Getting into Finance with a MD
Anyone on here have any insight into what it takes to transition over to finance as a MD (doctor of medicine, that is)? Timing? Background? Skillset?
I am a current MD student considering alternatives to clinical practice. There is no one single reason why I don’t want to do clinical medicine but, for the sake of brevity, I (probably knowingly) went into this for the wrong reasons and really do not enjoy patient care. I worked in BD for a biotech that was fundraising between undergrad and med school so I know that there are plenty of MDs at funds out there that have made the jump, but am not sure how I realistically could make it happen.
I am at a respected but mid-tier med school, though for whatever it is worth I went to a top undergrad. My hunch is that I don’t have a strong enough pedigree to make it work as I’m not at a top- 5 or 10. If I can make it work, I’m trying to balance the fact that the MD degree has limited value add without residency training with the realization that if I wait until after residency I’ll probably end up in clinical medicine long term because family, life, and other realities would make leaving a stable job too costly. For reference, I am fairly well connected with some finance folks, but to no one with expertise in healthcare.
Curious to hear other opinions - and for the record, I admit that the grass is almost certainly not greener.
Could pivot to an IB HC group or HC-focused firm like Leerink.
What year in medical school are you? during your third year it won't hurt to apply for summer associate and summer consultant internships @ MBB. Since self-admittedly your Med school is mid-tier you should also be networking with bankers and consultants. Worst case scenario is you get rejected and have to go the medical path, but you may still get traction in applying to firms after your residency. Never stop hustling.
I think incorrect to assume that your MD degree without residency training has limited value. To the contrary I think it would help as you have not pigeonholed yourself too far clinically.
Separately, if you went to a top target undergrad, do not underestimate the credibility people will give you based on that + also having an MD - would look very solid on paper. I’m a healthcare banker (was pre med at a top target) and I have seen countless PhDs and MDs enter finance in their mid to late 30s and develop prosperous careers. Many of them not only in banking but also equity research and on the buyside.
Path of least resistance for you to begin with would be either a banking or equity research associate. Main thing would be to have your story be bullet proof for why finance. Also understand / learn basic financial concepts and basic technical questions - which should be a walk in the park compared to the science. After that it’s just a numbers game with reaching out to as many people / firms as possible. Good luck.
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Question 1: Unless I’m missing something, you don’t have the same structured avenues, or really any structured avenues, for recruitment that undergrads and MBAs are granted. What difference does it make when you “begin to recruit”? If you’re sincere and focused about getting a finance job you need to commit 100% beginning the first day you decide you’re going to try to get a finance job. You shouldn’t be worried about exit paths and other irrelevant details until you are actually well positioned to get a job offer. You are a non-traditional candidate: there is nothing you can do outside of reaching out to as many people and firms as possible, since you will be viewed as a non-traditional candidate regardless of what other credential you think will make you stand out as a candidate. So it will be a numbers game for you. As I said, when you’ve decided to commit to pursuing this you need to do everything you can to get finance literate and up to speed on the industry so you don’t come across insincerely or rub people the wrong way for the opportunities you manage to get speaking to finance professionals. If people think you’re wasting their time or that you are not ready, consider that relationship gone. So don’t worry about what your “dream” is; worry about getting “something”.
Question 2: Long term career prospects only a fortune teller would be able to predict. Skill sets on the sellside are largely transferable to other sellside roles (i.e. an experienced HC banker should be able to “plug and play” at any HC group on the street, same for research), similar comment for buyside skill sets. You will not be able to exit to any job (read: other sellside or buyside job) until at least after the first couple of years when you will be fully up to speed on the job and able to overcome the “I switched careers” branding by demonstrating your competency and value you are able to add for your potential future employers.
Okay but imagine the flex Medical Doctor & Managing Director.
Healthcare consulting will be easier to get and more directly applicable to your clinical experience. But both are 100% feasible.
PGY-2 in IR here also seriously looking at non-clinical work. Per mentors and others who have offered real life advice, there is tremendous value in completing a residency. It is only at that point could you be considered an "expert" for consulting and also have the requisite knowledge of a specialty and the healthcare system to really be of high value to a company. Thus if you are able to stomach a full residency, particularly a specialty, I'd strongly recommend that. Not only will it open non-clinical doors but will offer anywhere from $300k-600k per year as a safety net, which can be a flexible way to take other career risks. Residency is much better than med school once you get past intern year. There is autonomy and begin to feel like you are doing something worthwhile (though the hours can still suck balls).
There are some residency programs like Northwestern, Hopkins, and Mayo-AZ that will actually pay for you to get an MBA during residency if you have a reasonable vision.
Sounds like you are an M1 or M2. So two suggestions. Either:
Recognize that you truly don't like medicine and drop out today and save yourself another six figures of loans/tuition and 3-4 years of opportunity cost. Or determine if you just don't like the pre-clinical grind of sitting and memorizing shit and that you may enjoy patient care, but complete the intern year at a minimum so that you have an active license. It's a long, long road to become a physician. If you know this isn't for you then cut your losses now, even if you don't have anything else lined up. Going through medical school with the intent of never practicing is a gigantic waste of time and money and could set you back big time. Not that there aren't MDs who didn't do residency who are doing well in business but I'd argue you really don't need to go to med school to get where they are. Two years in finance (and also not handcuffing yourself to more debt) is worth more than pontificating the etiologies of hyponatremia on the wards and studying obscure diseases on the weekend.
Really appreciate this, thanks.
I’m an M2. Was very close to quitting multiple times throughout the second half of M1 and actually had others give the advice to cut my losses - but, I really think I would regret not finishing. I’ve had a decent amount of clinical experience already but I’m still holding out to see if anything drastically changes M3.
Can I ask what non-clinical pursuits you are considering? Do you think non-clinical opportunities (other than admin roles) are more a function of luck/being at the right place at the right time or are they readily available for those who are interested and have expertise to offer?
Mid-tier medical school?
Pretty much all medical schools are insanely hard to get into. I know doctors who make bank and graduated from medical schools I have never even heard of. I’m not sure another career is going to call you out for the “prestige” of the medical school you went to
Ok besides the fact that you're already about to graduate with an MD and have the potential to be someone who actually brings real useful value to society, and not to mention have a ton a women fighting for you because them dating an MD is like winning the lottery. -What do you seriously think finance is like?
-Why do you want to work in finance?
-Are there other avenues that you could pursue with your MD such as medical research?
-Are you ok with basically going into a "sales" job because that's all banking really is at the end of the day.
-Are you ok with starting at the bottom doing secretarial work for 70+ hours a week for companies/clients you won't ever care about? (I've seen a ton of bankers not give two shits what happens to their client after the deal closes, vs as an MD you are literally responsible for the life of another human being, so you can't run away from that responsibility)
-Are you ok with having strained relationships because you have to cancel plans or leave friends or just not be able to hang because you have to work on some pitch deck or model you could care less about? (People can't get mad at you for leaving if there's an emergency when you're an MD because guess what, people's lives are on the line as opposed to when you leave an event because "the deal is at risk of falling apart.")
In all honesty the doctors that I've seen that work in finance are all on the VC side and they have experience treating patients. An MD like you said without residency experience is worthless because you have no practice in the field, all you have is a piece of paper that says you spent 4+ years studying human biology and chemistry. The reason I say this is because they use their real world experience to see what healthcare ventures will actually work and which are just founders smoking a pipe dream.
I'm not against people going for what makes them happy, because I myself left finance for engineering, but I will most certainly make you aware of the grim reality of finance and how it's not worth the supposed pay day.
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