Switching from Medicine to Finance

Hi,

~3.7 in non-finance related major from an Ivy
Currently a medical student at a low-ranked med school with a low/mid-tier business school in the south(#30 something, I believe)

Don't see a future in medicine and am looking at other options. Any directions on where to go? My understanding is the MBA from my school won't help me because it has no pedigree. Just don't know where/how to even get started. I am confident I can do well on the GMAT, if that would help me to apply out to higher ranked schools (but I don't really have a competitive application, no finance / business background whatsoever)

Any advice on punching out of the trainwreck that is American medicine would be appreciated

 

No one can help you if you do not state what specific profession you're interested in. Also, what year of medical school are you in?

Generally, people in your position will finish medical school and residency, but instead of going on to practise medicine they will enter finance as a health-care (or similar) analyst.

It's a difficult transition because you have a limited set of skills - none of which are financial. As such, you're limited to a small number of roles that are also pursued by others in your position.

I'm sure there are others on this forum who will be able to offer better advice.

 

I wouldn't. If you went to an ivy league for undergrad, your networking base should be pretty good already. I would do your best to break into consulting first. If you can manage to get into a decent consulting company, you should be able to get into a much better MBA program. You might find that you won't need one at all. Certainly don't go for the MBA just to help with networking though. You should easily be able to leverage your undergrad school for that.

 

There's an alumni from my school who quit being a doctor to open up his own hedge fund. He runs a $100M shop with one other analyst and is killing it. Granted, he didn't have too hard of time starting up considering he had already made a ton of connections in medicine to turn into clients.

Law school is always an option.

If you're smart enough to get into an Ivy and med school, I don't see any reason why you can't get into a top 10 MBA program. At the end of the day, it will come down to how much you want to network and grind to make that change. Good luck!

 

I don't know what it's like in the US, but almost all top IBs and PE shops in Europe value someone with a somewhat different profile like yours incredibly highly compared to the classic business undergrad.

If you do decide to head into Finance, the key thing will be to tell your story convincingly as it will 100% be the main focus of interviews, i.e. why finance and why not med school? Be sure to think about other ways to bring this story than "I actually wanted to do med school but I didn't get in", because that will certainly make your chances of getting the job take a big hit.

I would also recommend taking a further look into the Finance industry as a whole, because I expect the lifestyle and type of people to be rather different from what you would expect from the medical industry (bar surgeons, I guess). Browsing this forum would be a good first step ;)

 
Best Response

There is no doubt in my mind that you can leverage on your background in medicine for a role in finance. Take M&A in pharma for instance. If you possess an understanding of what constitutes a solid IP portfolio, what projects in the R&D pipeline are worth betting on and what the industry-wide trends are whispering (i.e. increasing specialization) then you can probably prove to be a valuable asset.

I conducted a study on M&A in pharma and its impacts on R&D activities. What I found was that those M&A deals that where based on revenue enhancements (such as off-setting patent expiration) usually targeted FDA-approved drugs. However, those deals that were science-based (acquisition of early-stage projects) proved to be more promising by comparison (ex. when AstraZeneca acquired Medimmune, Medimmune's projects accounted for 5% of AstraZenecas pipeline; today, that share is 56%).

Bottom line is that it is very difficult to value early-stage pharma projects with financial metrics, you need to have a scientific approach.

 

Voluptatem explicabo consectetur et delectus facere sit. Voluptatum explicabo ab occaecati non a corporis. Id ut nisi unde sit. Ad rerum dicta provident sed ea nam qui.

Non voluptas adipisci explicabo rem voluptatum. Assumenda consectetur qui eum a et. Blanditiis aut architecto maiores repudiandae.

Career Advancement Opportunities

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Jefferies & Company 02 99.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 19 98.8%
  • Harris Williams & Co. (++) 98.3%
  • Lazard Freres 02 97.7%
  • JPMorgan Chase 03 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Harris Williams & Co. 18 99.4%
  • JPMorgan Chase 10 98.8%
  • Lazard Freres 05 98.3%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.7%
  • William Blair 03 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Lazard Freres 01 99.4%
  • Jefferies & Company 02 98.8%
  • Goldman Sachs 17 98.3%
  • Moelis & Company 07 97.7%
  • JPMorgan Chase 05 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Director/MD (5) $648
  • Vice President (19) $385
  • Associates (86) $261
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (13) $181
  • Intern/Summer Associate (33) $170
  • 2nd Year Analyst (66) $168
  • 1st Year Analyst (202) $159
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (144) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
99.0
4
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
5
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
6
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
7
kanon's picture
kanon
98.9
8
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
9
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
10
Jamoldo's picture
Jamoldo
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”