Former CEO of RadioShack now an ER doctor on frontlines of Covid-19 fight • Hacker News Board

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

#131

Post by adsljfl3 » Thu, Apr 16, 2020, 12:53 AM UTC

cycrutchfield wrote: post #108

sndean wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, the only people that I know who don't have >400000 in loans with a >5% interest rate coming out of residency have wealthy parents who paid for everything, did the military's HPSP program [1], or did a free 7-year MD/PhD program. It's an interesting process. [1] https://www.medicineandthemilitary.com/joining-and-eligibili...

Plenty of medical schools give need-based financial aid. So those folks who took out loans probably came from pretty well-off middle class families.

Can you explain your logical reasoning for why you believe most folks with medical school debt come from well off middle class families?

I'm confused because need based financial aid for medical schools is still mostly loans. My partner who comes from a relatively poor family (they used to be on welfare) had most of their need based financial aid in the form of loans. Out of her residency class the highest % of folks taking out loans were from low to middle income families not well off families. So I'm curious where you got that stat from?

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

#132

Post by adsljfl3 » Thu, Apr 16, 2020, 12:55 AM UTC

filoleg wrote: post #81

Judgmentality wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It's not perfect, but it's certainly better than having to spend mid-five figures. It costs a lot more than that to become a doctor in the US. Typical student loan debt for doctors is well into 6 digits. https://www.bestmedicaldegrees.com/is-medical-school-worth-i...

Correct, but I don't know a single doctor in the US who actually paid it upfront instead of taking out all those loans and then easily paying them back with their newfound doctor salary later.

It's interesting because you know we are weeding out talent that comes from low socio economic backgrounds and who need cash flow to support their families. At end of the day, we shouldn't be weeding out our doctors to only be folks who don't need to support their families for the next 10 years.

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

#133

Post by kendallpark » Thu, Apr 16, 2020, 12:59 AM UTC

> 'I am just one of those people who was very fortunate, where things worked out, and where I could do not just do one thing I really enjoyed in life, but two'

I relate to all of the gratitude in the above quote. It seems almost gratuitous to be able to pursue more than one major career pathway. I feel lucky to have the opportunity and lucky to have realized that I didn't have to choose.

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

#134

Post by kendallpark » Thu, Apr 16, 2020, 1:05 AM UTC

jointpdf wrote: post #100

0239kffkk wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can if you're the former CEO of RadioShack. Not saying that to be snarky, just saying there's a bit of survivorship bias involved in this story, as well as positive feedback loops in society in general. People with the same ability to be an ER physician who don't have RadioShack CEO on their application will not be seen the same, even if they're equally able.

My dad is a professor of emergency medicine. There are med students that come through in their 30s or 40s (none are former CEOs). It’s obviously not as common as people in their early 20s, but that may just be a self-selection thing (rather than bias against older candidates per se).

iirc, my med school class had an above-30 social group that dubbed themselves "The Council of Elders."

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

#135

Post by lisper » Thu, Apr 16, 2020, 1:07 AM UTC

robmiller wrote: post #85

When I was a kid, my dad sat next to a different RadioShack CEO on a plane. He mentioned that I was always in the store and Mr. Roberts gave him this, https://imgur.com/a/BolEA

Heh, I thought it was going to be a P-box kit :-)

https://hackaday.com/2018/12/14/retrotechtacular-remembering...

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

#136

Post by mackman » Thu, Apr 16, 2020, 1:08 AM UTC

Is few years back I legit wanted to buy an AM/FM radio. I had A tiny one I loved to listen to while running that broke. I went into radio shack and asked if they, you know, sold radios. They did not. I was crestfallen.

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

#137

Post by audiometry » Thu, Apr 16, 2020, 1:21 AM UTC

EvanAnderson wrote: post #53

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/

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.

Beyond having the money or not. By the time you're in your mid-forties, I just don't have the stamina for late-nights that I did when I was 20, even 30. I'm sure the money, maturity, experience I've accumulated between 20-45 would help, but no doubt the raw endurance is lower. I would not enjoy these legendary 24hr+ rotations that residents apparently have to do.

But hats off to this guy -- i think it's very cool. Makes my daydreams of what I'd like to do post this-job seem quaint and underachieving.

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

#138

Post by why-el » Thu, Apr 16, 2020, 2:14 AM UTC

Reminds me of another great, Brazilian footballer Socrates, who was also a doctor: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%B3crates#Personal_life.

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

#139

Post by billfruit » Thu, Apr 16, 2020, 2:31 AM UTC

Not exactly similar the top scientists of the EU, Mr Ferrari recently resigned, because he tried to push for a Manhattan Project like scientific project to find cure/vaccine for the virus, whereas EU wanted a bottom up approach of funding specific projects that come up organically..

Anyways Mr.Ferrari is a medical doctor, but it appears he was a Mechanical Engineer. Then at age 43 after his wife died of disease, he went back to university joined medical school and became a respected medical scholar and tried to find treatments for what affected his wife..

And later was selected to be the top EU scientist on the basis of his medical credentials.

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

#140

Post by keenmaster » Thu, Apr 16, 2020, 2:40 AM UTC

sandfly wrote: post #90

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.

I tried this. I didn't get into medical school but it is doable. I enrolled in a premedical postbaccalaureate program, and over the course of two years of night classes finished all of the prerequisites required by most allopathic medical schools. I worked by butt off to finish with a 4.0 GPA and place in the 96th percentile on the MCAT (good enough to not be ruled out because of my MCAT score). I also volunteered at…

Wow. That story didn’t end like I thought it would. How depressing. I hope you get into med school because it really sounds like you deserve it. There is just so much unnecessary grind and friction in this country.