Medicine as a second career - chances??

[Wayward son]

For us professionals we can still earn more than most while getting in. Actually did pretty well in my first year of med school as well.

 

You are lucky. My former employer will have nothing to do with anyone who wants to pursue another career. I had offered to work part-time (they needed part-timers badly). I had offered to work holidays and summers (they need people to do that even more). Leave of abscence? For education, which my contract said I was entitled too? Hell no. They don't want anything to do with someone who isn't dedicated to the company for the long-term.

 

Of course I did the financial calculation before I quit my job to go back to school. 4 years of undergrad (although I will finish that early), 4 years of medical school (if I get in) and 4 years of residency (could be much shorter or longer, but that seemed like a good average). That also required an age calculation too: 31 to start my undergrad, and if it takes the full estimated 12 years finishing at 43 (although, doing my undergrad faster, and the likelihood of a shorter residency likely means finishing residency at 40).

 

On the negative: losing $140,000 a year for 8 years, and another $80,000 for 4 years of residency. Plus extra expenses like tuition over 8 years, and interest on student loans once finished. I calculated that as a loss of roughly $1.7 million. (And that doesn't count inventments, or the pension contributions from the company, which I am sure puts it well above $2 million over time). As I was single, I also knew that my house would have to go, at a time when the market was terrible. But, I didn't know that my car would have to go too (to get OSAP).

 

On the positive: when I am done, I will work more hours and probably not make much more than I was making before ($140,000, plus very good benefits). But that is only if I become a doctor, which as we all know is a risky bet. If not then I was looking at leaving a high paying career to get a degree and follow that up with a worse paying career (as I won't go back).

 

So with that calculated it was no brainer. Quit, go back to school, and try for medicine. My sanity, future and self-respect are worth way more than $2 million.

[Dongzhuo]

I don't mean to be provocative, but it's not just a loss of 1.7 million or 2 million, since that money will be invested as you go forward, and assuming you gain conservatively 6% per year it would be a loss of 7.296 million by the time you're 65.

[Wayward son]

I don't mean to be provocative, but it's not just a loss of 1.7 million or 2 million, since that money will be invested as you go forward, and assuming you gain conservatively 6% per year it would be a loss of 7.296 million by the time you're 65.

 

True, but very little of that money would actually be invested. First of all I paid taxes on that 140K. Second, I lived orders of magnitude more glamorously then my current 8x8, windowless, mould-infested, all I can afford, one room dungeon current living situation. Plus I was a crappy investor.

[Kasiunut]

LOL - I did NOT make $150K a year! Try closer to $70K. Granted that's good money, but keep me shod in Manolo Blahniks it did not.

 

I'm still working part time actually as the accountant for one of my dad's companies which is keeping my mind sharp, helping pay for my mortgage but isn't too demanding on my time. It was lucky because the accountant that worked for my dad quit two weeks before I did - when my dad offered me the job to have something to do and make some money while I pursued this goal it seemed heaven sent, because I was worried about the financial impact on my family of me quitting. I'm not making as much as I did but at least am contributing financially and if I don't make it into med school, at least I won't have a huge resume gap.

 

Plus, being older I won't need to go into as much debt as a lot of people because a) I already have my undergrad fully paid for I'm married and my husband makes a good income and will likely to continue to (he has an MBA) so living expenses will be covered and c) since my husband and I have been working steadily for the past 5 years and saving money, I have that too. If at the end of the day I'm down $2M in opportunity cost, I don't consider that a high price for pursing this.

[drhope]

Obviously this thought of pursuing medicine has been haunting me its now 10:00pm and Ive gotta get up for work at 5:00 but I still felt the urge to sign in.

 

I think for the past years engineering has done a number on me being a woman, Ive been hit on by managers , ignored in highprofile meetings, and though generally my work has been good I can only get average ratings partly because of rules that you cant move through fast through a company etc. So after 10 years I make like 100++K and i look at the road ahead and I'm really not excited.

To become a director at my company unless you are supremely good you do 20years there abouts and after lots of grey haisr and corporate politics you could make 200K and then retire or you could make it further up and get really lucky , few women make it this far.

 

Anyways I feel after looking at all of this that I could do more with my life than simply report to a boss a get incremental increases every 2 years and try to be someone I dont really want to be. Fine I get to take a good vacation once a year but the monotony of 7:30 to 4:30 and the stress it involves, i feel a growing lack of satisfaction, like a cog on a wheel with 5,000 other cogs trying to get noticed.

 

I would love to run my own dermatology -like clinic , perhaps while being a family doctors with some requisite continuing education courses under the belt.

 

I'm 32 but i still want to give it a shot ...Ive done the math over an over and though I dont want to go stone broke after 10 years of hard work , I would like to start a Franchise and have friends of mine from my home country work in it while i attend medical school. (I work it at lunchtime) and get in before I start med school ;I;m not thinking anything elaborate i meant a small scale fast-food (no delivery joint)...Do you think I'm kidding myself here? ive ignored this feeling on and off since 27 but now I'm back there.

Lets face it 100++ * 5 years is alot to lose out on plus benefits so having thought of a trillion ways to make it work what do you think? I'm doing premed courses at U of C after work and the MCAT, met e really nice doc. that i'm gonna see if I can do some volunteering in the summer. My undergrd GPA is not that good but my MEng is a 3.4??? U of C I'm told likes engineers...any truth to that?