Software engineer to med school

[kokotako]

Hi, I am computer science graduate and I have two years of experience in the field but I am really interested in medical field. I am 30 years old and it look like I am too old to going back to med school which I would finish in 10 years. And one of my interest is the financial part. Because in the programming field jobs are not secure and also in the old age nobody would accept to hire you if you end up being fired from your job. So recently decide to take the med school prerequisite and apply for the school. But I am very confused because I don't want to end up like I made the wrong decision. Because right now I work as consultant and make $4o/hr. So I don't now if programming will be better for me or not.
Please tell me what you think about it. I would like to read you.

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[tncekm]

Probably not the greatest idea. If you're worried about finances and that's your primary reason for looking into med. school taking 10 years off to go to medical school is a pretty bad idea.

$40/hr is respectable money.

 

[DrMidlife]

I was a software engineer from 1991 to 2004. Then I quit, sold my house, and am now living off my retirement savings while I take premed courses. I'm living like I did when I was 19, I feel like I'm 27, and I just turned 40. No husband, no kids, no mortgage, so it's quite a comfortable lifestyle. I'll be just about broke when I start med school, and I'll have big scary loans to pay off when I'm done with residency around age 50.

Money isn't the reason I want to be a doctor, not at all. Why would I spend 10 years training to switch from one 6 figure job to another? Money is also not going to keep me from being a doctor, see above re: going for broke.

If you want to be a doctor, go for it. If you're not sure, volunteer someplace and get a feel for it. There's nothing foolish about leaving a high-paying job to pursue a career that fits you: you'll live longer, and you'll have more to give.

What's with the getting fired and not being employable in old age bit? Getting laid off is not getting fired. In software and everywhere it's always a pain in the ass to get your resume together, put on a suit and play the interview game. But if your resume is at all interesting, you will always have a software engineering job. There's too much code out there that needs maintainance, support and improvement for jobs to evaporate. You might need to relocate to Seattle or the Bay Area, and you might not get rich on options, but not being able to find a software job is a strange thing to worry about, imho.

I have two suggestions for you.

1. For me, keeping one foot in software for the income, and one foot in school for premed, was not sustainable at all. Think about quitting your job for 2 years to be in school full time (plus MCAT, volunteering and/or research), and then you have a "glide year" to make money as a contractor while you interview for med school. Doing this feels very serious and responsible to me.

2. No offense, please don't take offense, but may I say your English is not strong. For better or worse, a strong ability to communicate in verbal and written English is an absolute requirement in med school admissions. I suggest that you take English writing classes (some med schools require 2 years of English composition anyway) and look for volunteer or work opportunities with a ton of public contact. And whatever your first language is, it's a HUGE asset to be bilingual, and if you grew up outside the US and are now a citizen, that's a personal statement asset as well.

Best of luck to you regardless.

 

[powerbooki]

I kept working full time (as a semiconductor engineer) while taking pre-med classes at a local university. It's doable, but it's a very demanding. It also took long time, three years. If you count the glide year, it will be four years between matriculation and when I took my first pre-med class. Money is the ONLY reason why I kept working. If you can afford it, quit your job and take pre-med classes full time. It's faster, the results tend to be better, and you will enjoy it more. The last thing you want is not getting your best grades (and MCAT score) becase of the total load on you.

Job security in the tech field is not good, as you said, but it has nothing to do with my motivation. I am just interested in medicine. My suggestion is not to pursue medicine simply because you want to get out of what you are doing and get into some good-paying members-only career. You need strong and long-lasting motivation to pursue medicine successfully.

 

[wook]

Hi, I am computer science graduate and I have two years of experience in the field but I am really interested in medical field. I am 30 years old and it look like I am too old to going back to med school which I would finish in 10 years. And one of my interest is the financial part. Because in the programming field jobs are not secure and also in the old age nobody would accept to hire you if you end up being fired from your job. So recently decide to take the med school prerequisite and apply for the school. But I am very confused because I don't want to end up like I made the wrong decision. Because right now I work as consultant and make $4o/hr. So I don't now if programming will be better for me or not.
Please tell me what you think about it. I would like to read you.

Definitely don't do it for the money. Per hour, the pay is less than anything I did in the information technology field or law enforcement field (I'm not through residency yet, but as a consultant I made more than I'll make working in the ED). Do it if you have the interest, NOT for money as you will probably end up miserable and grouchy by age 55.

Course with that said, I'm grouchy from lack of sleep in residency.


Wook

 

[kokotako]

Probably not the greatest idea. If you're worried about finances and that's your primary reason for looking into med. school taking 10 years off to go to medical school is a pretty bad idea.

$40/hr is respectable money.

To be honnest money is one big reason for my decision. Thank you for the advice

 

[kokotako]

1. For me, keeping one foot in software for the income, and one foot in school for premed, was not sustainable at all. Think about quitting your job for 2 years to be in school full time (plus MCAT, volunteering and/or research), and then you have a "glide year" to make money as a contractor while you interview for med school. Doing this feels very serious and responsible to me.

2. No offense, please don't take offense, but may I say your English is not strong. For better or worse, a strong ability to communicate in verbal and written English is an absolute requirement in med school admissions. I suggest that you take English writing classes (some med schools require 2 years of English composition anyway) and look for volunteer or work opportunities with a ton of public contact. And whatever your first language is, it's a HUGE asset to be bilingual, and if you grew up outside the US and are now a citizen, that's a personal statement asset as well.

Best of luck to you regardless.

1. Right now I don't have enough saving to quit my job and not doing anything for leaving. I will think about this option.

2. Yes I'am not US citizen. I grew up in french country and I am in US for 4 years now. That is why my english is not that perfect. I am working on it. I hope it will get better.

 

[tncekm]

Yeah...there are a few good medical student blogs that would probably convince you not to go into medical school with money being your major concern. Don't get me wrong, probably almost all of us think about the money--its a nice perk--but there is more to it for a lot of us than simply the money.

I'd say invest in a few William Bernstein books and do some very thorough self-education on smart investing and you'll have money without the aches and pains of medical school, especially with a 40/hr pay.

 

[Twitch]

I was a software engineer from 1991 to 2004. Then I quit, sold my house, and am now living off my retirement savings while I take premed courses. I'm living like I did when I was 19, I feel like I'm 27, and I just turned 40. No husband, no kids, no mortgage, so it's quite a comfortable lifestyle. I'll be just about broke when I start med school, and I'll have big scary loans to pay off when I'm done with residency around age 50.

Money isn't the reason I want to be a doctor, not at all. Why would I spend 10 years training to switch from one 6 figure job to another? Money is also not going to keep me from being a doctor, see above re: going for broke.

If you want to be a doctor, go for it. If you're not sure, volunteer someplace and get a feel for it. There's nothing foolish about leaving a high-paying job to pursue a career that fits you: you'll live longer, and you'll have more to give.

What's with the getting fired and not being employable in old age bit? Getting laid off is not getting fired. In software and everywhere it's always a pain in the ass to get your resume together, put on a suit and play the interview game. But if your resume is at all interesting, you will always have a software engineering job. There's too much code out there that needs maintainance, support and improvement for jobs to evaporate. You might need to relocate to Seattle or the Bay Area, and you might not get rich on options, but not being able to find a software job is a strange thing to worry about, imho.

I have two suggestions for you.

1. For me, keeping one foot in software for the income, and one foot in school for premed, was not sustainable at all. Think about quitting your job for 2 years to be in school full time (plus MCAT, volunteering and/or research), and then you have a "glide year" to make money as a contractor while you interview for med school. Doing this feels very serious and responsible to me.

2. No offense, please don't take offense, but may I say your English is not strong. For better or worse, a strong ability to communicate in verbal and written English is an absolute requirement in med school admissions. I suggest that you take English writing classes (some med schools require 2 years of English composition anyway) and look for volunteer or work opportunities with a ton of public contact. And whatever your first language is, it's a HUGE asset to be bilingual, and if you grew up outside the US and are now a citizen, that's a personal statement asset as well.

Best of luck to you regardless.

During your glide year, would you be a contractor till the day school starts or take the summer before med school off and do something else?

 

[DrMidlife]

During your glide year, would you be a contractor till the day school starts or take the summer before med school off and do something else?

Aaaagh, I'm hoping I can avoid contracting completely during my glide year. Going back to software, even briefly, would be really depressing at this point. I'm hoping for some possibilities in clinical research for part-time employment, basically cover rent and stuff, and spend a lot of time in Mexico. I'm more interested in achieving Spanish fluency before med school starts than I am in being able to buy stuff, or in protecting my retirement funds.

Also if I have to reapply, yikes, then another year in software does nothing to improve my app. Learning how to live cheaply is quite freeing, and as I mentioned I'm quite free of responsibilities. I consider myself incredibly lucky to be in this position.

 

[PlasticMan]

Software engineer -> medical student here. I will tell ya now, if you're going into medicine for the money it's probably a bad idea; you'll be miserable here. If you don't have a real interest in medicine, all the information we have to learn will seem terrible to you. The job is very different from engineering. However, if this is what you want to do, then by all means go for it. If you can't afford to quit your job, find a school to take night courses at for the pre-med requirements - yeah it's gonna be difficult, but it's do-able. Good luck to ya.

 

[ironman280]

I just want to introduce myslf to you softwear engineer/MDs . The first one to come up with an accross-the-board medical information system will be the next Bill (Melinda?) Gates. Everyone in medicine and nursing will spend an amazing amount of time writing stuff down to defend against the attorneys who want to sue. The common number for the OR is 37 dollars a minute to run an OR. Multiply by the time writing in the chart, and you see where I am going. Current computerized charting is time consuming, and unique to each facility. Solve this problem, make a fortune and save us all from the ink and quill.