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Ask HN: Should I leave web development to study medicine in my mid-30s?

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Re: Ask HN: Should I leave web development to study medicine in my mid-30s?

#11

Post by bruce511 »

slaw3 wrote: post #5

I am slightly older than you, and a physician working at a academic center in the US. Going into the field has placed me in close contact with persons from all walks of life, which I doubt I would have been exposed to had I picked another profession. I am grateful for how much it has taught me about life, death, families, and human resiliency. With that in mind, I still advise NOT going into the field if you already…

While your experience is valuable, it may not be universal.

The US operates a for-profit health system. That has an impact on all the players. The OP is European (although doesn't say which country) ; most of Europe has a for-health health system. As such there is less incentive to churn through patients as fast as possible.

Personally I have experienced public health, and while clearly every interaction, hospital, country etc is different, I have not experienced time pressures. Sometimes the doc visit takes 5 minutes. One time over 2 hours. Of course the balance is a wait in the queue, which can be substantial, but I'm in the fortunate position that I can take a day off when necessary.

While neither system is perfect, overall I prefer the one which prioritzes good health outcomes.

Re: Ask HN: Should I leave web development to study medicine in my mid-30s?

#12

Post by bruce511 »

Web development is the lowest form of programming, it is the easiest to learn, is very transient, and has a lot of competition for low wages.

Doctor though is hard to learn, is highly skilled, the peak of their professional space, and so on.

I fell you've picked two alternatives that are poles apart. Surely there are choices between those 2? Have you considered moving up the programming food chain? Or perhaps a medical role that's not a doctor?

I'll be honest, once you said you won't respond to protect "well being" I don't think you'd like being a Dr. Sounds like you're looking for a low-stress environment (and medicine is not that). How are you going to cope with patients dying?

I think it would be helpful for you to see a psychologist to really understand your current feelings and motivations before you make large life choices. Jumping randomly out of the frying pan doesn't always end well.

Re: Ask HN: Should I leave web development to study medicine in my mid-30s?

#13

Post by VirusNewbie »

bruce511 wrote: post #11
slaw3 wrote: post #5

I am slightly older than you, and a physician working at a academic center in the US. Going into the field has placed me in close contact with persons from all walks of life, which I doubt I would have been exposed to had I picked another profession. I am grateful for how much it has taught me about life, death, families, and human resiliency. With that in mind, I still advise NOT going into the field if you already…

While your experience is valuable, it may not be universal. The US operates a for-profit health system. That has an impact on all the players. The OP is European (although doesn't say which country) ; most of Europe has a for-health health system. As such there is less incentive to churn through patients as fast as possible. Personally I have experienced public health, and while clearly every interaction, hospital, c…

>The US operates a for-profit health system.

I have a non profit insurance and most of the hospitals in my area are non-profit as well. Some of the parts of the system are for profit (maybe the imaging centers?, pharma companies), but most of it isn't... that doesn't seem to be the main issue.

Re: Ask HN: Should I leave web development to study medicine in my mid-30s?

#14

Post by bruce511 »

VirusNewbie wrote: post #13
bruce511 wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While your experience is valuable, it may not be universal. The US operates a for-profit health system. That has an impact on all the players. The OP is European (although doesn't say which country) ; most of Europe has a for-health health system. As such there is less incentive to churn through patients as fast as possible. Personally I have experienced public health, and while clearly every interaction, hospital, c…

>The US operates a for-profit health system. I have a non profit insurance and most of the hospitals in my area are non-profit as well. Some of the parts of the system are for profit (maybe the imaging centers?, pharma companies), but most of it isn't... that doesn't seem to be the main issue.

Would you say that non-profit insurance companies and non-profit hospitals are the norm in the US? Or is your area an outlier?

Re: Ask HN: Should I leave web development to study medicine in my mid-30s?

#16

Post by VirusNewbie »

bruce511 wrote: post #14
VirusNewbie wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>The US operates a for-profit health system. I have a non profit insurance and most of the hospitals in my area are non-profit as well. Some of the parts of the system are for profit (maybe the imaging centers?, pharma companies), but most of it isn't... that doesn't seem to be the main issue.

Would you say that non-profit insurance companies and non-profit hospitals are the norm in the US? Or is your area an outlier?

non profit hospitals are the norm. Many insurance companies have capped profits. but the profits are capped as a percentage of revenue. So... Hmm...

Re: Ask HN: Should I leave web development to study medicine in my mid-30s?

#17

Post by countryhabib »

clavicle1009 wrote: post #3

Medicine is a very satisfying profession but the road to it is long and winding, and not always fun. I'm an MD and data science major and at this point I would never do medicine again (although I'm obviously not neutral). Also because life changes and you get different responsibilities (e.g. mortgage, kids, partner etc). I agree with PaulHoule that healthcare-adjacent professions may be more in reach and equally sati…

I am similarly leaving behind my software engineering background to go into medicine. I'm in the US and have committed to enroll next year, similar age as OP.

Some caveats: - I was never really a good software engineer - I'm not really making that much money (see first point) - With the advent of LLMs, I barely care about writing code anymore, I'm mostly just planning, suggesting, reviewing, and repeating

I am actually very interested in data science, but stability is especially appealing to me in a post-ZIRP economy. (I think) I'd have little chance to land the role I need to go in that direction, as well as the lack of clarity in how any of these fields will change.

If I had discovered data science earlier rather than being another full-stack developer I might be telling a different story. That being said, I am still very naive about medicine, despite shadowing and spending hundreds of hours with physicians. I understand the idea of it in my head is very much different than practice, but I had a specific vision of private practice that I think overrides my curiosity to constantly keep up with whatever the advancements in industry are. I hope the regrets I have won't be too bad once I start.

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