Comment Good Luck! Try Academics/Informatics (Score 2, Informative) 886
I can tell you it isn't the easiest road and requires a bit of luck, but you can do it. I did it. I left medical school after 2 1/2 years because I realized that I was miserable and bitter and plain didn't enjoy it. It was the best decision of my life and now I get up every morning and enjoy going to work. That is a wonderful feeling. I am currently a software developer for an academic institution in the NE. I primarily code. Am I worried about be "outsourced"? Yep. Am I going to tuck tail and run from a job I love or not encourage others to try it if they are interested? No way!
Your perspective is a bit different, and my guess, your switch may actually be a bit easier, as you have a skill set that can be leveraged quite successfully against IT. Bioinformatics is a huge field right now and still growing as the healthcare budget is this country (USA) is growing by leaps and bounds and things like HIPAA make data management and security top priorities at hospitals, academic medical centers and patient care facilities.
The real question is how you want to get involved with IT. Do you want to be a coder, project designer, high level software architect, project manager...the list goes on. Understand up front that your salary in IT is probably not going to be competitive with what you can get with an MD, but being happy with what you do is a huge fringe benefit. Just plan accordingly.
I can't tell you how many people told me I was nuts to be leaving medicine. A vast majority honestly have no concept of what "real" medicine is like...they only have a dim view of what is presented on ER or in the movies.
Anyway, back to your situation. With an MD, you could probably start by sliding into informatics quickly by doing a fellowship (and don't worry, it is nothing like going back to residency from what I've heard) in informatics. A lot of the schools in the NE have new growing programs. You will tend to focus on designing solutions to tackle high levels problems. Consult on products and major installations of clinical management software. A good first resource might be the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA). I've been to a conference they put on and it was interesting and quite a great place to make new contacts. The year I went (1999), data warehousing and mining was the big focus. My guess is this hasn?t changed much.
Really, I can't say much for what the industry is going to be like in 5 - 10 years...but I do know that I'll be in it. Just take your time now (I know...after what I've seen in medicine and how freaking hard my wife, a family practice resident, is working, you probably don't have much of it) and research it. Since it doesn't sound like you need to get out right away, you have the advantage of being able to plan your horizontal shift with a little more precision than I did.
As for me. When I left medical school I actually started working at the same medical school as an entry level help desk person assisting medical students in the student computer lab (very odd experience, btw) and then have managed to "move up" the ladder by just loving what I do and always trying to tackle new projects and learn new skills. Good luck. It may not be easy, but it sure is worth it.
Your perspective is a bit different, and my guess, your switch may actually be a bit easier, as you have a skill set that can be leveraged quite successfully against IT. Bioinformatics is a huge field right now and still growing as the healthcare budget is this country (USA) is growing by leaps and bounds and things like HIPAA make data management and security top priorities at hospitals, academic medical centers and patient care facilities.
The real question is how you want to get involved with IT. Do you want to be a coder, project designer, high level software architect, project manager...the list goes on. Understand up front that your salary in IT is probably not going to be competitive with what you can get with an MD, but being happy with what you do is a huge fringe benefit. Just plan accordingly.
I can't tell you how many people told me I was nuts to be leaving medicine. A vast majority honestly have no concept of what "real" medicine is like...they only have a dim view of what is presented on ER or in the movies.
Anyway, back to your situation. With an MD, you could probably start by sliding into informatics quickly by doing a fellowship (and don't worry, it is nothing like going back to residency from what I've heard) in informatics. A lot of the schools in the NE have new growing programs. You will tend to focus on designing solutions to tackle high levels problems. Consult on products and major installations of clinical management software. A good first resource might be the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA). I've been to a conference they put on and it was interesting and quite a great place to make new contacts. The year I went (1999), data warehousing and mining was the big focus. My guess is this hasn?t changed much.
Really, I can't say much for what the industry is going to be like in 5 - 10 years...but I do know that I'll be in it. Just take your time now (I know...after what I've seen in medicine and how freaking hard my wife, a family practice resident, is working, you probably don't have much of it) and research it. Since it doesn't sound like you need to get out right away, you have the advantage of being able to plan your horizontal shift with a little more precision than I did.
As for me. When I left medical school I actually started working at the same medical school as an entry level help desk person assisting medical students in the student computer lab (very odd experience, btw) and then have managed to "move up" the ladder by just loving what I do and always trying to tackle new projects and learn new skills. Good luck. It may not be easy, but it sure is worth it.
