It’s like the reverse story of Jonathon Nelson from Hackers/Founders who was a paramedic before becoming a CEO.
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
#52This 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.
Anaesthesiologist here.
I did EM for 6 months and hated it. This is because it just doesn't suit my personality.
To be good at EM you need to be: - Comfortable with being a kinda bad at everything and great at nothing - Comfortable with large amounts of uncertainty and risk and having to make decisions anyway - Being abused by drunk/mentally ill patients constantly - Being patronized by medical colleagues in other specialties
Re: Former CEO of RadioShack now an ER doctor on frontlines of Covid-19 fight
#53His personal website is here. Sounds like we was about 48y.o when he started down the path of becoming a doctor. https://drbrianlevy.com/
Wow. I had no idea that one could get into medicine at that age. I feel like I'd been told that medical schools could discriminate based on age, with the idea being that an older person would be physically unable to serve for as long as a younger person.
I have an interest in medicine but simply wrote it off as being impossible because of my age.
Re: Former CEO of RadioShack now an ER doctor on frontlines of Covid-19 fight
#54Earlier quoted context omitted.
you can make that salary at a big tech company
I would guess the number of doctors making that range would be at least an order of magnitude more common than tech workers but I could be wrong. Additionally, the bay area in the US is essentially the only place in the world you can make that kind of money in tech.
If you're going into medicine for the money you are making a huge mistake. The front-side effort, commitment and cost is massive, and depending on your field it make impact important aspects of your life for as long as you practice. There are way easier ways to make money.
One example: do a comparatively easier 4-yr undergrad in business and start with a bank straight out of school (they scoop up lots of new grads willing to move around). In the same ~15 years you can move into a senior position in finance or M&A and make comparable money. It's not easy or guaranteed but IMO easier...
Re: Former CEO of RadioShack now an ER doctor on frontlines of Covid-19 fight
#55This 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.
David Lee Roth becoming an EMT might be of interest to you >> https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffabernathy/2019/03/07/cross-...
Re: Former CEO of RadioShack now an ER doctor on frontlines of Covid-19 fight
#56Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
Unsure what the US situation is, but there are a lot of benefits to earning $120k/year in a business/professional corporation vs. a salary.
At least in Canada anyway.
Re: Former CEO of RadioShack now an ER doctor on frontlines of Covid-19 fight
#57Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
My wife is a resident. The salaries look nice when they're windowed to a single year. Career earnings, it's good but not that great compared to tech - especially when you consider the hours and stress. * 4 years of med school - $0 income - $40k+ of tuition * 3+ years of residency, minimum (4+ for most fields, even more for surgery) - $60k/year ------ If my wife had gone straight into tech, we'd have been better off f…
160k of tuition. 80k x 4 = 320k lost wages. 30k x 3 Delta wages.
500k in costs before your first year of big earnings.
You said 30 years. I'm counting 2.
Disingenuous.
Re: Former CEO of RadioShack now an ER doctor on frontlines of Covid-19 fight
#58Holy Shit! Imagine being the CEO of a RadioShack, then saying "I want to become a Doctor" and actually doing it. That's amazing! Love this story.
> That's amazing!
Agreed. Now imagine being a similarly aged retail service worker, or agricultural laborer, and doing the same. Even more amazing, if rare. The point is: both the drive and capital are needed. This person clearly had both at their disposal.
Re: Former CEO of RadioShack now an ER doctor on frontlines of Covid-19 fight
#59Earlier 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.
You don't have to leave tech entirely. I very much feel that the medical devices I write software for matter.
absolutely. Or even less exotic: they probably won't make a (sexy) TV show about IT in a hospital but if you've ever been to one there are massive opportunities to make a huge, meaningful change
Re: Former CEO of RadioShack now an ER doctor on frontlines of Covid-19 fight
#60Earlier quoted context omitted.
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?
McMaster University, 45 minutes from Toronto.