Work or school? I’m sure many of you faced the following dilemma or something similar. Would love your input.
I’m 30 years old, no wife, no kids. In the middle of my MBA program I had a near-fatal stroke and shortly after that decided I wanted to focus the rest of my life on serving others through medicine instead of optimizing shareholder profits.
Now that I am fully recovered, should I get a corporate job to get some return on my $90k investment or should I get an entry-level health care job that fits my new career goals better.
If I pursue a corporate job, I’ll have to lie about my passion for whatever the company does to get hired (which I don’t like to do). On the other hand, I can pay off part of my student debt and save up for a formal postbac.
If not a corporate job, what are some good entry-level health care jobs for an MBA transitioning to medicine.
Ideas? Thoughts? Have you gone through something similar? What was your thought process? Thanks in advance, all.
I think we need to know more. For instance, can you take classes at night part time while you keep your corporate job? If so, I would stick with the job. If you are like me and reside solely on yourself to pay your bills and such, having a good job reduces some of the stress of doing a post-bacc and applying to medical school. You can take classes, do an internship, research, and shadow while maintaining a full-time job. You will find many people (including myself) who were able to do it.
If the job is overly demanding though, maybe switching careers might not be a bad idea at all. If you do switch to something in the health care field it may substitute for the internship and shadowing experience allowing you more time to focus on classes and get a better understanding if you really want to go into medicine or not.
Ben,
don’t underestimate the financial obligations you are about to incur as a medical student. I would advise finding a high paying job to pay down your debts and put aside some cash for the future, and in the long run you will be financially healthier. It’s hard to find a niche in the medical world without significant training. You can get a job at $8/hour as an orderly (the old fashioned term) pushing beds and wheelchairs around, but you will probably find the experience of limited value. Doing that two hours a week as a volunteer is enough. Just my opinion.
Best of luck,