Business or Medicine

Here is the case: a person is in the top 5% of his school with the most rigorous schedule. He is interested in both business and medicine, and would rather choose one now so he can form college applications around that.

Courses currently taking: AP Calculus BC, AP Physics C, AP Biology, AP Statistics, English 4 H

AP Scores:
AP Chemistry: 5
AP Calculus AB: 5
AP US History: 5
AP Microeconomics: 5
AP Physics 1: 4

SAT Score: 2220 (took it again so it should go up)
SAT Math II: 800
SAT Chemistry: 760

Has an internship at local medical center where he gets shadowing and volunteering experience
Finance Manager of Robotics Team
Board Member of FBLA (Future Business Leaders of America)
Cross Country Runner (5K PR: 20:12)

He wants to do business because of the immense rewards to be had in a career such as hedge fund trading but knows that there is a .000000001% chance that he would make more money in business than in medicine. Math and economics and are a cinch for him and he has tons of examples in his family around him. He also has a knack for business and likes the actual practice of it, and would not be bored during his job.

His other choice is medicine. Science is his favorite subject and he is ready to go through more years of school. To him, getting into medicine and making $300K-$500K annually would be a challenge but would not be a gamble. He knows that he will not be making that much until after many years when he is also in debt. He would enjoy the satisfaction of helping people and would not have to worry about stability.

Discuss this guy’s dilemma, please. Thank you for your opinions. And remember: he is not taking any job only for the money.

And please none of this: “He should do whichever he likes best.” Because he wouldn’t have this problem if he could choose.

Also, please none of: “He can be a doctor and a businessman at the same time.” I think this guy would rather just choose one and stick with it.

In Medicine the compensation is for the skills we want physicians to have. It’s difficult, demanding work and the number of people who have what it takes is relatively small.

Anyone can be in Business. In fact, it’s typically the least demanding occupation and attracts the lower qualified students.

It’s not compatible to talk about both business and medicine.

Ok I know you said no both but… have you thought about starting your own medical practice. Private practice (where all the money is) requires extensive buisness management, but at the same time you have to actually do the job you are running the buisness around. If you can really be savvy with your finances, you will have a huge advantage over most and can make a ton of money. Also there are actually many programs out there that grant MBA/MD.

There is an entire class of people certified as Medical Managers. Most physicians have them.

I think you should do both. And also a pr of 20:12 is so average.

I would at the moment say science, since he is taking a lot of AP sciences. However when in college could he play around with some business classes to see if he likes that, then maybe switch over all together?

When you’re a doctor, you’re not also an office assistant and medical manager. You’re a doctor.

Also, if you have a practice in Family Medicine, you will NOT make 300-350K. Average would be 180-200k (which is still very high compared to US average).
In fact entry-level IB people make about 100K, which is high - it climbs quickly if you can survive more than 1-2 years on the job (many can’t). Urologists do make about 450K though.

The problem is that if you want to work in hedge funds, you don’t need to major in business. You need to get into specific schools called targets/semi targets. There, you can major in anything, but probably in math. Philosophy and statistics may be a winning combination (read Cal Newport’s “how to win at college”, or seek out Blossom here on CC).

If you want to go into medicine, you need to find the best value college - where you will not go into debt or not more than the federal loans, for the program where you’re part of the top 25% or top 10% students.