recent MD grad

[niner]

Hi everyone,

Been perusing the threads on this forum, which have been very insightful.

Here's my situation. I recently graduated with my MD and took my Step 3. I'm interested in doing something outside of clinical medicine, especially on the business side. I realized clinical medicine wasn't for me during my third year. Currently, I'm thinking about some sort of consulting as I believe it may give me a broader training.

The problem is I really have no business background. My work experience is mainly in research(Pfizer) and clinical(Sloan-Kettering). I don't know if this will be a problem. Also, I'm limited to the Bay Area as this is where my wife works. Finally, I'm not sure even where to begin looking. Any pointers on resources or approach would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

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[LADoc00]

Hi everyone,

Been perusing the threads on this forum, which have been very insightful.

Here's my situation. I recently graduated with my MD and took my Step 3. I'm interested in doing something outside of clinical medicine, especially on the business side. I realized clinical medicine wasn't for me during my third year. Currently, I'm thinking about some sort of consulting as I believe it may give me a broader training.

The problem is I really have no business background. My work experience is mainly in research(Pfizer) and clinical(Sloan-Kettering). I don't know if this will be a problem. Also, I'm limited to the Bay Area as this is where my wife works. Finally, I'm not sure even where to begin looking. Any pointers on resources or approach would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

SF Bay Area is probably the best place in the world for biotech, pharma and medical device work.

I would get together a resume and get connected with an executive-type headhunter, at least in the initial stages. TONS of stuff to do really, especially when you consider all venture capital in Palo Alto, financial centers in downtown SF and a biotech corridor that stretches from Gilroy to Santa Rosa and east to Sacramento (Davis is now particularly big).

The biggest ? you have to ask is what exactly you want to do as "consulting" is far too broad, akin to saying you want to do "medicine" after medical school.

The single best thing you can do is to talk to other MDs already involved in specialized consulting, luckily for you there are tons in the area.

 

[niner]

Thanks for the reply.

Its encouraging to know there are opportunities in the area.

I'm interested in medical consulting and from my understanding it consists of products and billing. I hope be involved in projects that deal with both. Mainly, I want an opportunity to transition to business, while getting a wide exposure. I worry that certain jobs in pharm or biotech may pigeonhole me. From what I've heard about medical consulting, it seems to fit what I want. Although, I really don't know what other opportunities there are or what they entail. From reading this forum, VC seems interesting too, however, I know nothing about it.

 

[bluejay68]

You may want to look into management consulting, especially firms that have an established or growing healthcare practice. You may be put on non-healthcare projects, but it seems like your goal is to get a more broad business experience, so this would be a good way to get one.

Check out this link for a list of top firms:

http://www.vault.com/nr/consulting_rankings/consulting_rankings.jsp?consulting2007=2&ch_id=252

As an MD, you would be attractive as an "advanced professional degree" candidate, on par with the MBA's at most of these firms (esp. for those in healthcare like McKinsey, BCG, Bain, LEK, and others). Nearly all of them have an office in the Bay Area, so there should be some quality opportunities available to you.

Good luck!

 

[niner]

Yes, management consulting in the medical field would be ideal.

I have two main concerns. The first being my lack of business experience. Will this hinder my chances? Should I anticipate case interviews and how should I prepare for them? Is there anything I can do to help this weakness?

The second concern is how I should start my process. Should I mainly use headhunters? It seems networking isn't very helpful in management consulting. I have a friend who went to Mckinsey after being recruited in med school and a cousin who is a partner there. Talking with both of them did not give me much helpful insight on my situation. What can I do other than headhunters and sending out letters to help reach out to different firms.

Thanks again for all the info. Its been very helpful.

 

[LADoc00]

You may want to look into management consulting, especially firms that have an established or growing healthcare practice. You may be put on non-healthcare projects, but it seems like your goal is to get a more broad business experience, so this would be a good way to get one.

Check out this link for a list of top firms:

http://www.vault.com/nr/consulting_rankings/consulting_rankings.jsp?consulting2007=2&ch_id=252

As an MD, you would be attractive as an "advanced professional degree" candidate, on par with the MBA's at most of these firms (esp. for those in healthcare like McKinsey, BCG, Bain, LEK, and others). Nearly all of them have an office in the Bay Area, so there should be some quality opportunities available to you.

Good luck!

Hard to land McKinsey, BCG and Bain etc without connections even with an MD from a top 5 medical school. The niche is so small, these firms are really filled to the brim with MDs, JD and PhD engineers already. I would still apply, but also target smaller niche consulting firms in the Bay Area. Crazy number of jobs tho, you should really have no trouble as long as you arent money crunched or on a schedule.

 

[bluejay68]

Yes, you should be prepared for a "case interview" if you interview at a management consulting firm. The bar may be slightly lower for someone with a purely clinical background, but you still have to show that you are nimble with numbers and can communicate/understand basic business concepts and frameworks (and apply them to both medical and nonmedical problems).

I would recommend buying a book or two and finding as many people as possible to give you mock cases, which can be done over the phone (but better in person). If you've never done cases before, give yourself plenty of time (at least 1-2 months) to ramp up to speed (use any and all of your connections). If you can't cut it with the cases, you can't move on in the interviews, no matter how nice your CV may be. And yes, the top firms are very "name" conscious, so it really helps to have gone to a top-10 med school (I know that clinically this really doesn't matter, but they have to present their consultants to their clients (usually laymen) and it works much better when you introduce a Harvard-trained physician, etc)

I used and liked this book while I was in B-school:
http://www.consultingcase.com/

 

[niner]

Thanks for all the info, it's been very helpful.