Software engineering in FAANG to medicine

[sleepysorts]

Hi all!

I've been a software engineer for about 5 years now since graduating college, with almost all my time spent at one of the large tech companies (FAANG). I have a promotion under my belt and very solid compensation. However, I have lost the passion for building technology long ago and have been mostly guided by inertia in my career. I am 100% sure I do not want to continue down the path of staying as a software engineer or climbing the engineering management ladder.

A few years ago I started having odd medical problems that was only recently diagnosed as a very rare genetic disorder. While frightening, I spent many hours a week reading through research papers and texts related to my disorder during this turbulent time and found myself incredibly interested in the subject matter. The entire process has got me questioning whether medicine would be a good alternative path for me to consider. I always had an interest in medicine from a young age, but switched focus to computer science due to good employment prospects and a knack for coding.

Now for the bad news: my cGPA is somewhere in the 2.8-2.9 range (with a strong upward trend: lots of D/Fs my first year and then A's/B+s my last few years). I majored in computer science, so I would have to enroll in some sort of post-bacc program to satisfy the prerequisite requirements for applying to medical school. Assuming I do well, I would be able to bring my cGPA and sGPA above a 3.0, which is better but still a very, very low GPA for medical school.

I wanted to see if anyone here has had a similar path, or can provide some wisdom on how I should move forward?

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[SpoiledMilk]

Those GPAs are going to be tough even with years of post-bacc classes.

If you are willing to move to Texas if not already living in Texas, consider Texas Academic Fresh Start.

See thread here: Texas Academic Fresh Start Program- Confused!!

 

[BritainKittenMittens]

You can also do a search for "engineer" here, or look at the "similar threads" section at the bottom of this thread. It does happen though not common of course. The standard advice is to make sure you know what you're getting yourself into before shelling hundreds of thousands and most likely losing millions over your lifetime if you're 5 years in and in a FAANG job. So start with a few classes, and shadow shadow shadow. I know people say finances don't matter if they do it for "passion", and in both cases, you'll end up solidly upper middle class.

I know a few friends that are now attendings and switched careers from software engineers. They're overall happy now since they use some programming in their practice too and don't regret the decision, but I think some of them expressed that they think they'd be happy if they didn't do medicine and overall the effort it takes makes it kind of a wash. Just something to think about.

If I were you, I'd take a few classes, see if you have an aptitude for science (since your academic record does not confirm this), and shadow as much as you can. I'm gonna tell you that the shadow "test" of whether you like it or not might be sensitive (not liking it highly means you won't like being a doctor) and it's not specific (liking it doesn't mean you'll like being a doctor). There's no amount of shadowing that can prepare you for the actual path, but that's the best you have to work with.

 

[katatonic88]

I'm in a similar field and my first advice would be to find several people in healthcare to shadow (a doctor, PA, nurse, etc.), and look into clinical volunteering opportunities. The reason I'd start here first is that you can get "out of your head" so to speak and see what the job is actually like day-to-day and start to journal/reflect on if that's still something you want to pursue (and you won't have spent any money at this point). Being in the hospital for 12 hours a couple days in a row can give you a lot to chew on mentally if you're used to just working on your computer, potentially remote.

Shadowing multiple different roles will also let you start to form a real opinion about "why med school" vs. the many other ways you can make a positive impact in healthcare.

If it's still pulling you, it sounds like you haven't taken any of the pre-reqs so next would be to register for those and spend the next ~2 years taking those classes. The nice thing with working in this field is that there are some pretty affordable routes to doing your post-bacc and you can cash flow it while continuing to work. Saving the new loans for when you get into med school. =)

 

[BritainKittenMittens]

If it's still pulling you, it sounds like you haven't taken any of the pre-reqs so next would be to register for those and spend the next ~2 years taking those classes. The nice thing with working in this field is that there are some pretty affordable routes to doing your post-bacc and you can cash flow it while continuing to work. Saving the new loans for when you get into med school. =)

Would not recommend an intense job while doing postbac classes. OP would be advised to go to a non-CC postbac to fulfill the requirements as they have not shown that they can handle the academic rigor. Working in an intense job during day and taking classes at night is just a recipe for disaster. You'll have to compromise one or the other, or just take one class a semester which would prolong the time and also does not bode well for academic rigor either. If they had a high GPA (or went to a top school known for grade deflating), this would be a different matter.

 

[katatonic88]

Would not recommend an intense job while doing postbac classes. OP would be advised to go to a non-CC postbac to fulfill the requirements as they have not shown that they can handle the academic rigor. Working in an intense job during day and taking classes at night is just a recipe for disaster. You'll have to compromise one or the other, or just take one class a semester which would prolong the time and also does not bode well for academic rigor either. If they had a high GPA (or went to a top school known for grade deflating), this would be a different matter.

It'll definitely depend on both the intensity of their current job and what's available locally in terms of schools. Remote options exist as well but if you haven't taken them before at a 4-year then I suppose the "academic rigor" thing can become an issue.

 

[mstpgrind]

TC?

 

[chicandtoughness]

Would not recommend an intense job while doing postbac classes. OP would be advised to go to a non-CC postbac to fulfill the requirements as they have not shown that they can handle the academic rigor. Working in an intense job during day and taking classes at night is just a recipe for disaster. You'll have to compromise one or the other, or just take one class a semester which would prolong the time and also does not bode well for academic rigor either. If they had a high GPA (or went to a top school known for grade deflating), this would be a different matter.

This gets parroted so much and it’s just not always true. I worked two jobs (70 hours a week) while taking full course load for my postbac. Was promoted twice and got all A’s. Took me 3 years to finish everything starting from nearly zero (I had Chem 1 and that was it). I am not a brilliant student by any means nor an exceptional worker. It is 100% possible to work and study at the same time, and I would argue that amount of commitment is equal to what you’d be doing in med school anyways.

This doesn’t mean everyone will have success doing both, but I’m also tired of people saying it can’t be done. Many folks, esp in the non-trad forum, have worked (and/or raised children at the same time) and done a postbac.

 

[BritainKittenMittens]

This gets parroted so much and it’s just not always true. I worked two jobs (70 hours a week) while taking full course load for my postbac. Was promoted twice and got all A’s. Took me 3 years to finish everything starting from nearly zero (I had Chem 1 and that was it). I am not a brilliant student by any means nor an exceptional worker. It is 100% possible to work and study at the same time, and I would argue that amount of commitment is equal to what you’d be doing in med school anyways.

This doesn’t mean everyone will have success doing both, but I’m also tired of people saying it can’t be done. Many folks, esp in the non-trad forum, have worked (and/or raised children at the same time) and done a postbac.

So I actually have a pretty good memory and remember your username/story because I was rooting for you back then. I searched your posts history just now to confirm, but according your previous posts you went to a top school (HYPSM) and I'm guessing a grade deflating one, scored high on GRE and scored high on MCAT. You are a brilliant student. You also took classes a while ago in the sciences before starting the postbac, right? And you were in a clinical role. If I remember correctly, and I'm not gonna go looking for this but did I remember that you said one of your jobs allowed you time to study during? What were your jobs?

My question to you is do you think you could have done the postbac while doing your demanding finance job you had in the past? Not all jobs are the same, and not all students are the same. All that is to say you are not an average student, and from the looks of it you are an exceptional worker. I specifically said if the OP went to a grade deflating top undergrad it'd be a different story, didn't I? I also specifically said that OP has not shown that they can handle academic rigor. I also said that, like you probably did, taking one class a semester is an option but would not bode well for being able to handle academic rigor. I never said it cannot be done by anyone. I know of a few people who've managed to do this, but they were usually doing full time work that is clinical/relaxed and colleagues are supportive of their medical aspirations that they don't have to hide leaving at a particular time to go take a midterm. I know FAANG jobs can be somewhat cush, but you're still getting paid like 200k+ if you're a senior engineer. There are gonna be times you have to meet deadlines and stay late, and you can't tell them you have to leave to take an exam.

Again please read my post again and how I didn't say it can't be done by anyone. My post was tailored toward the OP (intense job + has not proven academic aptitude). I too have known people who worked in tech in a senior role, only managed one class a semester, did not do well in the classes since the other obligations were more important, and are no longer pursuing medicine.
Anyway congrats on your cycle!

 

[sleepysorts]

Thank you all for the helpful feedback so far!

I'm in a similar field and my first advice would be to find several people in healthcare to shadow (a doctor, PA, nurse, etc.), and look into clinical volunteering opportunities. The reason I'd start here first is that you can get "out of your head" so to speak and see what the job is actually like day-to-day and start to journal/reflect on if that's still something you want to pursue (and you won't have spent any money at this point). Being in the hospital for 12 hours a couple days in a row can give you a lot to chew on mentally if you're used to just working on your computer, potentially remote.

Definitely agree, I'm looking into shadowing opportunities as well as getting my EMT cert (something I've wanted to do for a while regardless of if I go down the medicine path). My goal is to be as certain as I can be before enrolling in something like a post-bacc.

Would not recommend an intense job while doing postbac classes. OP would be advised to go to a non-CC postbac to fulfill the requirements as they have not shown that they can handle the academic rigor. Working in an intense job during day and taking classes at night is just a recipe for disaster. You'll have to compromise one or the other, or just take one class a semester which would prolong the time and also does not bode well for academic rigor either. If they had a high GPA (or went to a top school known for grade deflating), this would be a different matter.

I'm not necessarily opposed to taking courses while working. However, I do see value in a more formal post-bacc/full time program where I can dedicate all my energy to ensuring I achieve the best grades possible and not being distracted by my day job. I also currently have an on-call rotation approximately once per month which would be challenging to work around.

 

[sleepysorts]

Follow up question: assuming I go down this path, would an SMP be necessary for mitigating poor grades from the start of undergrad? Or would a post-bacc be sufficient for a non-traditional applicant like me since I am missing almost all the prerequisites?

 

[BritainKittenMittens]

Follow up question: assuming I go down this path, would an SMP be necessary for mitigating poor grades from the start of undergrad? Or would a post-bacc be sufficient for a non-traditional applicant like me since I am missing almost all the prerequisites?

SMPs are for people who have done the pre-reqs and they do more advanced classes to show they can handle the coursework. You would do a career changing postbac to fulfill the requirements.

 

[Osminog]

I worked two jobs (70 hours a week) while taking full course load for my postbac. Was promoted twice and got all A’s. Took me 3 years to finish everything starting from nearly zero (I had Chem 1 and that was it). I am not a brilliant student by any means nor an exceptional worker. It is 100% possible to work and study at the same time, and I would argue that amount of commitment is equal to what you’d be doing in med school anyways.

Nice flex. For most non-trad pre-meds, this would be a recipe for horrific failure. I'm glad it worked out for you. If I had done this, I wouldn't have made it to med school. I had one full-time job and took two courses a semester, and that was more than enough for me—especially with the volunteering, shadowing, and MCAT prep I was doing on the side.

What annoys me the most about your post is the humblebragging. By suggesting that you're just a typical, run-of-the-mill student who pulled this off with ease, you're really implying that people like me are dullards. If I were still a pre-med, your post would make me feel bad about myself.

 

[Goro]

Hi all!

I've been a software engineer for about 5 years now since graduating college, with almost all my time spent at one of the large tech companies (FAANG). I have a promotion under my belt and very solid compensation. However, I have lost the passion for building technology long ago and have been mostly guided by inertia in my career. I am 100% sure I do not want to continue down the path of staying as a software engineer or climbing the engineering management ladder.

A few years ago I started having odd medical problems that was only recently diagnosed as a very rare genetic disorder. While frightening, I spent many hours a week reading through research papers and texts related to my disorder during this turbulent time and found myself incredibly interested in the subject matter. The entire process has got me questioning whether medicine would be a good alternative path for me to consider. I always had an interest in medicine from a young age, but switched focus to computer science due to good employment prospects and a knack for coding.

Now for the bad news: my cGPA is somewhere in the 2.8-2.9 range (with a strong upward trend: lots of D/Fs my first year and then A's/B+s my last few years). I majored in computer science, so I would have to enroll in some sort of post-bacc program to satisfy the prerequisite requirements for applying to medical school. Assuming I do well, I would be able to bring my cGPA and sGPA above a 3.0, which is better but still a very, very low GPA for medical school.

I wanted to see if anyone here has had a similar path, or can provide some wisdom on how I should move forward?

Read this:

• Goro's advice for pre-meds who need reinvention

 

[chicandtoughness]

[cut for length]

I nearly failed out of my HYPSM and only scored high on my GRE/MCAT due to inflation from CARS and P/S. I've been working 2 jobs simultaneously my entire life, not for bragging rights but for financial reasons. The job you're remembering was a night job where I could study when no patients were awake or admitting. Over the past two years I've worked 2 full time jobs during the day (hopped on that "overwork" trend) doing insurance reviews (on the phone all day) and being a manager + a part time job in hospital. Unfortunately I've had to "hide" my premed activity from every single job as they were unsupportive, so it really does come down to time management. I'm definitely not advocating anyone do the crazy **** I did, but it is definitely doable to work a standard 9-5 and take classes at the same time. Many folks I've met in my premed process were work-during-the-day-classes-in-the-evening nontrads, and all of them in my friend group (equally average students) have USMD acceptances.

I made my statement not to humblebrag, as I honestly, truly do believe I'm an average student (who maybe just has a penchance for little sleep and overwork.) This isn't a "oh no I only scored an 85% I such a failure" situation - this is a "In college I was scoring 20/100 on exams where the average was a 78" situation. I've struggled throughout my academic and professional career, but sometimes you don't see that in the numbers and results. It took a lot of time to get my **** together, but it is doable. My path was long and that is the tradeoff - someone who is able to devote 100% of their time to postbac and building their application could have done it much sooner than I. I know OP hasn't proven academic aptitude, but that doesn't necessarily mean it would end in "disaster" either.

It sounds like OP would prefer a full time post-bac so I'm not going to beat a dead horse, but if someone came up to me stating they'd like to do both, I would encourage them to give it a try, because it IS doable by students in a whole range of situations and skills. Maybe I'm traumatized by past financial issues, but the financial security + continued job prospects helped me feel peace of mind as I went through the process.

What annoys me the most about your post is the humblebragging. By suggesting that you're just a typical, run-of-the-mill student who pulled this off with ease, you're really implying that people like me are dullards. If I were still a pre-med, your post would make me feel bad about myself.

I apologize, it was certainly not my intent to imply "oh anyone should be able to do this easily" - and for sure, it wasn't a walk in the park. It's hard work. But just like med school is hard work but still doable, so too do I think that work + school should be doable with the corresponding input of time and effort. You certainly did it - full time job + two courses + volunteering + shadowing + MCAT prep is essentially equal to a job + full time school. I wasn't trying to imply that everyone should be doing multiple jobs like I did, just trying to give an N=1 for me, a genuinely normal average person, and to emphasize that a one full time job + classes does not always spell a recipe for disaster. And obviously there is a trade off, as my volunteering and shadowing suffered due to more emphasis in my career (I had 20 hours of shadowing lol).

 

[BritainKittenMittens]

I nearly failed out of my HYPSM and only scored high on my GRE/MCAT due to inflation from CARS and P/S. I've been working 2 jobs simultaneously my entire life, not for bragging rights but for financial reasons. The job you're remembering was a night job where I could study when no patients were awake or admitting. Over the past two years I've worked 2 full time jobs during the day (hopped on that "overwork" trend) doing insurance reviews (on the phone all day) and being a manager + a part time job in hospital. Unfortunately I've had to "hide" my premed activity from every single job as they were unsupportive, so it really does come down to time management. I'm definitely not advocating anyone do the crazy **** I did, but it is definitely doable to work a standard 9-5 and take classes at the same time. Many folks I've met in my premed process were work-during-the-day-classes-in-the-evening nontrads, and all of them in my friend group (equally average students) have USMD acceptances.

I made my statement not to humblebrag, as I honestly, truly do believe I'm an average student (who maybe just has a penchance for little sleep and overwork.) This isn't a "oh no I only scored an 85% I such a failure" situation - this is a "In college I was scoring 20/100 on exams where the average was a 78" situation. I've struggled throughout my academic and professional career, but sometimes you don't see that in the numbers and results. It took a lot of time to get my **** together, but it is doable. My path was long and that is the tradeoff - someone who is able to devote 100% of their time to postbac and building their application could have done it much sooner than I. I know OP hasn't proven academic aptitude, but that doesn't necessarily mean it would end in "disaster" either.

It sounds like OP would prefer a full time post-bac so I'm not going to beat a dead horse, but if someone came up to me stating they'd like to do both, I would encourage them to give it a try, because it IS doable by students in a whole range of situations and skills. Maybe I'm traumatized by past financial issues, but the financial security + continued job prospects helped me feel peace of mind as I went through the process.



I apologize, it was certainly not my intent to imply "oh anyone should be able to do this easily" - and for sure, it wasn't a walk in the park. It's hard work. But just like med school is hard work but still doable, so too do I think that work + school should be doable with the corresponding input of time and effort. You certainly did it - full time job + two courses + volunteering + shadowing + MCAT prep is essentially equal to a job + full time school. I wasn't trying to imply that everyone should be doing multiple jobs like I did, just trying to give an N=1 for me, a genuinely normal average person, and to emphasize that a one full time job + classes does not always spell a recipe for disaster. And obviously there is a trade off, as my volunteering and shadowing suffered due to more emphasis in my career (I had 20 hours of shadowing lol).

*sigh* you're doing it again. I hate to bring up your past but you repeatedly made this about you. In your post from Narrow down this huge school list? it says you were partying in undergrad so that's why you had a low GPA. So another spin is that you're an exceptional student and you just slacked off during undergrad, the only blip in your record that is otherwise amazing. If you went to college in Boston I'm gonna guess either Harvard or MIT and if it's MIT they're known for grade deflating and just to get in means you're exceptional (Harvard too of course, but MIT has a higher brainiac density). To get in to either means you most likely scored high on the SATs (back when it was more indicative of brainpower and less something you can study for). So you did well in SATs, GREs, MCAT. Speaking of MCAT, you say it's inflated by CARS and P/S but fail to mention that you did just as well in C/P, meaning the only section that is "weak" was Bio at 127. Another example of your downplaying your achievements here. I know a lot of duds from HYPSM, of course. But they're the exception. The overwhelming evidence is that you're an exceptional student who just had trouble adjusting to college.

This needs to be emphasized because you focused on the things that make you average while omitting the things that make you exceptional. If you read my original post, it was targeted at OP since they haven't proven that they can handle the rigor, and that the case would be different if they had gone to a top school/grade deflating one. I didn't say it was a disaster for everyone.

 

[sleepysorts]

Hey all, follow up question: if I do a 1 year post-bacc with a 3.8+ GPA but can only bring my cGPA up to a 2.9x, will I be automatically rejected from med schools? Let's assume that my sGPA is much higher.

In terms of my GPA trend, my last 2 years of undergrad I averaged around a 3.6. It's the grades from ~9 years ago that completely tank my GPA.

 

[BritainKittenMittens]

Hey all, follow up question: if I do a 1 year post-bacc with a 3.8+ GPA but can only bring my cGPA up to a 2.9x, will I be automatically rejected from med schools? Let's assume that my sGPA is much higher.

In terms of my GPA trend, my last 2 years of undergrad I averaged around a 3.6. It's the grades from ~9 years ago that completely tank my GPA.

I have no idea about GPA cutoffs so not sure. But how do you feel about moving to Texas like someone else mentioned?

 

[sleepysorts]

I have no idea about GPA cutoffs so not sure. But how do you feel about moving to Texas like someone else mentioned?

To be honest, I don't think I would go down that path. The Texas Fresh Start program is limited to Texas medical school applications. It seems like a lot of effort to completely uproot my life for just a better chance at being admitted to schools in Texas, especially with no ties to that area. Ideally, I would follow Goro's reinvention strategy and score a high enough MCAT to mitigate concerns about my academic performance from many years ago.

 

[BritainKittenMittens]

To be honest, I don't think I would go down that path. The Texas Fresh Start program is limited to Texas medical school applications. It seems like a lot of effort to completely uproot my life for just a better chance at being admitted to schools in Texas, especially with no ties to that area. Ideally, I would follow Goro's reinvention strategy and score a high enough MCAT to mitigate concerns about my academic performance from many years ago.

That's fair. My understanding is if you live in TX for a few years (the amount it takes to finish a postbac and fulfill all reqs), you might be considered a TX resident and it increases your chances. To your earlier point, I don't know if or what schools do a GPA filter anymore.

 

[SpoiledMilk]

There are SDNers who have uprooted their entire family from other states for a chance at medical school in Texas. One that I have been in contact with throughout their move with their entire family (kids also), their postbacc course for several years in Texas, and have now been accepted to a top Texas medical school (MD) with full tuition for the Class of 2027. They had no ties to the state when they moved here but did all the hard work to ensure that they will now eventually become a doctor. I'm not tagging them, but if they happen to see this post, hopefully they will post.

Your biggest hurdle is the GPA and the numerous classes need to bring it up a tiny smidgen. But it's your call and GL.