Considering leaving medicine after med school/FY1/FY2

Hey I'm in a similar position. I've just started F1 and I've known medicine isn't right for me since the first week of medical school. I've tried to force myself to like it but it's exhausting and just not for my personality type. I have no motivation to succeed in the career which is very unlike me as I'm normally very ambitious. Anyway I just did f1 so I would have no regrets when leaving as I was told it would be different to medical school. That's definitely true but I still don't love it. At best it's ok but nothing that seriously stimulates me. I imagine the only thing that doing f1 can do for you is that you'll be GMC registered...not sure what jobs that will be important for outside of clinical medicine. Also you can locum after f1 which is a nice way to earn money. I think you can locum at the same grade after f1 i.e. sho as you could if you did f2 so i imagine the only thing f2 can do for you is give you more confidence when locuming I suppose, and if by some chance you ever did want to work as a doctor, you could then go to core training or specialty training if you choose a run through program.

I see. So are you planning to leave medicine after f1? If so, what are your plans?

Yes I hope to leave after f1 and do tech full time.

Hi guys,
I made this account on TSR just to ask this. I am currently an international final year UK medical student and I can't wait for it to be over soon.

I have been considering leaving medicine to pursue my passion in business.

I am just wondering what difference there are, in terms of qualifications if I leave medicine fresh out of med school vs. after FY1 vs. FY2? I asked this question before, but the impression I got was that they are virtually the same if you consider leaving medicine, because if you want to return to medicine one day, you gonna have to take the UKMLE to show the GMC that you are still competent to practice.

i agree, it is virtually your life being in the hospital seeing dying people, not being able to see the sunlight, not being able to explore the big wide world, one day you look back and you are suddenly old with grey hair and beard.

Doing what exactly? What does your alternative look like day to day?



That's not the case currently and we don't know how the UKMLE will be used exactly, but you may well be right.

However, the current rules are that you need to complete FY1 within a certain time period (is it 4 years?) else you are no longer eligible. I don't think they'd remove that clause just because the UKMLE is here. So there is still some difference.

Hmmm.... true in some ways, but definitely not in others. Yes medicine can be very consuming and long hours, but that's hardly unique to medicine, and it is changing. In particular, taking time out from the career with no justification is now very very common (in fact almost 60% of FY2s take a year out rather than continuing) - in most high-flying careers that would be a big black mark on your CV, but not in medicine. It is also becoming easier and easier to go part time in medicine - again, very much not the case in many careers. And if those factor aren't exactly what you need to "see the world" I don't know what are.

I think you perception may be from a) the old days and b) because medicine tends to dominate your social life as well as work life - its hard to get doctors to not talk about work! But I think that's largely because work is, you know, varied and interesting and different every day. A good thing!

I agree with above. It doesn’t sound like you have a solid backup plan for what you will do should you choose to leave Medicine. Pursuing Business is interesting but you could end up in anything from HR, retail management, recruitment to corporate finance to consultancy. Business is just as broad and varied as Medicine so unless you have a specific career path in mind, I don’t see why you should give up everything you’ve worked for thus far.

You must be aware that any career worth pursuing will involve persistent hard work and dedication, and you won’t get a stress free life with no responsibilities whatever career you choose. Whether money is your primary motivation or not, the highest status jobs come with the highest risk and hence the most hard work required. Don’t expect to get anywhere without putting in the graft and hours. If I were in your position I would stick with Medicine first, purely because it teaches you a solid work ethic more than most degrees do, and then branch out into Business afterwards using the skills you’ve developed at medical school.

FY1 and 2 i think you need to finish in 3 years.

I don't talk about these things a lot both in my uni and on here because I knew i would be the odd one out.
But I do have plans for starting a healthcare company, and I am working on another side business now.

Trust me, you’re not the odd one out. I’ve had discussions with lots of medics on here who want to move into things like pharmaceuticals and the financial sector. I’m planning to pursue business interests alongside Medicine in the future, I’m considering an alternative career in management consultancy and I aspire to do an MBA one day. Your best way forward is to discuss your thoughts with people who have similar interests and mindset to you. Rather than keeping it all to yourself and feeling like you’re on your own when there are in fact lots of other medics in the same boat as you.

It’s great that you’ve already put plans in motion for setting up your own business. The question is: will it become profitable in a realistic amount of time? I’m sure you’re aware, you can’t invest or raise capital for a start-up without an income. Having your day job as a doctor is the best way to get that. Whatever you earn you can put towards your business and try to make your profits grow. As you acknowledge, it’s better you have Medicine to fall back on rather than being left without a safety net had you pursued business school. Having said that, I would recommend getting a formal business education in the future in order to develop the required skills. But you can always do that later in life such as an MBA after you’ve got some years of career experience/training under your belt.

I probably can’t advise you well without more context. But feel free to PM if you want to discuss.

Its 3 years and 30 days to complete FY1.

https://www.gmc-uk.org/registration-and-licensing/join-the-register/provisional-registration/time-limit-on-provisional-registration

Your plans seem very vague, but if you think you have genuinely good business ideas and the funding to back it up then its your risk to take...

Yeah if I need money I would have to work as a doctor

Oh? well i guess if you never take risks, you never know if you can make it, right?

Honestly, you should just leave when the time feels right. Worse comes to worst you can always go back to medicine, but most if not all the people i know who left medicine at various grades never looked back and were happier after. Don't just stay because you feel you need experience or money, that's honestly how you get trapped doing something you don't like out of fear of taking a risk. Most doctors are very risk adverse so they'll tell you to stay. If you're not happy doing medicine and you really want to do this business then go for it!

Trust me, you’re not the odd one out. I’ve had discussions with lots of medics on here who want to move into things like pharmaceuticals and the financial sector. I’m planning to pursue business interests alongside Medicine in the future, I’m considering an alternative career in management consultancy and I aspire to do an MBA one day. Your best way forward is to discuss your thoughts with people who have similar interests and mindset to you. Rather than keeping it all to yourself and feeling like you’re on your own when there are in fact lots of other medics in the same boat as you.

It’s great that you’ve already put plans in motion for setting up your own business. The question is: will it become profitable in a realistic amount of time? I’m sure you’re aware, you can’t invest or raise capital for a start-up without an income. Having your day job as a doctor is the best way to get that. Whatever you earn you can put towards your business and try to make your profits grow. As you acknowledge, it’s better you have Medicine to fall back on rather than being left without a safety net had you pursued business school. Having said that, I would recommend getting a formal business education in the future in order to develop the required skills. But you can always do that later in life such as an MBA after you’ve got some years of career experience/training under your belt.

I probably can’t advise you well without more context. But feel free to PM if you want to discuss.