How does Medical School work?

How easy is it for a recent medical school graduate to work in health technology companies?

• I love business and technology, and I would like to work in fields where medicine and technology merge, as I have many ideas about medical devices and systems that I would like to create. First though I need to get an internship in a health tech company, but that seems difficult, given that most job openings and internships ask for designers and developers.

• Answer:

  Without knowing any more details (feel free to add in an update), it's hard to answer this as accurately as possible. Namely, I'd have a few questions for you: Are you planning on pursuing and finishing your residency? Do you want to work in Healthcare IT part-time full time? What is your background (if any) in medical informatics and technology? You also effectively asked two questions: Can I get a job/internship at a health tech company as a recent med school grad? How can I make my ideas on medical devices or healthcare systems real things? Where can I find people to work with me on this? I'll try to answer this as best as possible from my experience, but there are a few generalizations. I might say a few things that sound like they are diminishing what you've done so far; I don't mean to be insulting at any point. My comments come from the "paying your dues" mentality prevalent in healthcare. Can I get a job/internship at a health tech company? If you are in your residency, very few HIT places hire part-time staff. Most residents with companies start their own businesses or projects (see the next answer for more details). I've worked side by side with people who decided not to persue their residency in HIT. I've also worked with people who quit their jobs to go to med school. As a recently graduating medical student, you have the skills to handle most business analyst/entry level project management/entry level analytic work. But, don't expect anything sexy or special in your job. You may receive some preference hiring, but for the most part you will probably be in the same boat as other people getting into HIT. With no informatics or tech experience, in some aspects, you're even behind some of your clinical peers. You'll start on an even slate in many regards. That's harsh, but most hires that involve people with "MD" in their name involve doctors with years of experience. It's the name of the game: doctors with experience want to talk with other doctors with plenty of experience on how to solve their problems. EDIT: It's more to say that it's hard to quantify your experiences from Medical school. Most people that I know that are in HIT that didn't pursue their residency had to blaze their own path or started without an elevated status. Only you know if you learned something that you can apply towards fixing problems (and go fix it, see answer to second question). Not many HIT companies offer internships to non-college students/developers since the timeline to complete the execution on an "idea" can take years. There are probably exceptions, but I'd say that this is a common reason why you'd be less likely to find an internship. But that being said... How can I make my ideas on medical devices or healthcare systems real things? Where can I find people to work with me on this? It's the year 2012. If you're unfamiliar with HIT, and you're still at a hopsital, talk with your CMIO and see if there are any projects that you can help with. Get your feet wet. With little more than a computer, you can build software. Having even the slightest tech background will help. You just finished Med School, so you're used to a bit of a masochistic learning experience: I'd recommend "Learning Python the Hard Way" http://learnpythonthehardway.org/ Pick up on the concepts, learn about how data moves and good ways to think about solving problems with technology. Go to a local developer meetup or find likeminded med school colleagues with tech backgrounds. Pitch your ideas. Get a developer or two excited that they could help you solve real problems that will actually help people. Work with them and turn those ideas into solutions to problems. Build a prototype. Use your connections to friends in healthcare to work on a pilot and improve the user experience. Make it work. As my friend likes to say: Get excited and build something. Go and do likewise.