Should I Stop my career as a doctor and put up a business?

[Markitz]

Thanks, I'll highly consider your offer.
By the way, I even applied for the USMLE. Can u give me advice on if I should pursue this or just have my residency here? I hear everybody saying that mahirap makapasok sa states.

[dudung]

I've heard of so many stories like this and I even have one good friend who's exactly in the same shoes as Markitz.

I advised him to finish his subspecialty (in Emergency Medicine at st. Lukes's) before he venture into other fields which he really likes so at least he has a very good fall-back.

But the problem really is, my friend is getting impatient. We're already approaching our 30s :) and yet he feels he hasn't earned decent money from his practice (unlike the rest of his classmates who took up other professions...and also to think he's one of the smartest in our class). He thinks he's wasted the best years of his life on endless studying.

Is this the reality now in medicine? Is medical practice in the Philippines becoming too saturated?

My aunt's friend is also a dentist. But her clinic doesn't do well so she just thought of selling "tuyo" and "danggit", where now she earns a lot of moolah. She stopped her dental practice.

[Markitz]

I'm a fresh Medical Graduate from the PGH. My dilemma is if its better to pursue my career as a doctor (my parents forced me into it) or to go into a business na lang. You see, I have been a computer lover ever since grade school and I wanted to be a computer engineer. Problem is, my parents had other plans for me. If they can only see how much computer people make nowadays....

[frenzy]

Of course don't give up your career as a doctor! Well, you can be a doctor and a business entrepreneur at the same time. If you wanna put up a business, have someone take charge of it if you're busy, at least a close family member.

In my case, I have a regular work as a government employee, and I'm also managing (part-time) an internet café. It's a family business but I was the one assigned to take charge of it. So what I do, after office work, I proceed to the café. Whenever I'm not around, my mom's secretary and my sister supervises the café.

Good luck!

Godspeed!

[sardonic wench]

come to think of it, you've come a long way! 8 years of schooling down the drain? dont waste your education.

i suggest that you go into a non-emergency case field (like cosmetic surgery) so that you're not on duty most of the time. so during your free time, you can indulge in your business or be a web designer...

eh di ba ginagamit na ang computer sa pag retoke ng mukha? hehehe

good luck!

[batang uliran]

I sympathize with you, I really do because after 6 years of training in the US and being triple board certified here with a pretty decent job, I still entertain thoughts of turning my back on medicine and doing something else. They are just thoughts though and at the end of the day, I continue to be a doctor.

My advice to you is this - go into a residency in PGH - something more benign if you don't want to toxify yourself - eg. dermatology or even internal medicine and then involve yourself with the medical informatics group there - I have a ton of classmates on the faculty there (batch 1992) and some of them are even involved with Medical Informatics - Nilo Santos in Physio and Eloy Marcelo is a friend (one batch ahead but co-Intarmed). I can endorse you to them if you'd like. Then if after 3 years of training you are really sure it's not for you, then go back to school and try for an MBA or an MS in Computer Science using your training as your work experience. That way, you complete your training as a hedge, you gain experience in computers especially as used in the health field (potentially lucrative in the Philippines down the road) you make your parents happy and you gain real world experience. Let me know if you need any more advice or help and I'll see what I can do.

[nerbie]

Oh my my my!!! I know what you mean Markitz. I do have an older brother soon to be a doctor(I hope). He doesnt really like the course but our parents would like to have at least one doctor in the family. Thank Goodness!!! he pursue to that course or else I'll be the want taking it. Whew! My brother is also into computer he do webpages and design some graphics. He keep on saying it to me what if one day he doesn't really like to practice medicine. He told me once It is nice I was in the computer Industry. Gusto nga nya sa Computer eh.

All I can say to you guys is go on with your career and look for a time to enjoy yourself in other thing. Mind you can also be a doctor with the use of computer.

[Ira]

Ditto what BU said.

Don't worry about the schooling you had to decide for you. A colleague finished his NS training, took the specialty boards and is now full-fledged consultant standing, but he opted not to practice because he was happier in a different field. But do try out a residency first. You may regret that you didn't pursue the more traditional residency programs down the road, and it's better that you try and find out it's not right for you rather than forever wonder about the what if's. If you find out you're not happy after a while, you can opt to go to medical informatics.

[Anali]

There are lots of dotcoms that require doctors, aren't there? Some examples:
http://www.intelihealth.com/
http://www.mayohealth.org/
http://www.drkoop.com/
http://www.americasdoctor.com/
http://www.onhealth.com/
http://www.adam.com/
http://www.doctorgeorge.com/

But I think doctors still make so much more than IT professionals.

There are also lots of medical fields that are closely inter-related with computers diba? Like the hi-tech medical stuff you see on TV, the autopsy and research and lab stuff where they get to unearth all these medical secrets like on Discovery Channel?

:)

[This message has been edited by Anali (edited 07-26-2000).]

[batang uliran]

It is quite tough to get into the US for residency training in this day and age. And the USMLE now entails a skills part that has to be taken in the US so that means you should have the means and the visa to get here for that part. In addition, you will have to apply to several programs, go to the few interviews you will get - means staying around the US for a good 3 to 4 months. As you might surmise, this is also expensive - perhaps approaching $5000 for all the exams, the airfare, the applications (which are no longer free and have to be coursed through ECFMG), the cost of going to the different interviews, the cost of staying here, etc. If money is not an issue for you, it is still very tough to find a position here unless your USMLE scores are exceptional (80th percentile or higher).

Anali:

Making money as a doctor is very difficult in Manila - IT professionals earn much more than doctors do. And only a small percentage of doctors (maybe 5 to 10%) eventually end up making good money (eg. at least P2M per year). Medicine in the Philippines is really not a moneymaking proposition not when you have large companies like Ayala Corp and other multinationals paying middle managers P100 to P150,000 monthly with benefits.

[skywalkr]

hi markitz..for me..do what really makes you happy....thats the bottomline of it....

i still have this txt msg with me ..it goes:

"do *** makes u happy..life is not based on the money u earn or d success uv achieved..its all bout being HAPPY wid who u r, who u with, with what u hav and wid what ur doin!"

just my two cents worth..good luck!

[gumacanian]

My heart bleeds for you.Oh decisions decisions!!

[ina]

life gets complicated like that...
find a compromise between the two.. but in the end do what makes you happy.. it's your life not your parents', diba?
http://www.pinoyexchange.com/angel.gif

[chadpogi]

markitz,

nasimulan mo na...malapit na ang boards...you're an arm's stretch away...ituloy mo na!!!

atsaka think of your girlfriend!!! imagine 2 years away from her?!? lagot ka, baka maagawan ka!!!

ingat ka panget!!!