As we begin discussion of Dr. Kim’s second category-venture capital, finance, Wall Street-let’s get a quick intro into the category. This is an industry that has got lots of press over the last 5 years. I imagine that prior to 2008 everyone would love to have the credentials to work in the financial analysis arena. Although the market crash has obviously changed the perception of Wall Street, there is still great interest in combining medicine and finance. One of the most obvious ways to take advantage of your medical knowledge is to evaluate medical-related companies. Doing financial analysis is not an easy task, and, depending on your role and where you work, millions to billions of dollars could be riding on your opinion. It can also be exceedingly exciting, especially in the world of venture capital. Finding and financing a company that goes on to great success can be thrilling and, in the case of medical companies, can lead to great social good as well.
Dr. Kim also brings up the important question of whether to pursue and MBA. He provides a great opinion of someone “in the know” so the only thing I would add is to reinforce one of his points. Although you can get an MBA at a great number of schools, networking in the business world can open many doors. To that end, completing your MBA at the most prestigious place possible to make those connections will go a long way to advancing your career in the financial world. There are also different types of MBA’s-traditional, executive, part-time-that you need to be aware of. Each of these has a different student population, so you need to do some research to determine which will help you best connect with professionals that will help with your career goals.
With that being said let’s talk about the second category-financial analysis. A great book in this field is The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine
by Michael Lewis. The book takes you through the sub-prime mortgage from before it was a household term. He highlights some investors who profited handsomely from the fall while throwing in some interesting characters. Michael Lewis is a respected author who has tackled big, ground breaking topics before-baseball fans will remember Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game
and prior to that he had a huge hit with Liar's Poker
. These books are well-researched and shed great light into an emerging trend that he set. In the case of Moneyball, the Oakland Athletics front-office was the most emulated after his expose, some would even credit it with the popularity of sabremetrics and the rise of the Red Sox and Theo Epstein.
by Michael Lewis. The book takes you through the sub-prime mortgage from before it was a household term. He highlights some investors who profited handsomely from the fall while throwing in some interesting characters. Michael Lewis is a respected author who has tackled big, ground breaking topics before-baseball fans will remember Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game and prior to that he had a huge hit with Liar's Poker. These books are well-researched and shed great light into an emerging trend that he set. In the case of Moneyball, the Oakland Athletics front-office was the most emulated after his expose, some would even credit it with the popularity of sabremetrics and the rise of the Red Sox and Theo Epstein.
