Likelihood of doing career switch down the line to consulting & earning potential?

Yale undergrad (3.8+ GPA, life science major), currently a student at Harvard Med (thinking about applying for the MD-MBA program with HBS)... wondering how hard it would be to go into healthcare consulting as an advanced degree professional at one of the Big Three firms after finishing medical school (and possibly residency)? Haven't done consulting before, but am interested in where to get started, what it would take to be hired and make a meaningful contribution, as well as the earning potential since I could alternatively be a physician. Thanks!

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Best Response

Dual MD/MBA would be a good option, but I don't think it's completely necessary to in order to get into healthcare consulting given your background.

Pretty sure all the Big 3 have advanced degree hiring for MDs, PhDs, etc. You can go work for them just with your MD.

Check out McK's page here: http://www.mckinsey.com/careers/students/tips-for-advanced-professional… http://www.mckinsey.com/careers/students/advanced-professional-degree-c…

They also have an MD fellowship for med students: http://www.mckinsey.com/careers/search-jobs/jobs/md-fellow-1511

BCG's page: https://www.bcg.com/en-us/careers/path/consulting/advanced-degrees/md.a…

I believe at McK you come in as an Associate, which is 1 level above undergrad entry-level (analyst). Progression is fast, I think you would be at Manager in ~2 years.

Since you asked about earning potential: - Associate/MD Hire: $140-200k all-in (base+bonus), - Comp would be $200-250k all in (salary+bonus) at Big 3 manager level - The SM/Director level is where the money is $300k+ - Partners $600k+, with $1mill+ common among Big 3 partners

 

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