4 ms·

My biggest mistake was choosing my already established carrier( I am a medical doctor). All I wanted was to write code and make cool apps. :(

DanBC 11y ago
HN has a bunch of people with great advice about changing career. Moving from a doctor to programmer is definitely possible.
- theoneone 11y ago
  I already code a lot for the past 10 years but finance obligations, lack of good programming positions in my country(Greece) and "obstacles" like family and age(I am 37) are making the turn a little bit hard. 3-4 months ago I started applying for jobs and didn't received a single reply. You see,when your whole life you study for medicine and residency it's quite hard to persuade others that You love coding and designing apps.Being a doctor and a developer don't make a good match in third world countries like mine.
  - T-A 11y ago
    3rd world or not, it's still in the EU, and free mobility still applies. Here's how the combination of medicine and IT looks further up north: http://frogleap.se/ http://frogleap.se/
  - lgieron 11y ago
    One thing to keep in mind - coding for a living and coding as a hobby are two VERY different things. To get a taste of what you can expect in the industry, see for example Michael O. Church's blog (https://michaelochurch.wordpress.com/ https://michaelochurch.wordpress.com/)
  - S4M 11y ago
    As a doctor, wouldn't you be in a really good position to work on a medical startup? I don't know that field at all, but I understand that lots of the work of a doctor can be automatized with machine learning, for example, writing an app that performs basic health checking.
su_yuen 11y ago
You can try honing your skills by first taking on some freelance projects! Or still working on cool random apps on the side! Build something for the medical industry perhaps? :)
- theoneone 11y ago
  I did coded a mammography scanner software (I am a radiologists) for analyzing the density of the breast and categorizing it according to how dense or fatty is. It's a wip but needs a lot of work, mainly on the scientific side.
jesseg17 11y ago
As a high schooler who loves coding, I'm torn between these two fields. The problem is that I can code as much as I'd like now, but real medical experience is hard to come by.
turgunovm 11y ago
Thats interesting :)
flarg 11y ago
If you're interested, their's an important and inspiring project called GNU Health that I am sure could use your help. GNU Health -> http://health.gnu.org/ http://health.gnu.org/ Great Podcast on GNU Health -> http://www.podcasts.com/floss_weekly_hd/episode/floss-weekly-288-gnu-health http://www.podcasts.com/floss_weekly_hd/episode/floss-weekly...
- theoneone 11y ago
  Interesting, I 'll take a look. Thanks
  - dawson 11y ago
    You might also be interested in http://home.tolven.org/ http://home.tolven.org/
runjake 11y ago
This seems like a plus? Market interest in health tech/quantified self seems at an all-time high.
defraction 11y ago
I am in a similar position. I am a med student who loves to program - I find eHEALTH really attractive! health gnu looks really interesting. Have you guys any experience with its real world application?
jtfairbank 11y ago
I'm working on a residency scheduling app (https://reschedulemed.com https://reschedulemed.com) and would love to talk to a doctor knowledgable about code. Shoot me an email? (the address is in my profile)

DanBC 11y ago

HN has a bunch of people with great advice about changing career. Moving from a doctor to programmer is definitely possible.

theoneone 11y ago
I already code a lot for the past 10 years but finance obligations, lack of good programming positions in my country(Greece) and "obstacles" like family and age(I am 37) are making the turn a little bit hard. 3-4 months ago I started applying for jobs and didn't received a single reply. You see,when your whole life you study for medicine and residency it's quite hard to persuade others that You love coding and designing apps.Being a doctor and a developer don't make a good match in third world countries like mine.
- T-A 11y ago
  3rd world or not, it's still in the EU, and free mobility still applies. Here's how the combination of medicine and IT looks further up north: http://frogleap.se/ http://frogleap.se/
- lgieron 11y ago
  One thing to keep in mind - coding for a living and coding as a hobby are two VERY different things. To get a taste of what you can expect in the industry, see for example Michael O. Church's blog (https://michaelochurch.wordpress.com/ https://michaelochurch.wordpress.com/)
- S4M 11y ago
  As a doctor, wouldn't you be in a really good position to work on a medical startup? I don't know that field at all, but I understand that lots of the work of a doctor can be automatized with machine learning, for example, writing an app that performs basic health checking.

su_yuen 11y ago

You can try honing your skills by first taking on some freelance projects! Or still working on cool random apps on the side! Build something for the medical industry perhaps? :)

theoneone 11y ago
I did coded a mammography scanner software (I am a radiologists) for analyzing the density of the breast and categorizing it according to how dense or fatty is. It's a wip but needs a lot of work, mainly on the scientific side.

jesseg17 11y ago

As a high schooler who loves coding, I'm torn between these two fields. The problem is that I can code as much as I'd like now, but real medical experience is hard to come by.

turgunovm 11y ago

Thats interesting :)

flarg 11y ago

If you're interested, their's an important and inspiring project called GNU Health that I am sure could use your help. GNU Health -> http://health.gnu.org/ http://health.gnu.org/ Great Podcast on GNU Health -> http://www.podcasts.com/floss_weekly_hd/episode/floss-weekly-288-gnu-health http://www.podcasts.com/floss_weekly_hd/episode/floss-weekly...

theoneone 11y ago
Interesting, I 'll take a look. Thanks
- dawson 11y ago
  You might also be interested in http://home.tolven.org/ http://home.tolven.org/

runjake 11y ago

This seems like a plus? Market interest in health tech/quantified self seems at an all-time high.

defraction 11y ago

I am in a similar position. I am a med student who loves to program - I find eHEALTH really attractive! health gnu looks really interesting. Have you guys any experience with its real world application?

jtfairbank 11y ago

I'm working on a residency scheduling app (https://reschedulemed.com https://reschedulemed.com) and would love to talk to a doctor knowledgable about code. Shoot me an email? (the address is in my profile)