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

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

#41
post #20
post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It doesn't matter what you do, there will be days you wish you had a different job. How do you think a doctor feels when he sees some fat patient going into the donut shop (or all you can eat buffet) after he told them to go on a diet and lose weight. (is this worse than the person who dies of bad genes caused heart attack despite talking their medications, exercising and eating well - another thing doctors see)

While my grandfather was in the hospital years ago, the patient in the room next door was recovering from a quadruple heart bypass. He didn't like the hospital food so his family brought him cheeseburgers from the fast food restaurant down the street.

the hospital probably was giving him a low-fat, low-salt, maybe even low-calorie diet especially for his situation.

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

#42
post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone who second-careered into medicine: It's a ten-year commitment, roughly, to become a practicing ER doc. And in today's industry, you'll spend the overwhelming majority of your time doing documentation on shit that should've been seen by a PCP, not an emergency department. And definitely not treating emergencies. You'll be lucky if you see one or two a day in a major ED; in smaller ED's, even one a week is o…

This fellow went to a 3 year med school that doesn’t care too much about your prerequisites as long as you have a degree. It’s 3 because they don’t really do summers off. Although he did a full 5yr EM residency, in Canada you can work EM with a 2 year FP residency and another year as an FP specializing in EM. Sooo, 10 at the most, but could be done in 6.

It's still 3 years of zero pay and $40k+ in tuition and 3+ years of shit pay.

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

#43

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.

Just learn to code... Oh wait.

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

#44

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.

There used to be a Silicon Valley CEO who was also a San Jose police officer in his spare time, but I don't recall his name.

This seems to happen more often:

https://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/kwo/spr07/alumni/mckim....

https://www.lawenforcementtoday.com/ceo-quietly-sells-compan...

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

#45

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.

As a counterpoint, nearly everyone in my family in medicine still loves it. My parents are surgeons in their sixties who don’t need to work any more. My uncles and aunts are GPs, radiologists, and anesthesiologists. My cousins are GPs, nurses, and anesthesiologists. So that’s a spectrum from 21-65 and almost all of them enjoy their jobs. The things that really bother them are poor administrators etc. They’ll quit jobs over that, but not out of burnout.

I think it’s easy for this to be a fulfilling career if you’re the kind of person who doesn’t get early filtered out.

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

#46
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".

Making companies that matter work more efficiently is meaningful progress. I've never had the thought that what I do isn't making a difference for the next generation.

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

#47
post #34

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/

It's pretty interesting seeing some of my peers who second-careered into medicine. They had experience which paid dividends throughout school and residency that will serve them well. I also have no idea how I would manage full time school and having children to raise.

> I also have no idea how I would manage full time school and having children to raise.

With a nanny? There’s a reason MDs can graduate with a lot of loans. They’re good credit risks, so banks give good rates and large amounts.

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

#48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

only with specialists/subspecialists w/ procedures, or surgeons. And if not, prepare to spend a lot of overnights.

Family med say $120k starting, Internal med $200k

Each extra $25-50k is like another year of training at $50k.

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

#50
post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone who second-careered into medicine: It's a ten-year commitment, roughly, to become a practicing ER doc. And in today's industry, you'll spend the overwhelming majority of your time doing documentation on shit that should've been seen by a PCP, not an emergency department. And definitely not treating emergencies. You'll be lucky if you see one or two a day in a major ED; in smaller ED's, even one a week is o…

This fellow went to a 3 year med school that doesn’t care too much about your prerequisites as long as you have a degree. It’s 3 because they don’t really do summers off. Although he did a full 5yr EM residency, in Canada you can work EM with a 2 year FP residency and another year as an FP specializing in EM. Sooo, 10 at the most, but could be done in 6.

Which medical school is that? Caribbean one?
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