Define healthcare. If you want to follow the traditional path of getting a medicine degree as I did( currently 2nd year in a hospital, the system in my country is different so I don't know exactly how this translates into USA terms), I can tell you right now that the day to day life can actually be really satisfying depending on the choices you make inside. Every specialty( assuming you even chase one) has a unique way of thinking and many many sub-specialties inside where you get to wrestle with the current cutting edge problems. Then of course there is research( poorly paid for the cost) that's it's own thing. So 1) you are postponing your decision until you have more data to decide and 2) you still keep yourself open to many possibilities from more practical specialties like the various surgical ones to more theory-heavy ones like pathology/ID/hematology or being buried in a lab( microbiology etc) to a medium in between( cardiology) or even a more humanitarian one( psychiatry). Each with their own unique feel and algorithms. Ultimately you will still have to choose between what you like and what's important. I am lucky that I like something I consider also extremely important( cardiology). Then you can choose if you want to have a broader view of the subject or specialize a lot into something and becoming the best on it( extra specializations e.g. arrythmiology etc). Ultimately whatever one might choose will always have a very strong feedback loop of improving other peoples' lives and the value of this can't be overstated. Plus the pay is good.
Ask HN: How did you decide what problems to solve in your lifetime?
251–260 of 460 posts
Re: Ask HN: How did you decide what problems to solve in your lifetime?
#252[deleted]
Re: Ask HN: How did you decide what problems to solve in your lifetime?
#253I switched from software generally to software for energy. I had a software job and my friends were always making fun of me for working for "the man", i.e. banks and large consumer product companies (Coke, McDonalds, etc.). So I sat down and looked at all the major industries that seemed to help people and that I could have an impact in as a software engineer. I figured I'd try energy first, since climate change was probably the worst thing happening at the time, and I took a 1 year contract to build an app for utilities. 6 years later I'm still working on it, training another generation of engineers. So hey, it worked out.
The nice thing about work skills is that they're frequently portable. So if I had to go back in time and give advice to old me I'd say: don't worry, just work in some industries where you think you can do things that are important to you. And while you do that you'll be building your skillset. For me, it was my software skillset, but I've also learned some stuff on raising funding, event planning, budgeting, accounting, hiring. It also doesn't hurt to save money.
Good luck! Have fun!
Re: Ask HN: How did you decide what problems to solve in your lifetime?
#254It is a short life, so don't spend too much time on this. Whichever you pick you likely won't be working on it the rest of your life anyway. Healthcare or energy and AI are both big fields with great potential. I left a 10 year career in manufacturing and am now in healthcare. There is no way I would have predicted or planned it. I just followed the opportunity. Just find a niche you're interested in, work hard, be t…
"I was lucky" I think is socially acceptable and also pretty much the main reason for most people.
for people who got a lot of money once, you might say this
for people who display repeated success, you begin to realize that passion and perseverance are much more important than luck
Re: Ask HN: How did you decide what problems to solve in your lifetime?
#255Energy, AI, Healthcare: none of these are problems. They are all ways to solve problems, or at best domains that constrain thinking.
Energy is a field/domain, there are problems you can solve here, but they could tend towards optimization or soln looking for problems
AI is overloaded, but again is more tool than problem. Healthcare the same, very wide, not often problem fixing.
an interesting observation is find where domains intersect. this allows you to focus on an area where few have/are venturing. giving you a rich seam to mine, and ROI on your time.
as always choose your own adventure, who are we to say what is 'right'. good luck!
Re: Ask HN: How did you decide what problems to solve in your lifetime?
#256"Follow your heart [rather than your wallet]" is generally a bad advice [1], but if both tracks are equally well paid you might as well indulge, if only for long enough to get a feel for it. Meaningful work is one of the pillars of mental health, don't take that away form yourself unless you have to trade it for another pillar. [1] It's a bad advice because it often turns people to soul-sucking cafe ownership, hand-t…
I agree with this. The OP addresses the issue as if the fields are inherently mutually exclusive. There may be areas of the ven diagram of life where they overlap.
For example, you could work on AI to help radiologists identify abnormalities in imaging or robotics in surgery. Or address energy issues in hospitals by optimizing building automation or enterprising with energy performance contracts implementing renewables. The right intersection can keep you motivated by relating to your interest and keep you fulfilled by relating to a noble purpose.
If you can't find an intersection there's nothing wrong with finding a job that allows you the ability to investigate as a hobbyist. Maybe in time you'll build the skills to contribute to those intersection points.
Re: Ask HN: How did you decide what problems to solve in your lifetime?
#257I got some good advice about a decade ago, which I've used for guidance and, on reflection, has served me well. You're not well-positioned to understand the core nature of problems, and which are most important, from the outside. Until you have this clarity, do what you can to become part of the core community driving the thinking in your field of choice. There's a strong case for the social importance of many proble…
The reason energy and AI are more attractive than healthcare has little to do with "identity", "culture" or "positionality". It has much more to do with the fact that the field is chock full of incidental complexity that makes doing any kind of good work an extremely unrewarding slog. Look at the 834 EDI format [1], for example. Does anyone want to work with a file format as nasty as this? Does anyone want to work in…
Wait a second... what’s stopping you from changing —this— situation then? Solve the data format problem. Make it easier for everyone to exchange data in meaningful, efficient ways.
Sounds like a terrible pain that you understand well enough to be able to solve. When you have, it might remove a major bottleneck and open the floodgates for more smart people to join, ultimately benefitting healthcare in a massive way.
Make people want to work in that industry :)
Re: Ask HN: How did you decide what problems to solve in your lifetime?
#258Lulz. It sounds like you don’t have kids. If kids are in your future then do that before asking this question. They will guide the rest of your life.
Recursively applied to the kids, and their kids, that sounds like a recipe for no contribution and no solving of problems.
Re: Ask HN: How did you decide what problems to solve in your lifetime?
#259"Do what you love" is a common phrase, but I've found an opposite technique. Find the things that bugs you most (that you talk about, focus on, debate about) and allow yourself to become a solution. I've found that the problems I tended to be naturally be bothered by ended up making great career choice(s) for me.
I wouldn’t call it opposite, more alternative technique.
The things that bug you -are- the things you care about.
Some people care way too much about things they shouldn’t but that’s a whole other discussion all together ;-)
Re: Ask HN: How did you decide what problems to solve in your lifetime?
#260> It's a short life, so I want to be careful with this decision, to avoid any future regrets.
I think you shouldn't worry too much about avoiding regrets. Just try to spend at least a little bit of time towards your goals every day, and eventually you'll get to where you want to be. It might be incredibly frustrating for a while, but if you use that frustration and channel the negative energy into working towards your goals, it will certainly pay off.
You will always look back and regret something. That is actually a good sign, because it means that you've learned something from your experiences.
One thing I just re-discovered: keep a journal where you can log your daily work. You'll realize that you actually accomplish a lot more than you would if you hadn't kept track of your progress.
Best of luck.