Software Engineer Considering Med School: Looking For Advice!

[ThrowawaySwe]

Hi all,

I have a few questions but first, here's a bit about me:

• Majored in history at Dartmouth, cGPA: 3.9 (no science, some math, D1 swimmer)
• GRE: 167V, 170Q; SAT: 2210
• Winding career path, ultimately went to CS grad school, cGPA: 3.8
• Have worked as a software engineer for 3 years at a well-known tech company
• No volunteer / shadowing experience yet

I've managed to be fairly successful at work but have grown increasingly disenchanted with how little my work (and big tech's work more generally) helps people. For a while, I was super focused on financial security and didn't pay any mind to whether my work helped people. I'm realizing now that I really do care about helping people in order to feel fulfilled. I'm considering applying to post-bacs this fall but appreciate this is a huge decision. This is a throwaway account, so I'll share that my total comp now is ~$350K. That I'm thinking of leaving that behind tells me how serious I am about this endeavor but also makes the decision very high stakes.

I'm wondering a few things:

1. I've done some research on what med school life is like and, frankly, am kind of scared of the first 3 years of med school. I'm not afraid to work hard but I _do_ worry about my mental health. I have a history of anxiety + depression, so seeing those + burnout stats for med students was sobering. Also concerned about how the stress and hours would weigh on my long-term relationship. Is the fact that this gives me pause an indication I shouldn't consider it? I also worry about failing out but then I look at graduation rates for most places and they're sky-high. Even folks I know who I wouldn't have pegged as incredibly hard-working have managed it. Curious how you think I should think about all this!

2. What next steps might you recommend I take to better determine whether I should pursue medicine? Once vaccinated, I'm thinking of shadowing at a local hospital. I'm also working my way through a high school chemistry book before work to see how I feel about some basic material 🙂. Would love to hear thoughts on how else I can inform this decision!

3. How competitive do you think I would be for some of the best post-bacs (e.g. Goucher, Bryn Mawr)?

Thanks for reading my wall of text and thanks in advance for any guidance you can offer!

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[hamiltonnyc]

I also left a lucrative career in tech in 2018 and did the long trudge to get accepted during this cycle. There are a few of us around these parts. I am extremely ecstatic to see it all coming together, but I did have lows including last year when I thought the pandemic foiled my application plans and I questioned whether being forced to take the MCAT during a pandemic and all the hoops were worth it. I think at the end of the day, only you can answer that question.

But I think your steps are right, shadowing is helpful and reaching out to physicians and med students and chatting with them is the right call. I'll say that what I've learned is that the path is very much a roller coaster, and you have to know that you might be catching someone during a low or a high. I can't comment on what med school life is like because I haven't done it, and also the mental health concerns are a real issue. But I went into it with the same search for more meaningful work as you. And at the end of the day, the question should be would you regret not trying?

Feel free to PM me for more info.

 

[ucsdfootball]

Hello. Fellow former engineer here. I left my FAANG job as a senior developer 4 years ago; if you are who you say you are then you can guess what my total comp was as well.

I will share some advice that was shared with me many years ago by another SDN techie who came before us: if you can see yourself happy doing anything else, for the love of God, do that instead. But if medicine is truly your calling, then it'll be worth casting everything aside to pursue.

I too was disillusioned with the lack of social utility my work had. Paid opportunities to do good with tech are few and far in between; I tried getting involved with Code for America and various open-source and non-profit web projects (including PPE relief efforts this past year) that aligned with my values, but at the end of the day I need to directly interact with people and apply my mind to more human and life science topics than code in order to feel fulfilled.

There are many ways to help people. Many ways to help them directly, too. Medicine is great, but if your primary goal is to help the maximum amount of people, you need to go into public health policy (or become very rich and sway politics to do good) because doctoring only helps one person at a time. Do your due diligence shadowing physicians, but also shadow other fields, including other kinds of engineering. Human-centered engineering is a topic that may interest you. You are privileged to make as much as you do; I knew very few FAANG individual contributors who made $350K+ (almost all of them at Netflix, which pays obscenely well but makes you Game of Thrones for your job every quarter). You could very well just suck it up for the next 5-10 years, save up as much as you can, max out your 401k and IRAs, and then spend the rest of your life just volunteering with whatever cause catches your attention, for however long you want.

When I had first closed the door on medicine, I seriously considered doing this. I thought about devoting the rest of my youth to marine conservation (which pays nothing) and then transitioning to teaching (also pays nothing), but in the end, I really wanted to be a doctor above all else. Some food for thought.

 

[Goro]

Hi all,

I have a few questions but first, here's a bit about me:

• Majored in history at Dartmouth, cGPA: 3.9 (no science, some math, D1 swimmer)
• GRE: 167V, 170Q; SAT: 2210
• Winding career path, ultimately went to CS grad school, cGPA: 3.8
• Have worked as a software engineer for 3 years at a well-known tech company
• No volunteer / shadowing experience yet

I've managed to be fairly successful at work but have grown increasingly disenchanted with how little my work (and big tech's work more generally) helps people. For a while, I was super focused on financial security and didn't pay any mind to whether my work helped people. I'm realizing now that I really do care about helping people in order to feel fulfilled. I'm considering applying to post-bacs this fall but appreciate this is a huge decision. This is a throwaway account, so I'll share that my total comp now is ~$350K. That I'm thinking of leaving that behind tells me how serious I am about this endeavor but also makes the decision very high stakes.

I'm wondering a few things:

1. I've done some research on what med school life is like and, frankly, am kind of scared of the first 3 years of med school. I'm not afraid to work hard but I _do_ worry about my mental health. I have a history of anxiety + depression, so seeing those + burnout stats for med students was sobering. Also concerned about how the stress and hours would weigh on my long-term relationship. Is the fact that this gives me pause an indication I shouldn't consider it? I also worry about failing out but then I look at graduation rates for most places and they're sky-high. Even folks I know who I wouldn't have pegged as incredibly hard-working have managed it. Curious how you think I should think about all this!

2. What next steps might you recommend I take to better determine whether I should pursue medicine? Once vaccinated, I'm thinking of shadowing at a local hospital. I'm also working my way through a high school chemistry book before work to see how I feel about some basic material 🙂. Would love to hear thoughts on how else I can inform this decision!

3. How competitive do you think I would be for some of the best post-bacs (e.g. Goucher, Bryn Mawr)?

Thanks for reading my wall of text and thanks in advance for any guidance you can offer!

1) You're very correct to be concerned about your mental health. Medical school is a furnace, and I've seen it break even healthy students. The #1 reason my school loses students to withdrawal, dismissal or LOA is to unresolved mental health issues. Hence, you will need to have your mental health issues under 100% control if you seek to pursue this path.

But you can help people in tons of different ways without going into Medicine. Tutor poor kids in your craft, for example. Help set up scholarship funds. You need to run TO Medicine, not merely run away from software.

2) Shadow doctors and volunteer with patients. Some types of volunteer activities are more appealing than others. Volunteering in a nice suburban hospital is all very well and good and all, but doesn't show that you're willing to dig in and get your hands dirty in the same way that working with the developmentally disabled (or homeless, the dying, or Alzheimers or mentally ill or elderly or ESL or domestic, rural impoverished) does. The uncomfortable situations are the ones that really demonstrate your altruism and get you 'brownie points'. Plus, they frankly teach you more -- they develop your compassion and humanity in ways comfortable situations can't.