From medicine to business
BMJ 2016; 354 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/sbmj.i1830 (Published 05 July 2016) Cite this as: BMJ 2016;354:i1830
- Joseph Beecham, 4th year medical student
- Norwich Medical School, UK
I’ve noticed a surprising phenomenon in my medical school’s common room. The talk has been less about Saturday night escapades in the students union nightclub and more about the future of the medical profession. Specifically, I’ve been hearing medical students openly considering careers beyond medicine. Among my colleagues, both in Norwich and around the United Kingdom, investment banking and management consulting are often mentioned as possible careers.
I’m a graduate medical student and for six months was an investment banker in a large European firm. I’m therefore interested in how doctors perceive the business world, and I’m aware of some of the misconceptions around money, business skills, and work-life balance that medics have about this sector of work.
A growing disenchantment with medicine
So why are students considering this change now, and why is the world of finance and business so appealing? One finalist at Cambridge, who wants to remain anonymous, told me: “If I’m going to do a stressful job with long hours and lots of travel, I’d rather be appreciated and paid properly for doing it.”
This view encapsulates what many students feel, particularly in light of the imposition of the junior doctors’ contract. Even the most insular student will not have missed recent headlines. “Greedy doctors abandoning the NHS,” writes the Daily Mail.1 “We are driving our junior doctors to destruction,” says the Telegraph.2
Johann Malawana, chair of the BMA Junior Doctors Committee, says: “We have a situation here where unprecedented numbers of junior doctors are considering their options and even leaving the NHS.”3 Doctors’ disenchantment with medicine is having a wider impact, with school leavers reconsidering their career choices. The Student Room—a popular forum for school and university students—surveyed …
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