Hi everyone,I really need any useful advice on switching careers. Ive done a brief search on the careers forum and couldnt find anything related to my circumstances. My background-currently working as a medical doctor-having qualified 2yrs ago but never really enjoyed being a medic. If it helps, I obtained my degree from a Tier 1 university in the UK (Top 3 to be precise). On the other hand, Ive always been very passionate and also very good at anything mathematics. Currently taking A level in further maths just to get back into maths and perhaps to secure an admission to an undergraduate programme.My question is this-are there any other ways to get into a Quant job from my background? Most finance MSc wont take me because medicine doesn't have enough mathematical content to enable an easy switch unlike perhaps engineering, etc. I cant think of any other masters course to do at this stage-(that is if they'll take me on).If the only way forward for me is to return to uni, im more than willing to do this because I just want to do something I really enjoy doing. Question is which undergraduate course would easily get me into a Quant career? Just wanted to add that im also considering pursuing a PhD after my BSc/MSc. How can I prepare my CV to appeal to Quant jobs in the near future?I would be extremely grateful for any useful advice.Thanks

I would say the degree that would be most interesting to recruiters is Theoretical Physics. You want something using advanced maths (stochastic calculus ) but not necc proving it. Is that something you could do/be interested in? If so better to do three years of that than a 1 year msc.I think you need to decide first if being a quant is what you are really interested in ( as opposed to say medical research)...I assume you don't know any quants? There is a lot of programming and very little modelling.If you wanted to be a trader your medicine degree should be less of a problem. It might be worth considering doing a MSC/MFE then...(and I would have thought some MFE's would have entrance exams to deal with your case)I think you would be wasting your time trying to get a quant job on the back of an MSC alone ( ie without mathematical undergraduate degree).

You could always try to head towards the area of bio informatics. It is very maths- heavy whilst also providing medical benefit to society, and probably you already most of the biology side of things. You may be able to get into a Masters in this area.

Dude, pick a an idea, and make it the theme of your life. Being a top doctor you can earn multiple times a Quant earns while providing service to society, being respected, and having freedom of time. Why do you want to join the cubicle farm ?

There is a quant dev on our team who was a doctor and went into a quant role after doing an actuarial degree and then some IT work. So everything is possible.I agree with the above on the question of whether or not this is truly what you want to do? At least you need to have a really good answer ready for both getting into a relevant MSc and then a relevant role.QuoteOriginally posted by: spv205I think you would be wasting your time trying to get a quant job on the back of an MSC alone ( ie without mathematical undergraduate degree).This is true. There is such a great number of candidates out there with both a mathematical undergrad and postgrad that can't get the roles they want it's going to be tough.

QuoteCurrently taking A level in further maths just to get back into maths and perhaps to secure an admission to an undergraduate programme.Very good.But you still have a very long way to go.

forget about it

QuoteOriginally posted by: quantmehforget about itI agree - you have a great career ahead of you. why switch ?

Hey! Very interesting situation. Why dont you enrol into part-time MFE in London, while at the same time working as a doctor until you graduate and then switch?

Thanks for all the replies.One thing many dont understand is that medicine is a very demanding career (especially hospital medicine)-it is very difficult to do anything else outside a medical career, you cant always plan your life because you can be posted anywhere to work-you do nights, days, long days-its tiring. To a certain extent, there are some areas of overlap when it comes to finance. Im not claiming that a career in finance is going to be rosy. Medicine is a very rewarding career-no doubt, but it isn't where my passion lies. Im just nearing the end of my foundation training-first two years post grad and this is the stage where you make a decision to stay or leave. I have given myself plenty of time to think very well about it in order nott o make the wrong decision. The point is, I just dont feel complete and sane without matematics. I really love maths, I just cant live without making it a part of my everyday life. I really dont mind starting uni all over again-in 3yrs time, it'll be done.Once again, many thanks to those who have been helpful.

QuoteOriginally posted by: spv205I would say the degree that would be most interesting to recruiters is Theoretical Physics. You want something using advanced maths (stochastic calculus ) but not necc proving it. Is that something you could do/be interested in? If so better to do three years of that than a 1 year msc.I think you need to decide first if being a quant is what you are really interested in ( as opposed to say medical research)...I assume you don't know any quants? There is a lot of programming and very little modelling.If you wanted to be a trader your medicine degree should be less of a problem. It might be worth considering doing a MSC/MFE then...(and I would have thought some MFE's would have entrance exams to deal with your case)I think you would be wasting your time trying to get a quant job on the back of an MSC alone ( ie without mathematical undergraduate degree).Thanks for the advice spv205. Theoretical physics sounds great but im more of a mathematician-i just like maths-especially pure maths. At the moment, im not entirely sure whether Quantitative analysis is what I want to do but perhaps not investment banking-I want a role that relies heavily on advanced mathematics but with good pay-eg stochastic calculus, optimization, partial differential equations, etc. Ive never really ventured into programming so I cant say for sure whether its something I might have a flair for-I'll look more into this.Does trading involve a lot of mathematics? Please enlighten me more.

QuoteOriginally posted by: plusYou could always try to head towards the area of bio informatics. It is very maths- heavy whilst also providing medical benefit to society, and probably you already most of the biology side of things. You may be able to get into a Masters in this area.This is a very sensible suggestion plus. Ive thought about this too-I thought about even going into mathematical modelling with applications in medicine. The only problem I forsee will be in trying to combine this with a medical career seeing that medicine is very demanding (in both time and energy). Also, medicine requires you to pass professional exams which arent that easy-also you have to read in your own spare time whilst workigng full time so there's a lot of pressure already on your time. However, I have never considered bioinformatics-I shall look into it.The other problem is what if I do the masters and I actually dont have an interest in that particular area-it'll be a waste of time. This is why I'm more inclined to do a maths undergrad which is quite broad rather than limiting my options at this stage.Once again, this is a very good suggestion.Thanks

QuoteOriginally posted by: AbhiJDude, pick a an idea, and make it the theme of your life. Being a top doctor you can earn multiple times a Quant earns while providing service to society, being respected, and having freedom of time. Why do you want to join the cubicle farm ?Its a question of what you enjoy doing (for me, this is mathematics)-any career has the potential of being great if greatly pursued.

QuoteOriginally posted by: HansiThere is a quant dev on our team who was a doctor and went into a quant role after doing an actuarial degree and then some IT work. So everything is possible.This is mind blowing!! With determination, anything is possible.I agree with the above on the question of whether or not this is truly what you want to do? At least you need to have a really good answer ready for both getting into a relevant MSc and then a relevant role.QuoteOriginally posted by: spv205I think you would be wasting your time trying to get a quant job on the back of an MSC alone ( ie without mathematical undergraduate degree).This is true. There is such a great number of candidates out there with both a mathematical undergrad and postgrad that can't get the roles they want it's going to be tough.Thanks for you advice.

QuoteOriginally posted by: CuchulainnQuoteCurrently taking A level in further maths just to get back into maths and perhaps to secure an admission to an undergraduate programme.Very good.But you still have a very long way to go.Thanks buddy.