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Former CEO of RadioShack now an ER doctor on frontlines of Covid-19 fight

nationalpost.com

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Re: Former CEO of RadioShack now an ER doctor on frontlines of Covid-19 fight

#22

Post by lpah4all »

husarcik wrote: post #13

This is very inspirational. I'm applying to emergency medicine residency this year and love to see stories about how much people enjoy it. I'm curious what skills cross over from CEO to EM physician. Leadership and teamwork for sure.

Well, RS certainly prepared him for how to deal with the patient dying.

I'm sure he tried to save my beloved RS, too.

I remember reading a Rolling Stone article years ago about neurosurgery residents (7 years) where one of the guys lost something like his first 17 patients on the table (because they're all cases like anyeurisms). He stuck with it and, one night, placed the clamp in a pool of blood to within a mm of perfection to close the bleed. Their training was: learn a procedure, do a procedure.

I am grateful that people like yourselves undergo the arduous process to become an MD.

Good luck and thanks!

Re: Former CEO of RadioShack now an ER doctor on frontlines of Covid-19 fight

#23

Post by schnevets »

toomuchtodo wrote: post #3
galacticaactual wrote: post #2

I've always dreamed of leaving behind Silicon Valley and pursuing emergency medicine. I need to stay the course for a while to ensure my college approaching kids are taken care of but stories like this are inspiring reminders that age doesn't have to be a factor when I finally decide to make the move.

We should start a support group. Seems like there are lots of us who want to leave tech for something that matters.

There is burnout across medicine and various other verticals that Technologists hope to retire into. I do think there needs to be a support network to help modern knowledge workers recognize the dignity and value of their labor. Some of the possible exercises could include practicing empathy during the work day, learning to explore where their labor helps the world, and recognizing the things about the systems around us that we cannot change.

Re: Former CEO of RadioShack now an ER doctor on frontlines of Covid-19 fight

#26

Post by throw_away2 »

schnevets wrote: post #23
toomuchtodo wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We should start a support group. Seems like there are lots of us who want to leave tech for something that matters.

There is burnout across medicine and various other verticals that Technologists hope to retire into. I do think there needs to be a support network to help modern knowledge workers recognize the dignity and value of their labor. Some of the possible exercises could include practicing empathy during the work day, learning to explore where their labor helps the world, and recognizing the things about the systems around…

So, what you're saying is if we can teach burnt-out medics to code…

Re: Former CEO of RadioShack now an ER doctor on frontlines of Covid-19 fight

#27

Post by ska »

toomuchtodo wrote: post #12
aggie wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are tech companies that only think they're doing good. But there are plenty that are doing good, and they would love your help. By all means pursue things elsewhere, but not because you think there are no opportunities in tech.

The opportunities in tech do not provide enough leverage for meaningful progress IMHO. Personally, I believe I can do far more good writing and pushing public policy than any amount of code. That is "operating at scale".

Working on public policy is a worthwhile (and uphill) fight for sure. But it lacks imagination to suggest that impact at scale isn't possible in tech (examples: robust low cost medtech for non G7 economies, same for finance in those markets, support systems for large scale NGO efforts, access to justice efforts, etc. etc.). Clearly these opportunities exist, but they may be under resourced relative to lucrative tech options.

Re: Former CEO of RadioShack now an ER doctor on frontlines of Covid-19 fight

#28

Post by dpflan »

mmmBacon wrote: post #25

His personal website is here. Sounds like we was about 48y.o when he started down the path of becoming a doctor. https://drbrianlevy.com/

"A week after retirement, I decided to pursue my not-so-secret lifetime dream to become a Physician."

Re: Former CEO of RadioShack now an ER doctor on frontlines of Covid-19 fight

#29

Post by dan_quixote »

galacticaactual wrote: post #2

I've always dreamed of leaving behind Silicon Valley and pursuing emergency medicine. I need to stay the course for a while to ensure my college approaching kids are taken care of but stories like this are inspiring reminders that age doesn't have to be a factor when I finally decide to make the move.

Make sure you get a good perspective from a trusted friend in the medical community before making any big moves (if you haven't already). For the uninitiated, it's the furthest thing from a low-stress job. For some people, the passion outweighs the stress. But despite knowing countless people in medicine, I can only think of one that still professes to love her job - the rest were burned out long before covid.

Re: Former CEO of RadioShack now an ER doctor on frontlines of Covid-19 fight

#30

Post by modsWrk4Appl »

dan_quixote wrote: post #29
galacticaactual wrote: post #2

I've always dreamed of leaving behind Silicon Valley and pursuing emergency medicine. I need to stay the course for a while to ensure my college approaching kids are taken care of but stories like this are inspiring reminders that age doesn't have to be a factor when I finally decide to make the move.

Make sure you get a good perspective from a trusted friend in the medical community before making any big moves (if you haven't already). For the uninitiated, it's the furthest thing from a low-stress job. For some people, the passion outweighs the stress. But despite knowing countless people in medicine, I can only think of one that still professes to love her job - the rest were burned out long before covid.

But the 300-500k/ yr income is nice.

Plus you are the only profession that can legally write prescriptions and do some services.

The power of the medical cartels has intangible benefits too.

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