On leaving Medicine…

In mid-2020, I completed the year long compulsory medical internship at the University of Ibadan Teaching Hospital. Some months prior, I promised myself to not see another patient as a practising clinician at the conclusion of my internship. I have so far kept to this.

Photo by Hush Naidoo Jade Photography on Unsplash

On the last day of my internship, I breathe a sigh of relief. A few days later, I completed all necessary documentation and roughly a week later(or two), I packed my bags and moved to Lagos, Nigeria where I lived permanently for the next 2 years. For me, this was an easy decision, I finished medical school at 21 and completed my internship just after my 23rd birthday. From where I was standing, it looked to be like I could spend the next few years chasing a career in technology and if I failed, I’d pick up my certificate and continue my medical career. I considered myself young enough to spend some years experimenting with my career and come back to medicine if it did not work out.

Apart from somewhat having age on my side, I also felt confident I had the mental capacity to switch careers and be good at my newly chosen field. I had no romantic relationships, zero ‘baddies’, and had no kids so I could afford to ‘cut my coat according to my size’ with minimal external pressure. The way I thought about it, all I needed was food, shelter, a laptop and an internet connection.

Many doctors express similar interest. They want to leave a career in clinical Medicine for one in technology. They want to become developers, marketers, sales people, designers, product managers etc. I encourage this but always try to provide a balanced view. I’ll outline some considerations below.

1. No new field is easy, none. You are not coming to ‘rest’ in technology. At least not for many years.
2. If your motivation is money, and you want to give yourself the best chance statistically, stick to medicine. Stick to medicine, but move to a first world country, you are likely to make more money than tech will give you.
3. If your motivation is to make more money than you ever imagined, and you’re willing to bet on the outside chance that you exit a company via acquisition or an IPO then do it. But remember the odds are not in your favour. Not even slightly.
4. In tech, there is zero job security and there is hardly a defined career path. There is no job as secure as that of a nurse or doctor.
5. If you thrive in uncertainty and ambiguity, are willing to apply to 100 roles to get one interview and live through at least 2/3 periods of massive job losses & halted ecosystem growth over the span of your career, then why not.
6. Remote work is great. Being paid in USD, GBP, Euros etc while living in Lagos is amazing. The odds of this happening are however not in your favour.
7. Not having the risk of being sued by people you’re trying to keep alive is a good feeling. The only thing that feels better is not having to sleep in hospital rooms.
8. If you work in industries that help people genuinely via technology, seeing your product change peoples lives for the better is a beautiful thing.
9. Working in tech while challenging is also very exciting and can be very fulfilling. If you love an adventure, then make the switch.

To conclude, I generally recommend people try different things. Taking a year(or two) out to attempt a career switch to see if you even like the chosen field will barely harm you especially if you do this before you have significant commitment to other people(marriage, kids etc). I hope this article at least gives you a new perspective to consider.