Why I Left Medical School for a Career in Analytics
Part I
Why leave medical school? What other profession could possibly compete with the coolness and power of literally saving lives? How could you possibly work for seven years towards a medical school admission and then walk away? Here is my story of how I left a seat in medical school for a career in analytics.
I was shown a picture similar to this at many points in my life and consistently identified with the left side. I have always found peace in math, numbers, symmetry and science. I was taught that people are one or the other and as I got older, I began to realize that the concept of someone being right or left “sided” is a superlative. The reality of the matter [pun intended] is that I, and most of us, find ourselves comprised of both left and right intentions but more of one than the other. It took a four year degree in Biology and a two year degree in Healthcare Management to realize that although I identify with left sided people, I also need an outlet to be creative in how I solved problems.
Western medical school is on a continuum. Because of the wide variety of time spent in specialty studies and training after the initial four core years of medical school, I’d venture to say that it’s a minimum of eight years until one is a full blown doctor. The progression from the left to the right side of the brain is a slow, multi-year evolution where the beginning of your education is for the most part, strictly memorization. I would often joke with classmates that we’re actually becoming glorified mechanics. If A then B. If A and X, then C. These are the rules. Now don’t get me wrong. If someone has a suspected bleed in their brain DO NOT increase intracranial pressure. But in terms of something like weight management, I’m hard pressed to find a “one size fits all” plan that actually works in the long run. That creative approach to healthcare was what initially drew me in and then the realization that actually being in a place to be creative was so many years off frustrated me. It’s also what eventually pushed me away.
My long progression and romance with medicine, and the idea of medicine was met with a steep falling out. I yearned for something that allowed me to see the big picture, focus on intimate details and creatively solve problems. My mind felt wanting. Many months after I made my mind up I came across an article by a mentor of mine called Hire the Artists which in fact summarized my own internal emulsion of emotions in a much more elegant way.
So. What do I want? I want a creative job that deals with both large and small issues where I would be in charge of deriving insight from solving complex, multifaceted issues in the best way I can.
Is this ideal obtainable or another romantic idealization of work?
Not this time. No.
My period of back and forth reflection on this question will be detailed out in Part II. The resolution I came to is that analytics was going to be the future of everything and even the new currency of business.
Analytics offered me the environment I needed to feel fulfilled personally and professionally.
So, how do I get into a completely new and distinctively separate, highly coveted, career field with zero experience? Stay tuned to Part III while I begin to see the patterns in the chaos.