Medicine and Engineering, synergy or no connection at all?

[Alfonsofdez]

Hi everyone,

First of all i´m gonna say that i´m not a native english speaker. In fact in the last 5-6 years i have not used my english at all so now it is much worse than it used to be when i was a kid/teenager and im sure that this text is going to have plenty of mistakes and I´m really sorry about that.

So, I am a spanish doctor, 25 and this year i´m starting my medical residency in ophtalmology. A good amount of proffesionals usually do a PhD during their residency, for getting a better CV basically. The idea doesnt scare me at all but I have a couple of friends doing the PhD and they really doubt if it worths it (speaking in therms of getting a better job).

And...realizing that tecnologies are the future (if not the present...) of medicine i´m thinking about starting an engineering degree.

The main question is simple: would a hypothetical profile doctor-engineer have any kind of good chances in the job market of medical engineering companies? Or they are so different that it doesnt worth it?

I would like to make an appreciation, I do love my doctor job and the point its not that i want to leave it now, but life is long and future is unclear, and as I said it is a reality that tecnologies are going to be more and more important at med fields.

Besides that i wanna say that I do like maths and physics and when I was 18 being an engineer was one of my options. That´s why I think that it wouldn´t be really hard for me to change the kind of topics i´m used to study as a med. Although I obviously know that it is a really hard degree and Im not in thinking about getting it in a few years, it would be a long journey


Thank you very much for your attention engineers!

P.D: I would really appreciate your sincerity. If it is totally nonsense i wanna know it hahaha
P.D.2: Apologies again for my english. I hope it didnt burn your eyes hahahah

 

[IRstuff]

There's synergy, but I think you're be a bit overqualified, since your residency training is only partly relevant to engineering, per se. Obviously, there's lots of exciting developments that have happened in the last few years like spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT), which allows even optometrists to detect and diagnose serious retinal issues.

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[EdStainless]

Or perhaps something related to technology, measurement and instrumentation.
I had a friend who was an ophthalmologist, and he always said that one reason that he liked it so much is that he could usually see what wrong. But he lamented no being able to accurately measure many things. Now this was 25 years ago and much has changed.
I don't know that an engineering degree would help you, but understanding the technology behind the equipment that you use could help a lot. You don't want to be one those guys that has a technician take reading/measurements and not know enough about the technology to know if the job has been done correctly (or is even applicable to the situation).
I am impressed and satisfied when my Dr can explain why he is doing a test, and why he is not doing different one. It greatly builds my understanding and helps my decision making.

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[IRstuff]

There's lots of tools that didn't really exist 20 years ago.

> aforementioned optical coherence tomography (OCT) produces high quality depth images of the back of the eye so things like detached retinas are immediately obvious
> optical tools for testing visual acuity as well as corneal profiles
> intraocular pressure testing for glaucoma
> visual field sensitivity testers looking for blind spots and retinal damage

Of course, assuming you want to make use of your ophtalmology background, optical engineering might be a more precise fit

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[IceBreakerSours]

I can spend an hour debating multiple perspectives but I don't have an hour so, ultimately, it boils down to you, your personal/financial situation, your skills, what you really want deep down, etc. because PhD is a different beast. It may not seem as demanding as an MD but it offers its own set of challenges (just read the PhD comic strip).

Ph.D. + M.D. (or, any other advanced degree law, business, etc.) is a unique skill set because one is able to communicate with engineers (foot soldiers) and executives with ease. If you wish to work for a large corporate and intend to become an executive, then a Ph.D. + M.D. from reputed institutions at a young age sounds like a good strategy. If you are open to the idea, an MBA might offer even more flexibility in the current globalized economy. Besides, executives understand business jargon with ease and seeing an MD communicate issues to them in a language they understand is powerful. Spend a few years at one large corporation and jump on to the next one. Apparently, that is the ticket to the C-suite. [Sorry for my cynicism but I see that happen all too often.]

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[ModuliTechnologies]

That's a great question. Based on years of experience in the corporate world (healthcare engineering), I can tell you that I have met some really smart MD+PhD's. However, it depends on what your goals are. The MD+PhD's I have met were very knowledgeable (and interested) in engineering with a strong background in medicine. An engineer with good background in medicine is very valuable to a medical device or pharma company.

Alternatively, I have also worked with multiple surgeons who have a good understanding of engineering. For example, I have worked with orthopedic surgeons who actively collaborate with academic institutions and consultants to stay up-to-date on bioengineering aspects (knee mechanics, spine mechanics, etc.). They also typically attend conferences that have equal weightage on medicine and engineering.

My advice will be to be very clear on where your interests lie (doctor or engineer) and keep that as your primary profession. Support the other professional stream by gaining a formal degree (e.g. PhD) or stay connected to that field by collaborating with professionals.

My background: PhD in engineering with 15+ years of medical device experience.

Good luck.

Moduli Technologies

http://www.modulitech.com

 

[Onics]

Gain a deeper knowledge in Ophthalmology to get ideas on what specific problems you want to be solved in your field then collaborate with engineers in order to execute your ideas. I think this is the way to go if you will be taking engineering because of money(if that's what you mean with the future is unclear) and I'm guessing Doctors still won't be replaced by technology in the foreseeable future. However, If you are really interested in Engineering, then go for the PhD. It won't hurt your CV anyway.