Medicine to trading

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K111

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Hi all,

I am currently halfway through an MBBS but I have a growing interest for finance and trading. I have paper traded using options just based on news and done well. Interested to hear about anyone who has entered trading from a medical career and what sort of barriers they faced. Cheers for any info on this.
 
Presumably, you will be fairly intelligent which means you should be able to apply analysis to work out why trades make and lose money plus understand money management. The other aspect would be greed, impatience etc but that is down to your personality. The main issue for you is probably a personal one in that on the face of it, trading is a meaningless job that does nothing for anyone compared to a career in medicine. It's up to you to make it meaningful.

In that Million Dollar Traders programme on BBC2, one thing that I remembered was that PhD guy who was opposed to trading especially when you had the ex-soldier who was buying arms company shares in the same team. Clearly, he demonstrated his lack of intelligence as he was unable to make it meaningful to him.

The thing is, is anyone who works in medicine actually that caring a person? I mean, you wouldn't do it free of charge or on £4 an hour. Show me a hospital consultant who works on National Minimum Wage (and isn't a lottery winner/millionaire/trustafarian) and I'll apologise for questioning their caring attitude.
 
Is it a million a year GP's are getting these days? Or is it something I have heard from the media?

If it is the former, I would certainly suggest that you pursue your calling to help people like me, who are getting on a bit and need all the help that we can get with their circulation, etc.

Then, if you are not knackered by the waitingroom crowd, spend some of your spare time trying to equal your wages in the markets.

I believe the former is the easier pursuit.
 
I reckon psychiatrists might take well to trading.

An insight into nutter behaviour might give one a winning edge.
 
Perhaps a more efficient way to switch over as a trader would be to take it a little slow. I think you should finish your MBBS, start your career as a doctor, save up a bit of trading capital and then start part-time. This way, if down the road, you find that trading isn't what you thought it would be, then you could still go back to medicine. Plus, it would increase your confidence knowing you have a strong backup option.

Start trading part-time and as you get better and better, switch to doing it full-time. Once again, as Ambrose has said, talk to Mr. Charts (he is a member on this forum) as he was a full-time dentist and made the transition to full-time trading.

Amit
 
Thanks for the replies ppl. My view is that while medicine is a "meaningful" job, a well to do trader philanthropist could also make his life just as meaningful. In the western world a lot of illnesses start a long time before someone sees a doctor and a trader say, funding a charity to educate ppl about dangerous habits etc could change the lives and health outcomes many people. To be fair though my interest in changing is more to do with the fact I find trading quite interesting and in a sick way, fun.

For a GP to earn a million dollars my understanding is that they would need to work 6 days a week and see patients in and out the door like a machine with no connection between dr and patient. Also, he would still be working 'per hour' for 'the man' instead of growing something which is the fun part.

I've decided to finish the MBBS as a backup but I will be 26 at that point. I just figure I might be a bit old for graduate analyst programs or similar. I'll msg Mr Charts, although he seems to be a home trader which means having a career and saving all you can for capital BEFORE trading. Thanks again for the replies.
 
ksan..one thing that people have not pointed out..trading can be very lonely.there is no social interaction,except on a board like this.i have gone back to dentistry part time.the lonliness made me very down
 
dentist007 said:
ksan..one thing that people have not pointed out..trading can be very lonely.there is no social interaction,except on a board like this.i have gone back to dentistry part time.the lonliness made me very down
Click to expand...

I wrote my last post with tongue in cheek but I meant a large part of it. The OP wants to know the answer to a specific question so my post was ignored, probably as irrelevant, but I would not give up a chosen profession, like medicine, for trading, unless I became very sure that I had made a mistake in my choice of profession. . Even then, I'd take a good look at the income that I could lose as a result of leaving it.

I am a retired, spare time, trader and always have been. When I am trading it is, as you say, extremely lonely.
 
dentist007 said:
ksan..one thing that people have not pointed out..trading can be very lonely.there is no social interaction,except on a board like this.i have gone back to dentistry part time.the lonliness made me very down
Click to expand...

This doesn't apply to ksan, he wants to become a real trader so would be working on a floor, and he'll actually find it to be one of the most social jobs around.
 
arabianights said:
This doesn't apply to ksan, he wants to become a real trader so would be working on a floor, and he'll actually find it to be one of the most social jobs around.
Click to expand...

This is correct. My ideal goal would be at a prop trading place or a bank. E.g. places like Optiver which I understand are very hard to get in to. I'd be happy to do the entry tests but I wouldn't have a finance or maths related degree. When I posted this thread I was hoping someone had an example of a prop shop that had entrance tests but also employed ppl with diverse backgrounds eg History major. I guess I was inspired by the BBC program mentioned earlier, 'Million Dollar Traders'.
 
You may have had problems had you done media studies or something - medicine won't be an impediment :)
 
arabianights said:
You may have had problems had you done media studies or something - medicine won't be an impediment :)
Click to expand...

Since your profile indicates you are an employed trader your reply makes me glad! I can study all the problems that come with old age with more peace now, cheers.
 
I wouldn't throw away three years of medicine for a trading career unless:

(a) you are offered a solid front office job in a solid investment bank; and
(b) you have assurances that you could resume your medical training without penalty if trading doesn't goes as planned

Do not give up your training to become a retail trader; that option will be available long after you have established yourself in medicine. What's more, it's probably easier to get the study done when you are young.
 
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