Medicine vs CS (Tech)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am impressed your child is asking for advice 😀

To be honest I am trying to nudge her from premed to CS.
The time it takes and the student loan requirements concern me.

If pre med, definitely go to an instate or a private school with a big discount. Don’t waste your money during undergrad. Also, does she do great on standardized tests and can she memorize information quickly? Is she truly fascinated by biological science? If she’s not, or if she’s a slightly more social or business type person, then explore CS.

Yes,
She does very well on standardized test and likes math and science classes.
In high school she didn’t like the CS class because of the teacher but now she likes the CS course in college.

CS is pretty unsocial, but there are IT disciplines that are good for social people good in math. Management Information Systems is a Business degree that moves into the IT field and it’s a pretty good option with less rigorous math and no need for programming. I think they take like a little easy programming just to get an idea of what it is but they are not usually programming focused.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'll chime in with one opinion on CS.

You should be quite good at it if you plan on doing it long term and really enjoy it because you'll constantly have to learn new languages and frameworks.

There's no sign of demand abating for CS majors in the near future but the crazy salaries from FAANG-like firms may be a thing of the past (at least until the next major technical breakthrough).

CS doesn’t need to be all programming, though. It’s a broad degree that’s a great foundation for pretty much all of IT.

That said, you do need to learn new things a lot, but that’s true of most jobs. I don’t love it but I’ve been working in it for over 20 years and it’s a good career.

I can relate, but it's gotten so much worse than when we started or were at peak earnings. Outsourcing had changed playing field in this industry.

It's different in medicine from what I observe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Med is always in demand. CS is not. Was hot soon to be cooler

This is wholly inaccurate. The layoffs were across jobs and a few big companies and the people with CS backgrounds all had new jobs within a week.

Just a beginning far from over. You make it sound like it’s over and done with.

It’s more that people are lumping all jobs at tech companies as CS, and they’re not even close to being accurate. Very many of those jobs were non-technical and had nothing to do with computer science. Also, it’s a field that is hired at very many companies that aren’t FAANG and many of those have a lot of openings to fill those hires for the technical roles. Stating there is some issue with CS graduates getting hired is inaccurate and will remain so for a long time.

Endless demand is what you are saying? Does that make sense to you?

You’re making no sense. No one said endless demand. There is currently not concern that there will be not be jobs for new graduates. Demand for $400K salaries is a different discussion.

How about demand in 4 years when DC's kid graduates?

Or 10 years or 20 years down the road? Will it be as good as medicine? I think not.

It hasn't been better than medicine for ages now. Outsourcing and automation of project tracking and Agile had change playing field and turned tech work into glorified factory work. Even if you are a high skilled SME you can expect to be treated like an assembly line worker. And if you are a manager then you are expected to run your team like a factory floor or risk displeasing upper management. Some of it is starting to happen in medicine as well, but not to the same extent and doctors can set their own hours, open their practice and decide how many patients they see. In Tech or IT most work is full time and this means around the clock (because a lot of teams are on different time zones). You can be a crappy doctor and still see patients just because they need routine stuff and prescriptions. Correct me if I am wrong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Med is always in demand. CS is not. Was hot soon to be cooler

This is wholly inaccurate. The layoffs were across jobs and a few big companies and the people with CS backgrounds all had new jobs within a week.

Just a beginning far from over. You make it sound like it’s over and done with.

It’s more that people are lumping all jobs at tech companies as CS, and they’re not even close to being accurate. Very many of those jobs were non-technical and had nothing to do with computer science. Also, it’s a field that is hired at very many companies that aren’t FAANG and many of those have a lot of openings to fill those hires for the technical roles. Stating there is some issue with CS graduates getting hired is inaccurate and will remain so for a long time.

Endless demand is what you are saying? Does that make sense to you?

You’re making no sense. No one said endless demand. There is currently not concern that there will be not be jobs for new graduates. Demand for $400K salaries is a different discussion.

How about demand in 4 years when DC's kid graduates?

Or 10 years or 20 years down the road? Will it be as good as medicine? I think not.

Nobody has a crystal ball. A lot of the "demand" in medicine is in places where people don't want to live and this will continue.

Look at it like a gig. If you move to where there is shortage you often get paid more and COL is much lower! This means that you can sock up savings in your early years of practice and get ahead before moving to your desired location.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Med is always in demand. CS is not. Was hot soon to be cooler

This is wholly inaccurate. The layoffs were across jobs and a few big companies and the people with CS backgrounds all had new jobs within a week.

Just a beginning far from over. You make it sound like it’s over and done with.

It’s more that people are lumping all jobs at tech companies as CS, and they’re not even close to being accurate. Very many of those jobs were non-technical and had nothing to do with computer science. Also, it’s a field that is hired at very many companies that aren’t FAANG and many of those have a lot of openings to fill those hires for the technical roles. Stating there is some issue with CS graduates getting hired is inaccurate and will remain so for a long time.

Endless demand is what you are saying? Does that make sense to you?

You’re making no sense. No one said endless demand. There is currently not concern that there will be not be jobs for new graduates. Demand for $400K salaries is a different discussion.

How about demand in 4 years when DC's kid graduates?

Or 10 years or 20 years down the road? Will it be as good as medicine? I think not.

It hasn't been better than medicine for ages now. Outsourcing and automation of project tracking and Agile had change playing field and turned tech work into glorified factory work. Even if you are a high skilled SME you can expect to be treated like an assembly line worker. And if you are a manager then you are expected to run your team like a factory floor or risk displeasing upper management. Some of it is starting to happen in medicine as well, but not to the same extent and doctors can set their own hours, open their practice and decide how many patients they see. In Tech or IT most work is full time and this means around the clock (because a lot of teams are on different time zones). You can be a crappy doctor and still see patients just because they need routine stuff and prescriptions. Correct me if I am wrong.

Most doctors have to work a lot more to make the same amount than ten years ago and they have to deal with insurance companies with huge bureaucrats.
I suppose this is the case for most profession this days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Med is always in demand. CS is not. Was hot soon to be cooler

This is wholly inaccurate. The layoffs were across jobs and a few big companies and the people with CS backgrounds all had new jobs within a week.

Just a beginning far from over. You make it sound like it’s over and done with.

It’s more that people are lumping all jobs at tech companies as CS, and they’re not even close to being accurate. Very many of those jobs were non-technical and had nothing to do with computer science. Also, it’s a field that is hired at very many companies that aren’t FAANG and many of those have a lot of openings to fill those hires for the technical roles. Stating there is some issue with CS graduates getting hired is inaccurate and will remain so for a long time.

Endless demand is what you are saying? Does that make sense to you?

You’re making no sense. No one said endless demand. There is currently not concern that there will be not be jobs for new graduates. Demand for $400K salaries is a different discussion.

How about demand in 4 years when DC's kid graduates?

Or 10 years or 20 years down the road? Will it be as good as medicine? I think not.

It hasn't been better than medicine for ages now. Outsourcing and automation of project tracking and Agile had change playing field and turned tech work into glorified factory work. Even if you are a high skilled SME you can expect to be treated like an assembly line worker. And if you are a manager then you are expected to run your team like a factory floor or risk displeasing upper management. Some of it is starting to happen in medicine as well, but not to the same extent and doctors can set their own hours, open their practice and decide how many patients they see. In Tech or IT most work is full time and this means around the clock (because a lot of teams are on different time zones). You can be a crappy doctor and still see patients just because they need routine stuff and prescriptions. Correct me if I am wrong.

Most doctors have to work a lot more to make the same amount than ten years ago and they have to deal with insurance companies with huge bureaucrats.
I suppose this is the case for most profession this days.

Is this because of inflation (e.g. doctor's earning don't go as far these days) or because doctor's salaries and rates have actually gone down?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Med is always in demand. CS is not. Was hot soon to be cooler

This is wholly inaccurate. The layoffs were across jobs and a few big companies and the people with CS backgrounds all had new jobs within a week.

Just a beginning far from over. You make it sound like it’s over and done with.

It’s more that people are lumping all jobs at tech companies as CS, and they’re not even close to being accurate. Very many of those jobs were non-technical and had nothing to do with computer science. Also, it’s a field that is hired at very many companies that aren’t FAANG and many of those have a lot of openings to fill those hires for the technical roles. Stating there is some issue with CS graduates getting hired is inaccurate and will remain so for a long time.

Endless demand is what you are saying? Does that make sense to you?

You’re making no sense. No one said endless demand. There is currently not concern that there will be not be jobs for new graduates. Demand for $400K salaries is a different discussion.

How about demand in 4 years when DC's kid graduates?

Or 10 years or 20 years down the road? Will it be as good as medicine? I think not.

Nobody has a crystal ball. A lot of the "demand" in medicine is in places where people don't want to live and this will continue.

Look at it like a gig. If you move to where there is shortage you often get paid more and COL is much lower! This means that you can sock up savings in your early years of practice and get ahead before moving to your desired location.

This is what young doctors are doing (according to the friend of mine who regrets sticking around NYC with a glut of medical professionals) who are just done with their residency and want to pay off their school debt as quick as possible and build some savings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'll chime in with one opinion on CS.

You should be quite good at it if you plan on doing it long term and really enjoy it because you'll constantly have to learn new languages and frameworks.

There's no sign of demand abating for CS majors in the near future but the crazy salaries from FAANG-like firms may be a thing of the past (at least until the next major technical breakthrough).

CS doesn’t need to be all programming, though. It’s a broad degree that’s a great foundation for pretty much all of IT.

That said, you do need to learn new things a lot, but that’s true of most jobs. I don’t love it but I’ve been working in it for over 20 years and it’s a good career.

I can relate, but it's gotten so much worse than when we started or were at peak earnings. Outsourcing had changed playing field in this industry.

It's different in medicine from what I observe.

When is graduated it was 2001 and the job market in IT crashed out. It was fine a few months later, but the salaries had lowered. The market is far better today than it was then. Still, I have never since had trouble finding a job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am impressed your child is asking for advice 😀

To be honest I am trying to nudge her from premed to CS.
The time it takes and the student loan requirements concern me.

Once they finish medical training they are set for life. And unless you pick a very low paying specialty you can quickly knock off the loans.

MD loans add up to $400k on top of any undergrad debt, and the majority of physicians will be in specialties that start at $250k or less (internal, family, pediatrics, etc.). Without family money, those loans will follow you well into your 40s.

[Anonymous]

The hardest part about medicine is the training. If you can survive that, you are good. Doing it with kids (like I am) makes it even worse. I'm going into one of the lowest specialities (primary care) and offers around 250k plus bonus bringing up to 300k for many. If you specialize (I would but I'm an older trainee and my body can't handle more training), you can easily make 300-500K + in a respectable job with flexibility and a good mission. Student loans can easily be paid off at these incomes plus if you work for an academic center, they are forgiven after 10 years. You make the money for the rest of your life without fear of job loss. So it is worth it but again the training is brutal so in that sense maybe it is not.

[Anonymous]

As someone who's done both and made a late career switch, medicine is where I'm much happier. While there are many stressful fields in medicine, the are subspecialties that are lifestyle friendly, pay well, and in demand particularly in private practice.

[Anonymous]

I think it’s silly to compare medicine with IT.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As someone who's done both and made a late career switch, medicine is where I'm much happier. While there are many stressful fields in medicine, the are subspecialties that are lifestyle friendly, pay well, and in demand particularly in private practice.

What else, except the ROAD specialties ?
Another factor is those specialties are highly competitive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Med is always in demand. CS is not. Was hot soon to be cooler

This is wholly inaccurate. The layoffs were across jobs and a few big companies and the people with CS backgrounds all had new jobs within a week.

Just a beginning far from over. You make it sound like it’s over and done with.

It’s more that people are lumping all jobs at tech companies as CS, and they’re not even close to being accurate. Very many of those jobs were non-technical and had nothing to do with computer science. Also, it’s a field that is hired at very many companies that aren’t FAANG and many of those have a lot of openings to fill those hires for the technical roles. Stating there is some issue with CS graduates getting hired is inaccurate and will remain so for a long time.

Endless demand is what you are saying? Does that make sense to you?

You’re making no sense. No one said endless demand. There is currently not concern that there will be not be jobs for new graduates. Demand for $400K salaries is a different discussion.

How about demand in 4 years when DC's kid graduates?

Or 10 years or 20 years down the road? Will it be as good as medicine? I think not.

It hasn't been better than medicine for ages now. Outsourcing and automation of project tracking and Agile had change playing field and turned tech work into glorified factory work. Even if you are a high skilled SME you can expect to be treated like an assembly line worker. And if you are a manager then you are expected to run your team like a factory floor or risk displeasing upper management. Some of it is starting to happen in medicine as well, but not to the same extent and doctors can set their own hours, open their practice and decide how many patients they see. In Tech or IT most work is full time and this means around the clock (because a lot of teams are on different time zones). You can be a crappy doctor and still see patients just because they need routine stuff and prescriptions. Correct me if I am wrong.

Most doctors have to work a lot more to make the same amount than ten years ago and they have to deal with insurance companies with huge bureaucrats.
I suppose this is the case for most profession this days.

Is this because of inflation (e.g. doctor's earning don't go as far these days) or because doctor's salaries and rates have actually gone down?

Reimbursement rates from insurance companies and a lot of red tape.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think it’s silly to compare medicine with IT.

Computer Science is more than IT.