med school to hedge fund
Hi, I am 21 years old and currently enrolled in 4th year of medical school. I am in a 6 year course. I am no longer interested in pursuing a career in medicine (completing residency etc.) and instead have developed an interest in the capital markets for several years now. In the little free time I have in medical school I find myself researching and spending time around the markets. If I wanted to land a job as an intern in high finance e.g hedge funds would it be wiser to back out now and switch undergraduate (even though I feel like that is too late now) or continue down this path and graduate as an MD and potentially enter from there? The other option, is to stop studying and land a job in finance although that is probably very difficult given the current job market. I would really appreciate your 2 cents on this. Especially if you or someone you know have found themselves in a scenario like this... Thanks
I would finish the med degree and then do a masters in finance / financial engineering, etc. At least you keep your med options open, and can leverage that degree for some pharma related finance role. What if you switch now and then realize you don’t like it? At 21 still plenty of time to break into HFs, but what will be the factor that separates you from people that have taken a more direct approach? If you finish the med degree that’s something, if you cut it short then you have nothing to show for it.
Is there any specific role within finance where a degree in medicine would heavily stand out? I appreciate your input.
Not an expert in that area, but I assume doing research on pharmaceutical companies for instance - while your degree might not directly help, at the very least it will help you stand out to get your foot in the door. Once in, then over time can pivot to other areas of finance
Keep the degree, apply to internships. Not many reputable hedge funds take interns so you should be targeting equity research which tends to value MD backgrounds
Understood. Thanks for your input. Helps a lot. Are there specific equity research firms you would advise to give a shot at?
All
MD degree to sellside ER to HF makes a ton of sense in his case.
What's your geography? Can pm you london specific info
Not OP but would appreciate a PM
I’d appreciate it if you could PM me that as well. Thanks you so much.
I am currently in Madrid, Spain. But London is also an option so I’d appreciate a PM.
I will just post here since others were asking. I recruited into IB from med school undergrad in UK. Generally would just say can recruit like everyone else. Since you are in 4th year now you have good amount of time to prepare for penultimate year apps. Try and land something for this summer in a small shop to build CV and do some finance extra curriculars to build out CV. I recruited well with a medicine background, banks seemed to value the diverse background and helped me stand out and obviously it's a plus for HC teams. Caveat this is for London where degree course subject doesn't matter (would say medicine is superior background to econ/finance for above reasons as long as you can spin your story well and do everything else required for applications). For markets based roles like ER background is also useful (probably moreso than IB) - will recruit the same way as IB roles. HF stuff out of undergrad is v rare in London, don't have experience with that. Lmk any other Qs.
Dumbest question being asked. No sane person is dropping out year 4. For those of you who didn’t go to med school, 4th year is a cake walk in med school. You drink, party, golf, and interview.
We know you’re gonna finish the degree. Please ask a more intelligent question. If you have one, feel free to message me.
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