Worth it to finish medical school or take an ER job?
Sup monkeys,
So I just spoke with a medical doctor (MD) who's a M and A IB MD in healthcare. I asked if I should take an ER job offer I have to eventually switch into IB or finish my remaining 2.5 years of medical school and do an MBA before applying to associate programs in IBD.
He highly recommended I finish medical school and obtain an MBA before trying to break into IB. This is not something I wanted to hear, but would love to hear everyone's take on this.
Pros - I have an MBA and an MD. Not sure how useful the MD is outside of the vanity of it.
Cons - paying another roughly 170,000$ in tuition and another five years of schooling which will make me lose a salary and experience in finance.
Any opinions would be appreciated!
Finish med school. Having that credential will help you tons when going into banking/buyside and opens up way more doors.
Appreciate the insight man!
He’s not wrong. I’d also suggest finishing for a host of reasons.
Whatever you think you know now about health and biology, is but a fraction of what you’ll understand and be able to connect at the end of school/residency esp if you’re immersed in research the whole time.
Being able to sniff out funded research and if its legit/promising among other things , is the value. They want the best and brightest in a way thats not that dissimilar to HRT or Citadel fighting for top talent for that edge.
Sometimes it takes mere seconds to know an idea that sounds hot, promising, bullet proof, billion dollar unicorn idea.. is just fundamentally trash. Not because the science is bad, or the product won’t work but b/c its just a solution in search of a problem that doesnt exist . Takes years to develop the skills to put it all together. Then takes years more to be able to put that into clear concise writing that non science investors can strongly connect with.
If you’re looking to transition out and its due to this semester being particularly brutal(2nd year fall semester is the worst), well, you’re through it.
Clinical start soon and that may give you a fresh perspective on the field and your goals. (Though even this is nothing like residency which is nothing like being an attending.)
As a counter point, if you just want to get into finance, you have a target school on your resume, you don’t want to do med school/medicine at all and it doesnt have to do with school being hard this semester, then I think it’d be ok to transition with the offer as long as that firm has exits that work for you (and you match those profiles even without a doctorate)
There was a post a few months ago where someone explained some of the downside of being in ER. I recommend that read.
Best of luck!
Appreciate the response man! I’m still undecided on the path to take. I have about 2-3 weeks to decide and go from there.
Also I finished my first two years of medical school. I’m currently doing a year of research in between M2 and M3. That’s why I say I have 2.5 years left.
Everyone has been telling me to finish so I guess I will. It’s probably the right advice but not what I wanted to hear sadly.
I'm going to go against the grain here and say you shouldn't finish med school. As you acknowledged in the OP, it's a lot of time and money and you're also sacrificing 2 years of comp + career progression (+ overhang of debt and interest payments).
You already have an ER offer in hand it seems like and can use that to jump to IB, completely bypassing the need to get an MBA. Sure, an MD will help if you're covering HC and make you a much more differentiated finance professional, but there's no guarantee that's the sector you'll even be going into. Also not sure if med school alone is truly enough to make somebody a subject matter expert in HC, still fairly generalized knowledge IMO (this is coming from somebody who is married to a first year resident right now).
I seriously doubt that any potential higher earning power from entering finance w/ an MD is enough to overcome the add'l med school debt, opportunity cost of not working during those years, and a potential MBA down the line as well.
That said, all the above is assuming that 1) you know you want to go into finance and have 0 interest of pursuing a LT career in medicine, and 2) this is a reputable ER offer.
I’ve come to the conclusion that I don’t want a long career in healthcare. I went into it because of familial pressures.
In terms of reputable ER shop… that I do not know. It’s a well known MM bank in the south. I also am on my second round interview with 2 BB’s, but the one I have the greatest shots at getting an offer has a poor ER reputation. That being said it also has the best reputation in IB… take that how you will.
In ER does the quality of the shop matter that much? Or does brand recognition matter more?
Also what’re your thoughts on moving straight to the buy side post ER?
these people are dumb, get your MD. In 10 years the debt won’t matter and you’ll be thanking yourself
Do you mind in speaking about how you made the transition a bit more? Also since you’re at a HF can you speak to how the recruiting process works for moving from ER to a HF? Thanks!
Finish MD. Only do MBA if you can get it done in a year in a combined program and if the MBA degree is from a top 10ish school, unless you’re getting it for free. See if you can do an internship now with a buy/sell side and skip research unless you’re in a cutting edge field with renown professors.
Unfortunately, I don’t have time to do summer internships. There are no more summers in med school after your first year. My school doesn’t have the combined program unfortunately. May just dip on research and help my PI transition projects to other students.
How did you manage to get a FT ER offer whilst in the middle of med school??
A MM bank has their HQ in the city that my medical school is in. A few of my really close friends either work there currently or used to work there. I was told by them that they are looking to significantly increase their coverage on biotech/healthcare/pharma companies. I sent my friends my resume and interviewed with a MD first then the director of research after. I had my super day and got an offer.
I’m doing a research year right now between my M2 and M3 years of medical school so I have more time than the average medical student.
Thanks, I'm from a similar background so useful to hear. Do you think the academic research you are doing boosted your ER applications a lot and do HC ER value it? I know a lot of the job is sifting through drug research. I have a couple of publications but have prioritised other stuff over cranking out research.
The ER job can go poof any time. Your MD, once you finish, cannot.
That’s a very good point. Much to consider my friend.
You will be viewed more favorably in future job search with an MD. Some recruiters/funds specifically demand candidates with advanced degree. It’s unfair but it takes a lot more effort to convince others you are the “expert” (regardless whether that’s true or not) unless you have the letter.
For a bit of perspective, I am a doctor and I was in similar shoes to you about 8-10 years ago. At the time I talked to a lot of folks in finance, including those with MDs, and nearly unanimously the advice was to finish the degree. I finished medical school, applied to some ER programs, but then I did a round of informational interviews with some additional hedge fund managers. There was one doctor/hedge fund manager who left the fund management business to start a health care business. He was pointing out the opportunities you have on the clinical side as an interesting option to preserve.
I did finish residency as well, but I was too tempted by the sure money in medicine to go straight into finance... I was able to make $360k in my first full year as a doctor, then higher salaries afterwards.
The only downside is I am now in my early to mid-30's and it is really difficult to change careers at this age. I haven't had any career progression in finance. I think I am sharp enough that if I had gone straight into finance I would probably have advanced quite a bit.
It is also difficult to make the step down in salary. After you get used to the lifestyle of $500k in a low cost of living area, it is hard to change down to an analyst salary in NYC.
From a strictly biotech standpoint, I would say I have a better understanding of what makes a successful drug at this point. I think there is a fair amount more to it than just the physiology and pharmacology... like what side effects actually matter? What are clinically relevant endpoints? I see new drugs from a clinicians point of view, which I think is a bit of an advantage.
I appreciate the insight! I feel as if I’m at a crossroads right now. I’ve gone through all preclinical training and all that there is left now is clinicals. Obviously there’s a ton more to learn in medicine, but I feel if I finish school and residency I’ll be drawn to the relatively high salary in a low cost of living area.
The position is already secured and I don’t want to necessarily start in finance when I’m 30 (24 now). Also I plan on getting an MBA (assuming I can get into a top program). That’s another 2 years of schooling… idk maybe it’s just me but how many degrees are worth getting before you see diminishing returns? I don’t wanna be the MD/PhD/MBA/MPH guy…
Did you ever make the switch? Just curious.
Haven't made the switch yet... I am still under contract in my current gig until Feb (I work locums) and I negotiated a pretty incredible salary for this job, but I was planning on applying to some ER jobs for next year...
Had just gotten back on the site to ask the ER forum about trading restrictions on various asset classes in ER jobs.
On trading restriction, once you buy a stock you need to hold for 30 days or longer before you can sell. You and your SO will be restricted from trading in your sector broadly (nothing in healthcare period). Firm may ask you to sell your existing holdings in HC and you will need to move all trading accounts, including retirement account into your employer account except in some circumstances.
wtf don't do ER, it's awful. finish your MD
Ex cumque ea in explicabo. Est cumque harum fugiat. Fuga animi autem aspernatur est omnis ullam. Quia ut nihil ipsam eos.
Iusto est dolores ab nostrum sed dolorem voluptatum. Dolorum voluptatem nulla repudiandae.
Doloremque doloribus eos est quia dolor eveniet. Optio delectus iste excepturi dicta facere aut praesentium. Non quam dignissimos molestiae est reprehenderit eum unde.
Enim voluptatibus incidunt vero ut vel minus. Voluptas tenetur quo qui et vero. Itaque nisi fugiat totam est iusto. Sint enim ut illum voluptatem ratione quaerat totam. Vitae iusto cupiditate vero laboriosam.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...
Eligendi pariatur non omnis labore unde. Doloremque debitis sunt ullam vero culpa quis quasi. Cupiditate doloremque modi ipsa et occaecati. Est omnis qui temporibus sunt est suscipit assumenda.