Future in CS field or Med field.

LetThereBeLight · 07-07-2009, 11:45 AM

so...what are the pros and cons of each?

trying to decided; leaning toward CS right now, but I went to tutor these doctors' kids, and I have to say their house was very near the beach and nice...then again I haven't met a crazy programmer where I live (silicon valley/ googleplex anyone?)

movicontr · 07-07-2009, 01:30 PM

If you're deciding based on which one has the better house, that's not useful. At least consider whether you like CS or med more. Both are difficult, and if you don't have passion for the subject matter, you won't enjoy your job, regardless of the money you earn.

Doctors do earn more than programmers though, but it also takes a long time to get through med school/residency. All the rich programmers I know became managers.

Don_Quixote · 07-07-2009, 05:39 PM

I'm guessing you're starting college this fall? You can probably afford to take "middle ground" courses for your first year; if nothing else, a comp sci minor goes well with just about anything. I started off kinda split between physics and CS, and although i haven't really made up my mind yet, i'm finding that I definitely enjoy the CS classes a LOT more, which could very well be an indicator on which career i'd enjoy more...

The upside to CS (like movicontr mentioned) is that you'll be out of school ~6 years earlier. Those 6 years can really do a lot to bridge the starting salary gap between CS and medicine. For that matter, I don't think there's anything to say a CS major couldn't go to med school. That's kind of the sort of stuff i'm looking at actually (using CS in medical imaging, eg magnetic resonance imaging and stuff). I'm not really the 10+ years of school type though, so i'll be stopping with a B.S.C.S. lol

fortify · 07-07-2009, 10:56 PM

Don't let the house of one doctor affect your decision.

LeftistHominid · 07-07-2009, 11:40 PM

you shouldn't do something just because how much money it makes. Go whichever route interests you the most

And yes do not let the house of one doctor affect your decision.

Derek · 07-08-2009, 12:58 AM

dont let House affect your decision.
or greys anatomy.
jk.

are there any middle ground courses somewhere in between business, cs, and med?

dragonelf · 07-08-2009, 01:18 AM

CS and med. look at cognitive science!

Derek · 07-08-2009, 01:45 AM

cogsci seems kinda over my head (Sorry for hijacking the thread btw)..
the only reason i listed cs was due to the fact that i love working with computers, but mayb i should reconsider it as a career...
dragonelf, what can u throw at me in regards to biz + med? xD

HypnosX · 07-08-2009, 02:47 AM

It's okay to want to be a doctor for money dude; passion my @ss, most of them get burned out by the end of their training anyways. That said, personally I don't think going to med school is a wise investment, unless you go to a cheap school, or something. Ever thought about being 200k or more in debt after med school + working for peanuts for 4+ years during residency + paying off interest, what, like 7-8% now? By the time you're financially stable you're probably in your late 30's early 40's (and that's assuming you're competitive enough to become some kind of specialist and not just an average primary care doc or pediatrician who earn in the low 100K's). Doesn't sound that great of a deal to me.

Chairman Meow · 07-08-2009, 03:00 AM

Major in CS and go to med school!

LeftistHominid · 07-08-2009, 04:00 AM

Quote:

By the time you're financially stable you're probably in your late 30's early 40's (and that's assuming you're competitive enough to become some kind of specialist and not just an average primary care doc or pediatrician who earn in the low 100K's). Doesn't sound that great of a deal to me.

Obama talked about this on that ABC health care special. Basically, they want to do something to give doctors more incentives to try to get them to do primary care (i.e. if you are a primary care physician for x years the government will pay off some/all of your med school debt)

Quote:

Major in CS and go to med school!

Lol, that means double weeders, you have to deal with all premed/bio weeders, plus the CS61 series

Derek · 07-08-2009, 02:21 PM

id love to major in counterstrike and still be able to get in medschool.

LetThereBeLight · 07-08-2009, 05:52 PM

thanks a lot guys. I'll follow my interest and go CS! Counter Strike ftw.

fortify · 07-08-2009, 09:19 PM

Become an orthodontist and make millions

dragonelf · 07-11-2009, 07:50 PM

Derek,

business and medicine is a little vague but I'll try to show a few different routes.

A traditional route is to do med-school and work your way up the hospital and then become an administrator which is more management/business than actual medicine. This way obviously requires a medicine degree and maybe an MBA would help but I doubt it's necessary. I wouldn't recommend this if you're interested in doing business + medicine immediately.

A less traditional route is I think Health Management (something along that lines) which is a concentration of the Public Health major. I'm not entirely sure what the do, but from what I know some people do that to work with international organizations (most notably WHO, among others).

And last, I do know somebody who's a haas/pre-med major, which is a lot of work but does have an upside of getting the both of best worlds.

Hopefully this helps, but I would recommend into looking at the different tracks of public health.