Transitioning to IB as a surgeon - is LSE MSc Finance worth it?
I am a doctor (25yrs) working in London, and I am very interested in pursuing IB and then transitioning to PE/HF afterwards. A part of it is motivated with my interest in business side of medicine. I cannot apply to any off-cycle internships or summer internships as I don’t have a student status and I have no finance work experience/internships. However, given I am in London I saw LSE offer a MSc Finance, including allowing part-time professionals to pursue it. My plan is to be a part-time student which gives me 2 years to seek internship at a BB and get a return offer at which point I can leave my surgical career and embark on IB pathway. Equally, if I am unsuccessful I will continue as a surgeon and assume the degree is a failed investment. Now my questions are: 1) is my background likely to ever get a interview to a BB or am I too much of a oddball? 2) Will LSE MSc Finance help me change my career to IB? 3) is LSE MSc Finance a strong degree to pursue or is it not very well regarded in London? 4) Would you recommend this is even a good path for me to take or am I being grads is greener on the other side?
Are you interested in healthcare IB/PE? Do you have an MD degree? Could probably get into healthcare finance without doing more school. There is a lot of demand for people who deeply understand medical terminology and applications; you'd need to pick up the finance side of it, but that can be done. Might be worth stalking some other doctor -> IB/PE folks on LinkedIn, or chatting with people at healthcare-focused firms, just to get some advice and see how they did it.
That said grass is always greener... if you absolutely hate working in healthcare, fine, but it's normal to dislike parts of your job and wonder if it's better elsewhere. There are many downsides to working in finance, just like there are in surgery.
The problem is that as a MD who is already working in London (maybe it’s different in NYC, HK etc) is that anytime any off cycle or summer analyst roles come up I am ineligible to even apply as they all want university students.
Plus, I will be totally honest I want to get into a Bulge bracket bank for healthcare M&A rather than a small relatively unknown bank. Purely because as a surgeon there is a significant amount of prestige and pay (whilst lower than top executives even in small banks) is high enough that there needs to be a good career progression. For a BB, it can be easy to go to PE (even a MF) or a HF.
This is why I feel like perhaps a further study might help as it will give me formal opportunities to apply for an internship etc.
Is this reasonable enough?
If you have an MD degree you shouldn't be looking at internships - you are right you are't eligible for them, but you are making a lateral move here, you should not be trying to compete with 19 year olds for university level roles. Would probably be ASO roles, maybe analyst depending on how many years post-MD you are.
Agree BB is better than small tiny bank for IB, but direct to biotech / HC-focused PE/HF is doable too. MF PE is probably not happening with this niche background, but there are definitely some healthcare-focused MM PEs out there that would love to have you as an ASO. Healthcare equity research is another one to look into, that has a direct route to HF
Bump
Why not do consulting and then PE? The move is extremely common. NHS consultants move into MBB all the time and PE funds recruit from MBB. It's a plus if they have a healthcare vertical
I think this is something I am actively looking to but my plan would ideally to have a run at a MF and with MBB it makes it bit of a uphill battle for MF. Ultimately, MBB is great if you want to later be a operator but I’m not sure if MBB is worth the compensation compared to being a surgeon and having a private practice but certainly let me know if I am wrong?
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As a doctor myself (I never went beyond my country's equivalent of FY2), the only pathway I'm familiar with is rolling up my sleeves & competing with 20 year olds by gaining previous relevant finance internships BEFORE dreaming of IB. LSE master's is a waste of money without previous strong finance internship experience (if what you want is IB)
Had it been you were in America, the suitable option would have been for you to do a top MBA and enter as an MBA associate to cushion the drop in compensation. Not sure how to help you honestly—more knowledgeable people are free to chime in about your chances of getting in as an intern summer associate into GS/MS/Barclays London from an LBS/LSE/Oxbridge/INSEAD MBA (not a mere MSc).
Personally, given how tough surgical compensation is in UK, I'd personally advice maybe attempting to transition into the surgery residency/fellowship of more lucrative countries like USA or Australia – that's my substitute for just telling you "the grass isn't greener in finance". I'm obviously not as old as you—so my entry level comp expectations are not higher than what BB/MM interns get paid
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I agree with you but how can I compete with 20 year olds when I can’t even apply to SA/OC roles?
I do see your point about MBA though, perhaps I’ll look to that direction
Now that I have some freetime (I'm the same doctor commenter), while you're right that not being a student makes you ineligible – you're ignoring the far more decisive reason you can't get into BB/EB/MM IB even with an LSE non-MBA master's (MBA-specifically, from a TOP/PRESTIGIOUS business school is literally the only grounds you can be considered): you lack previous finance-related experience. You absolutely must get a finance front office experience of some sort, whether an internship or full-time job, before an LSE non-MBA master's can help you stand a chance; it can be asset management, wealth management, venture capital, equity research (or any other asset research role), consulting, corporate banking, fixed income, a valuation role anywhere, etc., OR a banking internship or experience at a no-name investment bank (in literally any country), or M&A / deal advisory / corporate finance at a Big 4 (or any accounting firm that's not among the Big 4); without that, LSE master's (non-MBA); without any of these experiences, getting an LSE non-MBA master's is like multiplying zero by 1 million—it will still equal zero. Only with MBA can you enter banking without the kind of previous experiences above. The 20 year old at least have a "quasi-experience" called "spring weeks" or real internship experience in something like consulting before they stand a chance of getting an interview (I only competed favourably with them because my CV portrayed pre-existing finance-related experience).
It also occured to me now that a PhD in a prestigious school can stand in for an MBA—so you can apply for "MBA Associate" summer internships at GS/MS/Barclays/JPM London towards the end of your penultimate year in PhD and enter banking without finance experience
Cannot comment on your specific situation, but I attended the LSE MSc Finance in the past 3 years (disregard title). I can say that recruiting is quite difficult, even from an alleged "top master", and the course is academically intense but not forgiving to students in the recruiting process (e.g. you might miss AC's because of having an exam scheduled). Considering this, it is hard to justify the price premium of the MSc Finance. You might be better served going for an M7 MBA, where there will be a strong pipeline and you have a unique profile, enabling you to stand out.
What about if I was working as a fresh grad FT in a non-intense role (I have an offer to join FT at a mid sized AM, also have a FT role as at a buy side M&A boutique, both of which hours are like 45-50h per week and i’ll make ok money, like £60k) and pursued the Msc Finance part-time? That way I can minimize the cost/debt while having the 2 years to apply for SA/OC and can get the benefits of the degree? Doesn’t say PT on the degree
I sincerely do not believe that the LSE MSc Finance is a good option for anyone who does not come into the course with a return offer in hand and/or strong prior internships (MM IB or above). I would strongly advise you against going to the LSE, and instead aim for an MBA.
Was gonna comment but then saw OP’s only other post was claiming he’s working in IB thinking about transitioning to PE. Huge waste of time mate, if you’re gonna post a troll page, at least be funny. Try harder.
I did the first post just to reflect, and you can see aside the lie everything was serious and conversational. It’s internet ultimately and no one is going to be exactly what they claim. I’m just trying to get information that’s all.
Not trying to troll, but I have changed it to better reflect reality. I am not trying to be bait about my identity.
Ok, I will bite. This is not a good idea at all. LSE MSc Finance is a great programme for sending graduates into IB but the best outcome for you on this path is to be a 27+ year old analyst 1 competing with fresh grads. No bank will hire someone with your background at associate level because you need the IB experience to be able to run junior work streams on deals, step up for VPs and step down for analysts when needed, know what to do when crunch time comes. If I were you, I would do either of the following if you really (and I mean REALLY want a shot at PE):
1) Join MBB or one of those buy side CDD consulting providers and specialise in healthcare. Stay a couple of years while building a network and learning the technical/modelling side of things in your own time. That should get you looks at mid and upper mid market firms, particularly in healthcare focused funds and bonus if you have a good network - buy side is a small world in London. If you want megafund, you can always join at senior associate / VP level
2) MBA (either LBS or one of the top US ones, don’t bother with others) then do a summer internship and join a bank as MBA associate. In my view, this is a huge waste of money but proven to work for some people in the past when they want to pursue a career change. Difference of this vs. a MSc course is that MBA positions you at associate level. Caveat is that MBA associate spots are very limited now, particularly in London for reasons highlighted above. But it is still a tried and tested path inherited from decades past.
I would think very hard before you go ahead though, grass isn’t always greener, IB is mind numbingly intense career and PE in most cases is just IB 2.0. You can have a good life without this stuff.
Lol your last post said you work at a BB in IB
lol yeah sorry I had to obfuscate my real life. Anyway. I updated it to be a bit more honest.
CCT and go Dubai if money is what you want. No point to do IBD
Dubai is actually quite oversaturated now. A lot of doctors especially from South Asia have flooded the market there and even with a British degree it is becoming harder.
Which hospital hospital do you work in (so I know not to go there)?
Mate stop tryna learn EBITDA and do some heart surgery
IB should be a last resort gig to make money if desperate. It has little redeeming qualities and is full of miserable dickheads trying to one up each other
Stay in surgery, accumulate wealth and read some investing books, that’ll be more fun trust me
You have no idea about medicine in the UK, good luck accumulating wealth
My man is about to start saving human lives and he wants to go align logos instead
Can't blame him though, UK is one of the worst places to be a doctor (only marginally better than a few 3rd World countries). Why save lives when UK often offers no substantial redeeming factors for the damage both school & career does to your life & that of your family?
I know someone who has a similar path as you. He is doing HF and he has a Ph.D in biotech and nanotechnology. So, you can always try but you have to be smart and work harder than mostly everyone considering where you are. Before a goal there are some steps before it.
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Do you know what his general path was? Did he straight away go to a HF?
Do you know what his general path was? Did he straight away go to a HF?
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