Thursday, September 10, 2009

Chatting with a CNNMoney.com reporter


The other day, I was chatting with a CNN/Money.com reporter. This reporter was looking for physicians (or medical students) who have transitioned entirely out of the world of medicine. I mean physicians who have decided to go into something completely unrelated to the healthcare industry. Real estate. Computer sales. Artistry. Poetry. Community college teacher. Interior designer. Becoming a lawyer (not to practice medical law). Day trading. Professional poker player. The list goes on, but you have to be really creative.

I don't qualify because I work in health education, so although I work in a non-clinical setting, my work is related to healthcare. Most of the non-clinical physicians I know also don't qualify because they work in some type of company or setting that is related to the healthcare industry.

Do you know any physicians who have entirely switched gears to do something entirely different? I know one person who graduated from medical school and decided to become a Christian pastor. There are physician authors out there who are writing novels that have nothing to do with medicine. I know of a family physician who is now teaching biology at a local community college. And of course, many physician moms end up being a full-time stay-at-home mom. Some of them may end up finding something to do on the side (such as selling things on eBay or becoming a day trader). I know one woman who stays at home and keeps a "mommy blog." Since mom's tend to act as caregivers (administering medications, treating illness, changing wound dressings, etc.), she tends to provide healthcare related advice on her blog.

3 comments:

  1. dr. mike woo-ming was family medicine and switched to internet marketing. dr. arnold kim went from nephrology to managing macrumors.com. i read on Wired that a surgery resident quit his residency to do filming of a life of a teenage girl online. another surgery resident became a shoe designer!

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  2. Thuc, thanks for your comment. You bring up some excellent examples of physicians who are no longer professionally connected to the world of medicine.

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  3. Jacques Rogge, a Belgian former surgeon, is now president of the International Olympic Committee.

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