This week, we decided to find out a bit more about the ‘dark side’. With a third of medical students planning to quit the NHS within two years of graduating and many feeling unsatisfied with the prospect of working in the NHS, alternative careers for medics have never been so popular! But what if you don’t want to work in Australia or the US? What if you want that sweet, sweet corporate life? Today, we hear from an ex-medic now working as a consultant in an MBB firm to hopefully give you some insight into the lifestyle…
Why did you leave medicine?
I left medicine because there was no incentive to work hard - regardless of achievement, everyone is treated the same, and so I felt quite demotivated. A lack of training posts in a lot of specialties was also a factor I considered. I didn’t enjoy the idea of being moved around the country throughout my 20s to different hospitals across the UK with limited control over my location. Doctors also aren’t paid enough for the work done, and there are regular antisocial hours. In the end, I didn’t like the job enough to commit to it and I wasn’t enjoying the experiences I had in hospital placements - it was boring, I didn’t like the hospital environment and couldn’t see myself doing the job. I also didn’t like having to live in a new town in the middle of nowhere for student placement - I realised that I preferred living in one place instead of travelling for placements.
What made you pick consulting?
I tried internships in law and finance and found them both boring. I wanted something where I didn’t have to choose a certain sector right away and also something where I could learn a lot and do a lot of different things, because I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do so I wanted to explore lots of areas. Also, I didn’t want to do more exams and just wanted to get started with a job. I really liked the people I met from consulting companies, found the environment to be really nice and thought the work seemed interesting. The hours aren’t as long as other corporate jobs too, so there was a good work-life balance.
How did you find the application process?
The application process was straightforward, albeit a lot of work. It's a fairly formulaic approach but you need to put in a lot of work in order to get good at casing. There’s a fairly standardised process across all consulting companies, and clear communication throughout.
What advice would you give to medics thinking about applying?
Talk to people who do the job to see if you’ll like it. It’s not for everyone and if you don’t like the idea of making slides and doing excels for most of the day then you may not like it. Also think about whether you really like the idea of consulting or whether you just want to do something different, because there are lots of different options out there and consulting isn’t the only non-medical option.
What experiences are valuable to firms?
Anything leadership or teamwork-based, for example being a committee president, ball president, committee members, sports member etc. Medicine has some transferable skills but you need some good examples of teamwork, leadership, ideally some internships too as the medical alone doesn’t tick all the boxes.
How are you finding the job?
I’m finding the job really enjoyable, I really like it. I find the work-life balance fine and work with really interesting and clever people, I work with really cool clients and the problems are interesting and fun to solve. I’m given a lot of responsibility very early on and I learn a lot. Some cases are tougher than others but there’s a good balance throughout the year of intense and non-intense periods so it feels balanced.
Do you have any thoughts of returning to medicine?
No, but I know some doctors at the firm do locum shifts occasionally, and enjoy them, but none of them are thinking about returning anytime soon.
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