med school to software engineering

[vjayk]

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Hey, I'm an MS2 who's on the verge of dropping out. I came to med school for the wrong reasons and now I'm finding myself unhappy with my choice. I've realized I really have no desire to take care of patients, and no matter how much I try to get myself interested in it, I just can't. I can barely get myself to study- the motivation just isn't there. My grades have been slipping and I'm nowhere in my Step 1 preparation.

Halfway through MS2 I started thinking of alternate career paths. I started taking an online programming course and I've absolutely loved it. I find that I can't concentrate in med school lectures anymore because I'm always distracted thinking about ways to improve my code. As soon as I get home I jump on my computer and start coding. Before I realize it, it's already midnight and I haven't studied any medicine. I don't know if this is a passing fad, but I don't think so, because it's been months now and I'm just as captivated as I was on day one.

The reason I'm posting this on a med student forum is because I have been searching on here and I've seen a lot of posts from software engineers who transitioned into medicine. I was hoping I could get some input on my situation from people who have experienced both careers. I'm also kind of scared by the fact that I can find hundreds of stories online of people going from SWE to medicine, but I can't find a single example of someone going the other way. Am I making a terrible mistake?

 

[notbobtrustme]

The reason you don't see the reverse as often is because student loans often preclude most students from taking a big risk like that.

 

[OliveTree]

The reason I'm posting this on a med student forum is because I have been searching on here and I've seen a lot of posts from software engineers who transitioned into medicine.

The question is would you like software engineering just as much if you did not have a stressor (medical school) make it seem like an escape? Did you have a genuine interest prior?
Keep in mind you haven't experienced medicine yet in MS1-2.

 

[vjayk]

The question is would you like software engineering just as much if you did not have a stressor (medical school) make it seem like an escape? Did you have a genuine interest prior?
Keep in mind you haven't experienced medicine yet in MS1-2.

I have not done any real programming prior to med school, but I have always been fascinated by computer technology. I have always wanted to understand it in depth. I just never actually pursued my interest until now, when I started the programming course. I avoided CS courses out of worry that they would hinder my chances at medical school if I did poorly.

I know that I haven't experienced medicine yet, but I have had clinical exposure in M1-M2 and I just can't get myself motivated to want to do that. I don't find anything exciting or interesting in it. Do you think that will change when I experience real medicine in the upcoming years?

I have a couple of college friends who work in Silicon Valley. I just visited them over Spring Break, checked out their offices and talked to them about their work, and I actually found myself genuinely interested and eager to learn more. Now they work at top companies so their jobs are probably not representative of most (then again I have no idea). I may never be able to get to their level, but at least I have motivation to try because I genuinely want that. I have a dream to work towards. I can't seem to find that in medicine. I just can't get myself to care about it. The only reason I can think of to stay (and the reason I came in the first place) is the job security and the fact that my family would be very pleased with me if I did.

If I want to leave, I can. I don't have loans per-se. My parents have put up the money for medical school, and though I am expected to pay them back, I can take my time with that and they won't be charging any interest.

 

[DrBowtie]

I have not done any real programming prior to med school, but I have always been fascinated by computer technology. I have always wanted to understand it in depth. I just never actually pursued my interest until now, when I started the programming course. I avoided CS courses out of worry that they would hinder my chances at medical school if I did poorly.

I know that I haven't experienced medicine yet, but I have had clinical exposure in M1-M2 and I just can't get myself motivated to want to do that. I don't find anything exciting or interesting in it. Do you think that will change when I experience real medicine in the upcoming years?

I have a couple of college friends who work in Silicon Valley. I just visited them over Spring Break, checked out their offices and talked to them about their work, and I actually found myself genuinely interested and eager to learn more. Now they work at top companies so their jobs are probably not representative of most (then again I have no idea). I may never be able to get to their level, but at least I have motivation to try because I genuinely want that. I have a dream to work towards. I can't seem to find that in medicine. I just can't get myself to care about it.

Option to consider would be finish -> Medical Informatics fellowship.

EMR and other topics are huge right now.

 

[armybound]

Agree with DrB about informatics. Very good field for MDs interested in computer science.

 

[Smokemont]

Hey, I'm an MS2 who's on the verge of dropping out. I came to med school for the wrong reasons and now I'm finding myself unhappy with my choice. I've realized I really have no desire to take care of patients, and no matter how much I try to get myself interested in it, I just can't. I can barely get myself to study- the motivation just isn't there. My grades have been slipping and I'm nowhere in my Step 1 preparation.

Halfway through MS2 I started thinking of alternate career paths. I started taking an online programming course and I've absolutely loved it. I find that I can't concentrate in med school lectures anymore because I'm always distracted thinking about ways to improve my code. As soon as I get home I jump on my computer and start coding. Before I realize it, it's already midnight and I haven't studied any medicine. I don't know if this is a passing fad, but I don't think so, because it's been months now and I'm just as captivated as I was on day one.

The reason I'm posting this on a med student forum is because I have been searching on here and I've seen a lot of posts from software engineers who transitioned into medicine. I was hoping I could get some input on my situation from people who have experienced both careers. I'm also kind of scared by the fact that I can find hundreds of stories online of people going from SWE to medicine, but I can't find a single example of someone going the other way. Am I making a terrible mistake?

Yes. Sitting in a cubicle coding all day to make a piece of banking software a teeny bit more efficient so some fat cat can get that much more rich is completely different than sitting at home coding for fun. Like someone else said, I think the most likely explanation is that med school is simply difficult and you have found something that you do genuinely enjoy that allows you to escape it, causing you to ask what could have been. I come from computer engineering and transitioned into medicine through writing code for medical applications during my graduate work. Trust me, the grass is not greener.

My advice before you give up medicine is to wander over to your engineering/comp sci department and see who is working on writing software for medical applications. There are most likely multiple collaborations that already exist between them and your school of medicine. Introduce yourself and ask if you can get involved. You would be a perfect bridge between the two different departments and this would hopefully help make medicine easier to continue. There are sooo many research questions in medicine that need constantly modified and upgraded software that is written in house. Examples include genomics, data mining, image processing etc.

With an expertise in medicine and secondary skills in coding you can always work in a research lab (in academia), create apps for specific problems you encounter in clinical medicine, or work with a major medical device company. Opportunities are endless if you first have that MD.

 

[vjayk]

Option to consider would be finish -> Medical Informatics fellowship.

EMR and other topics are huge right now.

Is the Medical Informatics fellowship you are referring to done after finishing a residency? I just did a Google search for Medical Informatics Fellowship and got a lot of confusing results.

 

[armybound]

Is the Medical Informatics fellowship you are referring to done after finishing a residency? I just did a Google search for Medical Informatics Fellowship and got a lot of confusing results.

you can do informatics without doing residency. You can also do it after residency. You can get a Masters or PhD in informatics without doing residency.

There are a lot of options out there for doing informatics.

 

[vjayk]

Yes. Sitting in a cubicle coding all day to make a piece of banking software a teeny bit more efficient so some fat cat can get that much more rich is completely different than sitting at home coding for fun. Like someone else said, I think the most likely explanation is that med school is simply difficult and you have found something that you do genuinely enjoy that allows you to escape it, causing you to ask what could have been. I come from computer engineering and transitioned into medicine through writing code for medical applications during my graduate work. Trust me, the grass is not greener.

My advice before you give up medicine is to wander over to your engineering/comp sci department and see who is working on writing software for medical applications. There are most likely multiple collaborations that already exist between them and your school of medicine. Introduce yourself and ask if you can get involved. You would be a perfect bridge between the two different departments and this would hopefully help make medicine easier to continue. There are sooo many research questions in medicine that need constantly modified and upgraded software that is written in house. Examples include genomics, data mining, image processing etc.

With an expertise in medicine and secondary skills in coding you can always work in a research lab (in academia), create apps for specific problems you encounter in clinical medicine, or work with a major medical device company. Opportunities are endless if you first have that MD.

This is great advice, thank you! I may be able to keep going long enough to finish my MD but I have serious doubts that I can make it through a residency. I really have no desire to do clinical medicine. I would much rather spend that large amount of time and energy becoming a skilled software engineer. Would an MD with no residency be of any advantage in the medical software industry? If not, maybe it's best that I cut my losses and leave now instead of spending my time and energy on clinical medicine, something I really can't see myself ever enjoying.

 

[DrBowtie]

This is great advice, thank you! I may be able to keep going long enough to finish my MD but I have serious doubts that I can make it through a residency. I really have no desire to do clinical medicine. I would much rather spend that large amount of time and energy becoming a skilled software engineer. Would an MD with no residency be of any advantage in the medical software industry? If not, maybe it's best that I cut my losses and leave now instead of spending my time and energy on clinical medicine, something I really can't see myself ever enjoying.

No interest in path or rads?

 

[D elegans]

You might find in the future that if you combine your interests of computer science and medicine together, that certain parts of the clinical aspects (even if that's something non-patient related like path, rads or whatever) become more interesting to you.

 

[vjayk]

No interest in path or rads?

Unfortunately I don't think so. Rads and path are still medicine, though not clinical. I have come to realize that I don't have any more than a lukewarm interest in medical science, and I really don't find anything particularly appealing about diagnosing or treating patients. When I started to study programming, however, I just started feeling this crazy drive to know more and more. I couldn't put it down. I never get that with medicine and I'm honestly finding myself addicted to that feeling. It is making me abhor the thought of slogging through many more years of medical training, time and energy I could be spending to become a really good software engineer and really understand in depth the workings of it all.

To emphasize how much I've gotten into it- when I figured out how to reduce 10 lines of code into just 2 really elegant lines of code, I was on a high for the next two days.

 

[Smokemont]

One last thing. I would try to realize the importance of not making an abrupt, irrational decision. Think of all the time it took to get into medicine, you owe it to yourself to take the necessary time before quitting it. My main point in getting involved in research is to give you some time to really think about your decision while continuing medicine and programming.

I would also advise you to look into pattern recognition, learning algorithms and image processing, and like others have said, I would say radiology could be a residency you could complete if it had a strong research component (you could always apply to research heavy academic centers). See if your school has active research in rads. I guarantee they have comp sci people working with them.

It's great to have hobbies outside of your main career (medicine right now). I love playing basketball. I crossed over some guy and hit a step back 3, then blew past another and finished with a finger roll at the rim. Felt a high for a while and was pumped up for march madness here shortly....

...that doesn't mean I'm going to drop out of med school and enter the draft, that would be crazy.

 

[vjayk]

One last thing. I would try to realize the importance of not making an abrupt, irrational decision. Think of all the time it took to get into medicine, you owe it to yourself to take the necessary time before quitting it. My main point in getting involved in research is to give you some time to really think about your decision while continuing medicine and programming.

I would also advise you to look into pattern recognition, learning algorithms and image processing, and like others have said, I would say radiology could be a residency you could complete if it had a strong research component (you could always apply to research heavy academic centers). See if your school has active research in rads. I guarantee they have comp sci people working with them.

It's great to have hobbies outside of your main career (medicine right now). I love playing basketball. I crossed over some guy and hit a step back 3, then blew past another and finished with a finger roll at the rim. Felt a high for a while and was pumped up for march madness here shortly....

...that doesn't mean I'm going to drop out of med school and enter the draft, that would be crazy.

Thanks again, I am actually going to go talk to the comp sci/engineering dept today itself and see if they have any projects that I can work on.

I agree with you that if my interest had been something unrealistic like becoming a pro athlete or a movie star, it would be pretty crazy to dump med school for that, but I don't think it is that crazy to do so for a career in software engineering.

But you are right, I am going to take some more time to think about it, I definitely won't make any rash decisions.

 

[DrBowtie]

I'd say at least finish the year. The amount of tuition you would save by dropping out now would be small. Take Step 1 to leave your options open.

If you really want to switch careers, figure out if you need a full CS degree, certain certs, etc. The fact you already know people in this field helps. Figure out a plan while simultaneously finishing this year.

After Step 1, discuss taking an academic LOA with your school if you really want to pursue the CS route. This again keeps your options open to return.

It's a tough call if you honestly don't see yourself having any place in medicine. You're really at the last decision point as once you hit third year, the debt would likely lock you in.

 

[Smokemont]

Thanks again, I am actually going to go talk to the comp sci/engineering dept today itself and see if they have any projects that I can work on.

I agree with you that if my interest had been something unrealistic like becoming a pro athlete or a movie star, it would be pretty crazy to dump med school for that, but I don't think it is that crazy to do so for a career in software engineering.

But you are right, I am going to take some more time to think about it, I definitely won't make any rash decisions.

You're welcome. Yes, of course I am exaggerating and I don't mean to belittle your interests as being "crazy". My intent was to get you to think about it more, which it sounds like you are. I am sort of a non-trad who took a while to find what makes me happy and have the cahones to do it. If you ultimately still can't take medicine and want to pursue software engineering then best of luck to you. Do what makes you happy.

 

[HatWobble]

You are much, much more valuable as an MD with a computer science interest than as a MD-dropout with a computer science interest and no CS undergrad background to speak of.

As others have said, get your MD, and start looking into EMR opportunities during your fourth year while everyone else is doing their residency apps.

If you drop out now, you are essentially an 18-year-old again, as you'd need to go back to college to get a Bachelors in Computer Science. You may have an interest in CS now, but I can tell you that you don't have the coding chops to land a meaningful and career-advancing job.

 

[EMquest3]

I can't stress enough that learning to program and writing code for fun is very very different than a software engineering career. It's definitely the most fun when you are beginning, but I am gonna guess that sometime the novelty of coding will wear off. I'm not saying you can't successfully make the career switch, but giving up med school before 3rd year is like giving up on cooking after buying all the ingredients.

 

[pp77]

I can't stress enough that learning to program and writing code for fun is very very different than a software engineering career. It's definitely the most fun when you are beginning, but I am gonna guess that sometime the novelty of coding will wear off. I'm not saying you can't successfully make the career switch, but giving up med school before 3rd year is like giving up on cooking after buying all the ingredients.

Agreed. Dropping out of med school because you're having fun with your edX projects strikes me as, to put it politely, very unwise.

 

[MetalGearFox]

Yes you are making a huge mistake. You do not actually code until midnight and lose track of time. That's some romantic bull**** you cooked up for this thread. You are taking an easy online intro CS course a 5 year old could take. Of course it is fun. Of course you enjoy it. Because it is easy. You are not Mark Zuckerburg. Snap out of it and go study medicine.

 

[JP2740]

you might find in the future that if you combine your interests of computer science and medicine together, that certain parts of the clinical aspects (even if that's something non-patient related like path, rads or whatever) become more interesting to you.

+1

 

[JP2740]

yes you are making a huge mistake. You do not actually code until midnight and lose track of time. That's some romantic bull**** you cooked up for this thread. You are taking an easy online intro cs course a 5 year old could take. Of course it is fun. Of course you enjoy it. Because it is easy. You are not mark zuckerburg. Snap out of it and go study medicine.

+1

 

[GalenAgas]

Hey, I'm an MS2 who's on the verge of dropping out. I came to med school for the wrong reasons and now I'm finding myself unhappy with my choice. I've realized I really have no desire to take care of patients, and no matter how much I try to get myself interested in it, I just can't. I can barely get myself to study- the motivation just isn't there. My grades have been slipping and I'm nowhere in my Step 1 preparation.

Halfway through MS2 I started thinking of alternate career paths. I started taking an online programming course and I've absolutely loved it. I find that I can't concentrate in med school lectures anymore because I'm always distracted thinking about ways to improve my code. As soon as I get home I jump on my computer and start coding. Before I realize it, it's already midnight and I haven't studied any medicine. I don't know if this is a passing fad, but I don't think so, because it's been months now and I'm just as captivated as I was on day one.

The reason I'm posting this on a med student forum is because I have been searching on here and I've seen a lot of posts from software engineers who transitioned into medicine. I was hoping I could get some input on my situation from people who have experienced both careers. I'm also kind of scared by the fact that I can find hundreds of stories online of people going from SWE to medicine, but I can't find a single example of someone going the other way. Am I making a terrible mistake?

At the present moment do you parents help you financially?

 

[vjayk]

Yes you are making a huge mistake. You do not actually code until midnight and lose track of time. That's some romantic bull**** you cooked up for this thread. You are taking an easy online intro CS course a 5 year old could take. Of course it is fun. Of course you enjoy it. Because it is easy. You are not Mark Zuckerburg. Snap out of it and go study medicine.

Hey, that's not very helpful. What if I actually was Mark Zuckerberg and you told me to go study medicine instead of founding Facebook? I would have ruined my life listening to you. Medicine isn't the only worthwhile profession you know. It's not like people only do other things because they can't get into med school, sometimes they actually don't like medicine and enjoy other things more for reasons that have nothing to do with those other things being "easier". I guess it's hard to see that when your entire life revolves around medicine.

By the way, it's not romantic bull****. It sounds like you've never experienced any real passion for anything. I bet your next piece of advice is to pick my specialty based on what pays the most and gets the most chicks.

 

[vjayk]

At the present moment do you parents help you financially?

Yes, my parents are covering my med school tuition and costs, which I am expected to repay in the future, so I won't have to deal with loans.

 

[vjayk]

You are much, much more valuable as an MD with a computer science interest than as a MD-dropout with a computer science interest and no CS undergrad background to speak of.

As others have said, get your MD, and start looking into EMR opportunities during your fourth year while everyone else is doing their residency apps.

If you drop out now, you are essentially an 18-year-old again, as you'd need to go back to college to get a Bachelors in Computer Science. You may have an interest in CS now, but I can tell you that you don't have the coding chops to land a meaningful and career-advancing job.

Thanks, this is actually good advice, unlike the others who are laughing at me for daring to think that there might be something I'll find more enjoyable and worthwhile out there than medicine.

 

[vjayk]

Agreed. Dropping out of med school because you're having fun with your edX projects strikes me as, to put it politely, very unwise.

I think you misunderstood me. The main reason I've been thinking of dropping out of med school is because I just don't like medicine that much, and I can't get myself motivated to put in the work needed to finish. I'm not ditching med school because I enjoyed my online CS class. I'm just thinking that if I can't make it through med school, CS would probably be a route that I could take for a career.

 

[EMquest3]

Hey, that's not very helpful. What if I actually was Mark Zuckerberg and you told me to go study medicine instead of founding Facebook? I would have ruined my life listening to you. Medicine isn't the only worthwhile profession you know. It's not like people only do other things because they can't get into med school, sometimes they actually don't like medicine and enjoy other things more for reasons that have nothing to do with those other things being "easier". I guess it's hard to see that when your entire life revolves around medicine.

By the way, it's not romantic bull****. It sounds like you've never experienced any real passion for anything. I bet your next piece of advice is to pick my specialty based on what pays the most and gets the most chicks.

Your original post says you just started an online programming course. Since you are just beginning I would really caution you that those epic programming session that seem so great right now really are just from the novelty. You asked for advice from people who have spent time actually coding for a living and we are trying to tell you how different a job in the field will be. What you are doing is more akin to a passion project which is a great thing to have and occasionally they can be a career, but most of the time not. If you seriously end up becoming a software engineer the work you do for a job will not be anywhere near as stimulating. You can disregard my advice like you seem to be doing with others who have already said similar things, but then what was the point of asking us?

 

[MetalGearFox]

Hey, that's not very helpful. What if I actually was Mark Zuckerberg and you told me to go study medicine instead of founding Facebook?
Guess what, most likely you won't be. I am trying to help you realize this so you don't throw your life away.
I would have ruined my life listening to you. Medicine isn't the only worthwhile profession you know.
I never said that. Who thinks this?
It's not like people only do other things because they can't get into med school, sometimes they actually don't like medicine and enjoy other things more for reasons that have nothing to do with those other things being "easier". I guess it's hard to see that when your entire life revolves around medicine.
This is just a part of being human. We enjoy things we are good at. We do not enjoy things we suck at. It is easy to be good at easy things, and hence enjoy them.
By the way, it's not romantic bull****. It sounds like you've never experienced any real passion for anything. I bet your next piece of advice is to pick my specialty based on what pays the most and gets the most chicks.
I am passionate about helping you avoid a terrible decision you will regret. By all means combine the two, but dropping medicine altogether because of a (possibly) fleeting interest in programming is stupid. If medical school and medicine truly make you unhappy then by all means do what you think will make your life less miserable.

see bold.

 

[vjayk]

Your original post says you just started an online programming course. Since you are just beginning I would really caution you that those epic programming session that seem so great right now really are just from the novelty. You asked for advice from people who have spent time actually coding for a living and we are trying to tell you how different a job in the field will be. What you are doing is more akin to a passion project which is a great thing to have and occasionally they can be a career, but most of the time not. If you seriously end up becoming a software engineer the work you do for a job will not be anywhere near as stimulating. You can disregard my advice like you seem to be doing with others who have already said similar things, but then what was the point of asking us?

I'm not disregarding anyone's advice. I appreciate everything that has been said and I read it all and I am definitely considering everything. The only thing that irritated me a bit was people straight up mocking me. I'm not that dumb, I realize that the real life of a coder is far different from what I am experiencing now as a beginner. I'm not deluded into thinking that I am going to jump into software tomorrow and become a Mark Zuckerberg. I am just wondering if that life will be any better than the life I have ahead of me in medicine, a field that I am starting to feel like I will never enjoy. I am not expecting my entire career in software engineering to be just like the first few months of a simple programming class. What I am wondering is if a career in software will be less miserable than a career in medicine. I don't think I could make it through 5+ more years of medical training without becoming suicidal at this point.

I really do value your advice.

 

[witzelsucht]

A lot people in this thread are saying similar things, so here's how you can prove it to yourself.

Go join mozilla or libreoffice or some other open source project. Go to the list of bugs to be fixed and start doing that. See if you want to do that all night until midnight - because that's what you'll be doing as a software engineer.

I took CS in high school, and yeah it was tons of fun. It's fun because you're still figuring out the logic of loops and recursion and algorithms, etc. The real world of programming is that someone has already invented all the cool stuff and you are just going to be implementing the most efficient version, and searching for bugs and trying to figure out why it won't compile because some guy wrote a weird thing in the 70s in COBOL.

 

[vjayk]

see bold.

I apologize for the tone of my post. I realize now that you were only trying to help me. I don't think that I only enjoy coding because it's easy. There are many things that I am good at and are easy, but I don't enjoy doing them. I think there is more to it than just that.

 

[vjayk]

A lot people in this thread are saying similar things, so here's how you can prove it to yourself.

Go join mozilla or libreoffice or some other open source project. Go to the list of bugs to be fixed and start doing that. See if you want to do that all night until midnight - because that's what you'll be doing as a software engineer.

I took CS in high school, and yeah it was tons of fun. It's fun because you're still figuring out the logic of loops and recursion and algorithms, etc. The real world of programming is that someone has already invented all the cool stuff and you are just going to be implementing the most efficient version, and searching for bugs and trying to figure out why it won't compile because some guy wrote a weird thing in the 70s in COBOL.

I see your point, but couldn't a similar experiment be proposed for an aspiring doctor? Is the daily life of most doctors much more stimulating and exciting? It seems to me that it isn't a whole lot different from working all day on a list of bugs. You're not discovering new diseases or treatments on a daily basis. Someone has already figured out the cool stuff there as well, and you're basically just implementing the most efficient version. Should you ignore your spark for a field simply because most of the work is mundane? If that is the case, how would I even pick a field to begin with? Based on compensation? Because that's how I picked medicine to begin with.

If both fields are equally mundane and tedious, then I think I would rather pick the one that involves sitting behind a computer screen all day, since I am really not a people person.

 

[EMquest3]

I'm not disregarding anyone's advice. I appreciate everything that has been said and I read it all and I am definitely considering everything. I realize that the real life of a coder is far different from what I am experiencing now as a beginner. I am just wondering if that life will be any better than the life I have ahead of me in medicine, a field that I am starting to feel like I will never enjoy. I am not expecting my entire career in software engineering to be just like the first few months of a simple programming class. What I am wondering is if a career in software will be less miserable than a career in medicine.

How do you know you will hate your life in medicine? As an MS2 I had no idea what it was really like even if I thought I did. I shadowed and did plenty of clinical stuff in first and second year, but it just can't compare to the eye-opening MS3 experience. Even as a matched MS4 I can't say I know exactly what it's like to be an attending. Beyond that, there are such vast differences when you consider specialty choice. I guess the bottomline is I wonder if you really know enough to say you don't like medicine at this point.

 

[tiedyeddog]

I would at least take step 1. Did you try searching out MDs involved into the emr at your school?

 

[EMquest3]

If both fields are equally mundane and tedious, then I think I would rather pick the one that involves sitting behind a computer screen all day, since I am really not a people person.

Radiology, Rad Onc, bioinformatics research would all put you behind a computer or in a lab for your career.

 

[vjayk]

How do you know you will hate your life in medicine? As an MS2 I had no idea what it was really like even if I thought I did. I shadowed and did plenty of clinical stuff in first and second year, but it just can't compare to the eye-opening MS3 experience. Even as a matched MS4 I can't say I know exactly what it's like to be an attending. Beyond that, there are such vast differences when you consider specialty choice. I guess the bottomline is I wonder if you really know enough to say you don't like medicine at this point.

It's true that I don't know exactly what it's going to be like. But I do know I just can't find any motivation to keep me afloat right now. I just can't envision the job being something that is worth all this stress I'm going through. Maybe software engineering will be just as stressful and challenging, I don't know- but I don't think that's very likely. That's something I would really like to hear from the people here who have experienced both: how they compare.

I can't make it through with the only motivation to do so being job security and money, because I'm not really a person who cares about money so much. I'd be perfectly happy with making an average salary. What I really want is to do something that I actually am happy doing. Maybe there is nothing like that out there, I don't know, but I feel like I need to at least try to find it.

 

[vjayk]

I would at least take step 1. Did you try searching out MDs involved into the emr at your school?

I'm working on that. My school is pretty small and doesn't have a lot going on, unfortunately. I'm thinking that I might have to look to people outside the school for this.

 

[Drewmz]

yes you are making a huge mistake. You do not actually code until midnight and lose track of time. That's some romantic bull**** you cooked up for this thread. You are taking an easy online intro cs course a 5 year old could take. Of course it is fun. Of course you enjoy it. Because it is easy. You are not mark zuckerburg. Snap out of it and go study medicine.

+1

 

[link2swim06]

I love coding also. And your story sounds similar to mine during M1/M2 year.

However, you haven't even given medicine a try. After M3 year I decided coding would be better a hobby and medicine would be a better career. I still spend a lot of time coding but remember you didn't make the decision to go to med school overnight.

 

[vjayk]

I love coding also. And your story sounds similar to mine during M1/M2 year.

However, you haven't even given medicine a try. After M3 year I decided coding would be better a hobby and medicine would be a better career. I still spend a lot of time coding but remember you didn't make the decision to go to med school overnight.

Just curious, what is it about your experience in M3 year that made you come to this decision?

 

[witzelsucht]

Even if you decide you 100% do not want to practice, the MD in itself has so much value. You've already done so much of it. Once you graduate, you could go into software development for a company making EMR, imaging software, design a better EKG reading algorithm, neural simulation, etc. Those letters after your name are important. If you look at it from an efficiency standpoint, with the MD + self taught basic coding, you could be out programming and making bucks fairly soon. If you drop out now you'll need to probably do a 4 year CS degree.

 

[EMquest3]

Even if you decide you 100% do not want to practice, the MD in itself has so much value. You've already done so much of it. Once you graduate, you could go into software development for a company making EMR, imaging software, design a better EKG reading algorithm, neural simulation, etc. Those letters after your name are important. If you look at it from an efficiency standpoint, with the MD + self taught basic coding, you could be out programming and making bucks fairly soon. If you drop out now you'll need to probably do a 4 year CS degree.

This is so very true. The EM attending at Mayo that designed their "Yes board" is a stellar example. His name is escaping me at the moment. I think he's at their Arizona hospital now so if you are near there it could be worth a shot trying to contact him for possible research opportunities.

 

[vjayk]

This is so very true. The EM attending at Mayo that designed their "Yes board" is a stellar example. His name is escaping me at the moment. I think he's at their Arizona hospital now so if you are near there it could be worth a shot trying to contact him for possible research opportunities.

I found it - http://www.mayoclinic.org/news2012-sct/6978.html

 

[vjayk]

If you guys know of any other MDs that are doing software development, please let me know- that would be really awesome. I'm going to try to get my feet wet in the medical software field.

 

[crock1255]

This is good advice. I took time off from med school and found myself getting involved in CS/AI things. It's fun, it's awesome. Until it's not. There are a lot of ways to think about it, and my experience is limited, but I'll throw in my 2 cents: a CS degree isn't about building webapps or iPhone apps. It's about applied math. A lot of applied math. Look at the questions google asks their interviewing engineers. You also need to ask yourself what part of CS you like - is it algorithms, databases (relational algebra), visualization (basically physics I think), compression? Because these are the things you'll be spending your time doing. If you like coding and like some projects, do it as a hobby.
If you want to be a coder and work for a startup or something like that, degrees aren't really what matters initially. It's about projects, accomplishments, and hacking. But the ones who advance to a CTO-type level still need the CS theory/computation courses.


The skill set is freaking awesome. There's so much satisfaction when your app isn't working and then you tweak it, and then it is! And you're like "holy-crap! I just did that! I made that happen!" Now I haven't been on the other side, but I'm imagining MDs feel like this on steroids.

Also, Zuckerberg is an entrepreneur, not a programmer. Larry Page and Bill Gates were both.

Again my 2 cents, and I'm interested to hear the input of others. It's something I've struggled with too, and I don't find the "you'll be more valuable with an MD knowing CS" satisfactory, but it likely has some merit.

I love coding also. And your story sounds similar to mine during M1/M2 year.

However, you haven't even given medicine a try. After M3 year I decided coding would be better a hobby and medicine would be a better career. I still spend a lot of time coding but remember you didn't make the decision to go to med school overnight.

 

[Hawaiianhost1]

One of my good friends dropped out of med school during the first week of M2 and enrolled into an undergrad computer science program. She seems to be happier than ever. I guess it's not that uncommon to switch from medicine to computer science/engineering

 

[vjayk]

This is good advice. I took time off from med school and found myself getting involved in CS/AI things. It's fun, it's awesome. Until it's not. There are a lot of ways to think about it, and my experience is limited, but I'll throw in my 2 cents: a CS degree isn't about building webapps or iPhone apps. It's about applied math. A lot of applied math. Look at the questions google asks their interviewing engineers. You also need to ask yourself what part of CS you like - is it algorithms, databases (relational algebra), visualization (basically physics I think), compression? Because these are the things you'll be spending your time doing. If you like coding and like some projects, do it as a hobby.
If you want to be a coder and work for a startup or something like that, degrees aren't really what matters initially. It's about projects, accomplishments, and hacking. But the ones who advance to a CTO-type level still need the CS theory/computation courses.


The skill set is freaking awesome. There's so much satisfaction when your app isn't working and then you tweak it, and then it is! And you're like "holy-crap! I just did that! I made that happen!" Now I haven't been on the other side, but I'm imagining MDs feel like this on steroids.

Also, Zuckerberg is an entrepreneur, not a programmer. Larry Page and Bill Gates were both.

Again my 2 cents, and I'm interested to hear the input of others. It's something I've struggled with too, and I don't find the "you'll be more valuable with an MD knowing CS" satisfactory, but it likely has some merit.

I am also not so sure about the "MD knowing CS idea". The thing is the two years I have left are mostly clinical from my understanding but I'm really not interested in clinical medicine at all right now (though I suppose that could change with experience). I feel like if I worked hard for two years at programming instead with the same level of work I've been putting into med school, I could be very employable by the end of it, and also not be out another 100k. If I stay in Med school, I'm not going to have much time to program, so my skills will still be rudimentary at the end of two years. I'll have an MD, sure, but without a residency I can't do anything with it, and without good programming skills and work experience I can't get a job in programming either, even medical software since having an MD is nice but doesn't help you code better. So at the end of two years I will be pretty much unemployable. Unless I decide to do residency, which will add another 3 years on to the timeline, so that's 5 additional years I've put in to finish my medical training, which still really only qualifies me to do clinical work, because I still won't be good at programming by the end of that time. So if I don't want to be a clinical doctor at that point, I'd have to spend a couple more years to learn programming, but by that point, was it really worth it? This is what worries me about continuing.

Also, Zuckerberg is actually a programmer and an entrepreneur, to my understanding. He doesn't code too much anymore, but he did do a lot of coding in the past. He coded the Synapse Media Player which I actually used back in the day, it had pretty cool AI features. He also did most of the coding in the initial stages of Facebook from what I understand. Bill Gates also only coded in the beginning of Microsoft and quit coding to focus on the management/business side of things soon after the company took off.

 

[link2swim06]

Just curious, what is it about your experience in M3 year that made you come to this decision?

Ultimately I am a problem solver. Which is why I liked coding. There were always new things to figure out.

M1/M2 year wasn't stimulating to me. It was memorizing with next to ZERO problem solving. Frankly it was boring and mindless work (for the most part).

M3 year and clinical medicine brings lots of problem solving. No patient is the same. It can be interesting to (1) figure out what is wrong with them (2) figure out the evidence supporting your diagnostic/treatment plans and then ultimately implement those things.


It's more reward for me to improve one's life than write some code for a fortune 500 company to improve their bottom line. This is why I decided I want to stick with medicine as a career and do coding as a hobby.