Finished medical school/Career change to engineering?? 2

[tech06]

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.

 

[trey25624]

I think those degree combinations set you up for a number of possibilities. Biomedical engineering like others have said would be perfect. You could do research in a number of areas. Sky is really the limit.

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.

 

[thruthefence]

I used to work for a cataract surgeon (and gear-head) who developed many of the advances in the surgical procedures and, in conjunction with clever engineers in the biomedical profession, the equipment to do these procedures.

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.

 

[BrunoPuntzJones]

I notice you haven't gotten much feedback from anyone who works in bioengineering or related fields. I think Trey's advice is the best, find people with medical degrees that work in engineering and talk to them.

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.

 

[msquared48]

OP:

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

 

[controlnovice]

A mechanical engineering friend who had worked a few years after college, quit and went back to medical school.

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.

 

[KENAT]

The grass is always greener...

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).

Posting guidelines faq731-376

http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm?

(probably not aimed specifically at you)
What is Engineering anyway: faq1088-1484​

 

[desnov74]

Do both, specialization is for insects. Im an insect though

 

[IRstuff]

There are those that go the other way, as well. We used to go to an opthmalogist who had started out as an EE.

TTFN

FAQ731-376

 

[plasgears]

One of my coworkers in aero was an engr with a family background in medicine. [Father was an MD.] When queried, he said that he didn't like sick people; preferred eng'g. By now he has worked with numerous 'sick' people in the eng'g profession.

 

[beej67]

RED FLAG - "Problem Solving"


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.



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