Why I chose medicine.

“Why did you decide to do medicine if you’re so passionate about technology?”

Variations of the above question have been asked of me countless times over the past 3 years. My answers usually include the following points:

• Out of computer science, engineering, and medicine, medicine is the more unique qualification to have. I would be better poised at the intersection of science and technology and helping people, by completing medicine.

• Ability to work:

  • Computer science and engineering are domains where your ability to be hired depends largely on your skills, and your connections.

  • Medicine on the other hand is a field where you can only get hired if you have the proper accreditations.

  • Most degrees/qualifications are simply a proxy for signalling skill, but you can demonstrate skills via projects and interviews. Thus for me it is better to do medicine and self-learn the necessary technical skills.

• Medicine is full of high achievers with competitive spirits. Below are the stats for my cohort in 2022:

  

  • For the standard medicine stream, the median ATAR (Australian tertiary admissions rank in percentiles) offered was 99.75.

    • Compared to Law: the median was 94.05

    • Compared to Engineering: the median was 89.40

    • Compared to Computer Science: the median was 86.50

  • I love my cohort, I have found my best friends in it and am thankful every day for them. It is genuinely a ton of fun talking about random things we learned at uni or the hospital, and everyone teaches and supports each other a ton. I cannot understate how much fun I have every day during placements with my peers.

• Medicine is consistently ranked as one of the professions least likely to be majorly impacted by AI and automation, and has some of the highest demand and job security. Despite my personal opinions on the impact of AI on labour and the job market in the future, medicine will still likely be less impacted than most other professions.

• Lastly, my last name is Gore, and I think Dr Gore is a pretty cool name!

honestly this post was going to be longer, and was actually originally titled ‘why I love technology’ but turned into why I chose medicine ultimately. I’ll do another post on why I love technology, comment down below what you think the single main reason why and I’ll send $5 to everyone who gets it right!

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