Finished medical school/Career change to engineering??
Finished medical school/Career change to engineering??
(OP)
Hi all, first time posting on this forum.
My college degree is in Mechanical Engineering from a respectable state school but decided halfway through to go to medical school. I thought at the time it would be a fascinating and cool career but am now regretting it. I went straight from college to medical school, completed that without much trouble, and am currently half way through my intern year in Internal Medicine.
My question is, can I successfully make a change to the engineering field? I plan on finishing intern year in May 2011 and finishing all my board exams (after which technically I could be a board certified physician in some states, i think, if that helps at all . . . this is mainly to leave the door open if I can't get into engineering). Also, does anyone know where my M.D. degree might help at all? I would prefer not to be in any kind of clinical environment and work strictly engineering.
Would people hire me on after what will be 5 years out of college in a different field? An entry level position would be fine. I am going to try to take the FE exam in the spring if I get enough time to study.
Also, I'm leaving medicine because I really do not like the clinical aspect and quick/small problem solving involved. I loved my undergrad engineering courses and the thinking and problem solving we did and can easily see myself doing that. Currently, I am very lucky to have little debt, so that is not really a factor.
My college degree is in Mechanical Engineering from a respectable state school but decided halfway through to go to medical school. I thought at the time it would be a fascinating and cool career but am now regretting it. I went straight from college to medical school, completed that without much trouble, and am currently half way through my intern year in Internal Medicine.
My question is, can I successfully make a change to the engineering field? I plan on finishing intern year in May 2011 and finishing all my board exams (after which technically I could be a board certified physician in some states, i think, if that helps at all . . . this is mainly to leave the door open if I can't get into engineering). Also, does anyone know where my M.D. degree might help at all? I would prefer not to be in any kind of clinical environment and work strictly engineering.
Would people hire me on after what will be 5 years out of college in a different field? An entry level position would be fine. I am going to try to take the FE exam in the spring if I get enough time to study.
Also, I'm leaving medicine because I really do not like the clinical aspect and quick/small problem solving involved. I loved my undergrad engineering courses and the thinking and problem solving we did and can easily see myself doing that. Currently, I am very lucky to have little debt, so that is not really a factor.





RE: Finished medical school/Career change to engineering??
RE: Finished medical school/Career change to engineering??
RE: Finished medical school/Career change to engineering??
RE: Finished medical school/Career change to engineering??
Anyways, I am looking into biomedical/medical device but feel they would be tough to get with little engineering experience. Will companies hire me on to start from scratch? Or is the market tough enough on engineers now and I might not find anything?
Also, most of what I read put starting and graduating ME salaries around mid-50k's? Is this really true currently? I would be more than happy to start at that right now.
RE: Finished medical school/Career change to engineering??
One problem with being a doctor is the malpractice insurance. I know a couple doctors that can't pay some bills because of the high price insurance. It's cheaper for them to work for the hospital on a salary, but more boring for a lot of them.
Chris
SolidWorks 10 SP4.0
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SolidWorks Legion
RE: Finished medical school/Career change to engineering??
RE: Finished medical school/Career change to engineering??
I'm not clear what it is about the clinical environment that repulses you, but I'm willing to guess it might be the patient interaction. Having to deal with people who may not be able to explain their problems clearly, or even know what is wrong with their body. That's why I'm thinking sports medicine might be more agreeable.
"Gorgeous hair is the best revenge." Ivana Trump
RE: Finished medical school/Career change to engineering??
You won't like the money either.
To bad you wasted yours and everyone elses time. You could have been a motorcycle mechanic or owned your own Subway franchise by now.
RE: Finished medical school/Career change to engineering??
do what your heart tells you . . . you will have no regrets.
there are abundant opportunities for you with your BSME and what med school education you have accomplished.
good luck and enjoy yourself.
-pmover
RE: Finished medical school/Career change to engineering??
As far as engineering jobs, right now the market is tough for Civil and Structural engineers. As an electrical engineer, I've seen worse recessions from the job standpoint in the previous 10 years than the current one.
RE: Finished medical school/Career change to engineering??
-- MechEng2005
RE: Finished medical school/Career change to engineering??
Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA
RE: Finished medical school/Career change to engineering??
RE: Finished medical school/Career change to engineering??
RE: Finished medical school/Career change to engineering??
RE: Finished medical school/Career change to engineering??
Remember - We can kill them just as fast as any doctor..
and our OATH should also include - "First - do no harm"
RE: Finished medical school/Career change to engineering??
A lot of money to be made in laser and cosmetic dermatology, but it's not engineering and you really have to have very good people skills.
"Gorgeous hair is the best revenge." Ivana Trump
RE: Finished medical school/Career change to engineering??
and in greater numbers!
Peter Stockhausen
Senior Design Analyst (Checker)
Infotech Aerospace Services
www.infotechpr.net
RE: Finished medical school/Career change to engineering??
While prosthetics are the most obvious melding of medical and mechanical, it's by no means the only one. Consider engineered materials for stents and body-electricity powered, mechanically efficient, insulin pumps, etc., as other examples where cutting-edge mechanical designs are needed to solve complex medical problems.
TTFN
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RE: Finished medical school/Career change to engineering??
I would advise you to look into a few ways you could use those degrees, like getting into biomedical, and interview some people that have a few years in that field / career. Get some feedback on what the career is like (which is kind of what you're doing here I suppose). But having a face to face discussion with someone who has been there is invaluable. Sounds like this is something you maybe didn't do and should have prior to pursuing a medical degree.
RE: Finished medical school/Career change to engineering??
Flew his own Jet aircraft, & turbine helicopter, along with enjoying 'toys' to numerous to mention, and world travel.
He once told me that he "really" wanted to be a Psychiatrist.
Follow your dream, maybe; but sometimes that don't feed the bulldog.
RE: Finished medical school/Career change to engineering??
It looks like, so far at least, there aren't any of theose people here.
And, I think BJC was off base to say you "wasted yours and everyone elses time". First, your priority should be to do whatever makes the most of the time you have left, not worry about what has come before. And second, the time you spent in medical school need not be a waste. Even if you end up as a "normal" mechanical engineer, not working in medicine at all, the background may help you look at problems in another way.
RE: Finished medical school/Career change to engineering??
FYI, the doctor who reconstructed my ankles, used a new technique he developed himself. He was also a Mechanical Engineer.
Good luck.
Mike McCann
MMC Engineering
Motto: KISS
Motivation: Don't ask
RE: Finished medical school/Career change to engineering??
When he started his residency, he said he walked into the break room and doctor's were talking about how they should have gone into Engineering instead.
______________________________________________________________________________
This is normally the space where people post something insightful.
RE: Finished medical school/Career change to engineering??
It's funny, how many whining threads and responses have we had where people wished they'd been a doctor and now we get this one!
Bio med is the obvious application, whether you'd be of more value with a bit more medical time under your belt I can't say.
The other place might be operating room sales however that works (I just know an ex colleagues wife is getting into it).
What is Engineering anyway: FAQ1088-1484: In layman terms, what is "engineering"?
RE: Finished medical school/Career change to engineering??
RE: Finished medical school/Career change to engineering??
TTFN
FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies
RE: Finished medical school/Career change to engineering??
RE: Finished medical school/Career change to engineering??
I read a fascinating article from ASME when I was in high school, about "problem solving" in engineering.
The gist was that basically when you're in school to be an engineer, you spend all your time learning how to solve complicated engineering problems, but when you get into the workplace most of the complicated problems have already been solved, and engineers tend to be dissatisfied with their jobs because they don't solve new problems, they just implement tried and true solutions to problems over and over.
The article's main drive was to make engineers present to a big problem in the field - many engineers unconsciously CREATE problems with their designs to solve, by making them more complicated than they need to be. It's a total subconscious thing, and it happens in both ME and CE for sure.
Lesson: Don't assume a switch to engineering will give you a better opportunity to solve problems.
Advice: I'm a practicing civil engineer and PE running my own consulting business, and I considered going back to school in Biomedical Engineering because I know I could get in, and know the course load wouldn't be any harder than my Fluid Mechs masters. All the projections are for that field to make huge stacks of cash in the next decade, and the current economy has wrecked Civil and Mechanical. Sounds to me like you're ideally positioned to go that route if you can get a student loan, so that's absolutely what I'd do if I were you.
Hydrology, Drainage Analysis, Flood Studies, and Complex Stormwater Litigation for Atlanta and the South East - http://www.campbellcivil.com