BusinessWeek Top 50 companies to launch your career

BusinessWeek has a list of 50 companies that are considered the "best places to launch your career." This guide isn't just for college grads. It could really apply to people who are in transition as well. I glanced at the list of 50 companies and I'd like to highlight a few that might be relevant for healthcare professionals who are interested in making the switch into the non-clinical world of medicine. Here are some of the companies that may interest you:

• Goldman Sachs (investment banking): ranked #6
  
• J.P. Morgan (investment banking): ranked #9
• Accenture (consulting): ranked #11
• Abbott Laboratories (health): ranked #13
• Merck (health): ranked #37
• Johnson & Johnson (health): ranked #41
• Protiviti (consulting): ranked #49

I realize that most physicians don't end up getting careers in investment banking. However, if you go into market research or if you pursue opportunities with venture capital firms, then you may have some significant interactions with investment banking clients. Who knows, maybe you'll even want to get an MBA in finance and go into investment banking.

We all know that consulting is very popular. Have you considered the companies listed above? If you can't work at McKinsey, would you consider other options?

Finally, in the health industry, the companies listed are no surprise. With all the mergers occurring in the world of biotech and pharma, we're sure to see displaced people in the upcoming months. Where will they end up settling?

Business Opportunities in Health IT for Clinicians

There's an interesting article in BusinessWeek about Health IT (or HITECH if you prefer). If you don't get BusinessWeek, then you should consider subscribing. The world of EHRs (electronic health records) and e-prescribing solutions will experience a major change over the next several years. However, it's also good to make sure that you're about to go beyond the hype of digital health. This article talks about how the UK is currently four years behind schedule in its initiative to digitize its government-run health system. Where will the USA be in four years?

If you have a strong interest in medical informatics, but you're not sure where to begin, then start by learning more about some of the major players. Specifically, here are some of the really big companies to research:

• Allscripts
  
• Cerner
• Epic
• GE
  
• McKesson
• Siemens

The economic stimulus plan includes $19.6 billion towards health IT and hardware and software vendors will be thriving if they play their cards correctly and collaborate to provide the most effective EHR services. If you're thinking about a transition into the non-clinical world, then maybe you should subscribe to BusinessWeek and learn more about health IT.