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Why I quit medicine

gautams.posterous.com

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Re: Why I quit medicine

#81

Post by JabavuAdams »

idoh wrote: post #31
untog wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It happens far too often. Right now I'm looking at a government RFP (request for propsals) that fits what I'm doing very well. But everyone I speak to tells me that it's an entirely doomed process, and that the government will never choose a tiny tech startup over a large corporation. I'm pretty sure they're right.

By law many federal agencies have to give research grants to small businesses. My mom runs a physics research company and that's how they stay in business. You check out SBIR grants - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_Business_Innovation_Resea...

> My mom runs a physics research company [...]

I'm curious -- how does this work? I.e. what kinds of organizations contract her for what kinds of tasks / duration? I would have thought that research was inherently un-estimatable.

Re: Why I quit medicine

#82

Post by [deleted] »

carbocation wrote: post #76
llimllib wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My wife's still a fellow, but you're right in the ballpark on the salary for residents and fellows. When she was an intern, we calculated her hourly wage at You're low on your med school debt estimate, remember that loans don't just need to cover tuition, but living expenses too. Furthermore, many of her fellow not-yet-attendings are sitting on undergraduate college debt that has been deferred until they become atten…

Average student debt at time of graduation was $148k in 2010 I believe. Also, Baltimore represent!

[deleted]

Re: Why I quit medicine

#83

Post by larrys »

jcampbell1 wrote: post #68
larrys wrote: post #39

With a title of "Why I quit medicine" you would think somebody quit medicine because there is something wrong with medicine or the job of being a doctor. What we have instead is a very well intentioned individual that is getting out of medicine because they want to run a startup. And that's fine. Maybe getting jealous because they see it as a path to riches and have been reading about to many outliers. Or maybe wanti…

When a hospitalist quits medicine I am never surprised. * The job is boring * The pay is average for a smart person * The doctor spends a ton of time interacting with people that have sub-average critical thinking ability These three things are something that one cannot admit in writing, but are all true. Some people just don't have personalities that can survive being a hospitalist. One way to cope is to have hobbie…

What are you basing your comments on?

"The job is boring"

A hospitalist deals with more difficult cases than an internist in a office based practice.

"The pay is average for a smart person"

Are you factoring in job security? And since when does "smart" equate to pay? There are tons of well educated "smart" people (who trained to be lawyers) who are unemployed or working menial jobs.

"The doctor spends a ton of time interacting with people that have sub-average critical thinking ability"

Are you referring to patients, nurses or? What do you think the entrepreneur running the local business interacts with? At least Physicians have other physicians as co-workers. Try running your own typical small business and see who you end up interacting with.

"One way to cope is to have hobbies outside of work. Children are a particularly popular route. "

Cope with what? Did it occur to you that there are people that like this job? (This is not a comment on what my wife feels by the way I'll leave that out of this discussion..)

Re: Why I quit medicine

#84

Post by tibbon »

crusso wrote: post #78
tibbon wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While Obama and Congress are talking about how to make regulation more business friendly, why don't they focus on day-1 problems like this, instead of IPO problems? I've never heard of a good company unable to IPO just due to paperwork/regulation, but I've heard of many company not be able to get anywhere due to silly regulatory cruft. See the TacoCopter yesterday... FAA would never let it happen. Or your medical dat…

>While Obama and Congress are talking about how to make regulation more business friendly [...] Talking != doing.

Very true, but its looking like Crowdfunding bill and the Access to Capital bills are moving through.

Re: Why I quit medicine

#85

Post by narrow »

gautamsivakumar wrote: post #53
larrys wrote: post #39

With a title of "Why I quit medicine" you would think somebody quit medicine because there is something wrong with medicine or the job of being a doctor. What we have instead is a very well intentioned individual that is getting out of medicine because they want to run a startup. And that's fine. Maybe getting jealous because they see it as a path to riches and have been reading about to many outliers. Or maybe wanti…

Thanks so much for your support. You're right about how important face-to-face interaction is. That is not going to be replaced any time soon - nor should it be. But for the purpose of handover, you still need a written summary of all the patients on a ward that people can refer to. As I mentioned in the post, it would be useful to see who wrote what about each patient - so that you know who to talk to for further in…

Really nice response, I think what most people often fail to realize is that it's not always about the money. True entrepreneurs are terrible at handling discomforts worst of one that could easily be fixed. I left a six figure salary in the medical field, sold my bmw and moved to SV from the east-coast to fix a problem that costs this country $300 billion annually in additional healthcare costs. It's about finding the best use of your talent.

Re: Why I quit medicine

#86

Post by larrys »

llimllib wrote: post #65
larrys wrote: post #39

With a title of "Why I quit medicine" you would think somebody quit medicine because there is something wrong with medicine or the job of being a doctor. What we have instead is a very well intentioned individual that is getting out of medicine because they want to run a startup. And that's fine. Maybe getting jealous because they see it as a path to riches and have been reading about to many outliers. Or maybe wanti…

My wife is an ER and ICU doc. I think you're crazy thinking this guy is getting into startups for financial reasons! Anyway: 1) She consistently asserts that handoffs are the most difficult and error-prone part of the job. They take up a large chunk of her time. Further, with work hour restrictions only getting stricter, the number of handoffs is only going up. 2) While face-to-face interaction is indeed crucial, sur…

"I think you're crazy thinking this guy is getting into startups for financial reasons!"

I didn't say that.

I gave three possibilities:

1) "getting out of medicine because they want to run a startup."

2) "Maybe getting jealous because they see it as a path to riches and have been reading about to many outliers."

3) "Or maybe wanting to change the world."

I referred to "financial reasons" in only 1 case. And even in that case I used the word "maybe".

That's hardly "thinking this guy is getting into startups for financial reasons".

I didn't say improvements needed to be made. In fact if you re-read what I said you will see I questioned the issues with handoffs.

Re: Why I quit medicine

#87

Post by llimllib »

larrys wrote: post #86
llimllib wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My wife is an ER and ICU doc. I think you're crazy thinking this guy is getting into startups for financial reasons! Anyway: 1) She consistently asserts that handoffs are the most difficult and error-prone part of the job. They take up a large chunk of her time. Further, with work hour restrictions only getting stricter, the number of handoffs is only going up. 2) While face-to-face interaction is indeed crucial, sur…

"I think you're crazy thinking this guy is getting into startups for financial reasons!" I didn't say that. I gave three possibilities: 1) "getting out of medicine because they want to run a startup." 2) "Maybe getting jealous because they see it as a path to riches and have been reading about to many outliers." 3) "Or maybe wanting to change the world." I referred to "financial reasons" in only 1 case. And even in t…

Fair enough, I apologize for misunderstanding you.

Re: Why I quit medicine

#89

Post by jcampbell1 »

larrys wrote: post #83
jcampbell1 wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When a hospitalist quits medicine I am never surprised. * The job is boring * The pay is average for a smart person * The doctor spends a ton of time interacting with people that have sub-average critical thinking ability These three things are something that one cannot admit in writing, but are all true. Some people just don't have personalities that can survive being a hospitalist. One way to cope is to have hobbie…

What are you basing your comments on? "The job is boring" A hospitalist deals with more difficult cases than an internist in a office based practice. "The pay is average for a smart person" Are you factoring in job security? And since when does "smart" equate to pay? There are tons of well educated "smart" people (who trained to be lawyers) who are unemployed or working menial jobs. "The doctor spends a ton of time i…

There are tons of reasons the job is rewarding, and many people who love it. People quit Google or Goldman Sachs for good reasons as well, just not the reasons I listed above.

You attacked his motives for quitting, and I think you were right, but there are also motives for quitting that can't be written publicly (unless you are willing to go Greg Smith).

A doctor can't write "I am dealing with a fatty with an asshole family and mismanaged diabetes thus now has renal failure and I have to deal with this shit" in a blog. It is a reason to quit being a hospitalist, but not something a person can blog. You can also quit Goldman because your co-workers call clients muppets. Some people love it, some people hate it. I am just not surprised.

Re: Why I quit medicine

#90

Post by dr_ »

peeln wrote: post #8

Isn't this addressed by a product like https://drchrono.com/ (YC!) or am I missing somethings?

Drchrono is an emr. I could be wrong, but I think the author was thinking of a more focused solution for a specific problem.
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