After An Expensive And Lengthy Medical Degree, I Won't Become A Doctor

‘I have launched a tech company which is already having a big impact on the way thousands of students study for exams.’

I feel I could have a bigger impact on healthcare working outside the NHS rather than for it, which is why I am pursuing a career as a doctorpreneur.


Breaking bad news is an essential skill taught to us at medical school, one that I had to employ when explaining to my friends and family that after seven tough years at university, I’m leaving the profession.

If I take a step back and look at where it all began, I see a 17-year-old with a supportive, medically-oriented family who were absolutely certain of their child becoming a doctor. My entire childhood was a subliminal path towards making this choice, from having Scrubs or House on TV daily, to admiring the respect with which everyone addressed my father at his clinics.

Despite having a clear inclination towards technology, and general geekiness, I chose to continue my medical degree for lack, or perhaps fear, of pursuing other options. It was, however, not long into my training before I started dabbling with non-medical opportunities while masking them as “CV-beefers” for my medical career. This included spending two weeks traveling across Sweden and the Netherlands with a group of like-minded and skilled individuals, helping to improve their healthcare systems using technology.

The pressure that comes from understanding the importance of the job you’re preparing for, life or death in the case of medicine, results in students wanting to study and perfect each topic to a point where other interests are boiled off. Eventually, I started reprioritising my interests over this urge for academic perfection.

Along the way, my drive to become a doctor has diminished by increasing disillusionment of working for the NHS. This is not to say the NHS isn’t a fantastic organisation and one we should be immensely proud of. My main gripe as someone with a strong entrepreneurial gene is that it isn’t an institution that embraces innovation. For me, the deal-breaker is that the NHS doesn’t treat its employees as individuals and isn’t open to new ideas. I feel I could have a bigger impact on healthcare working outside the NHS rather than for it – this is why I aim to pursue a career as a doctorpreneur, not a doctor.

Coming to this decision has led me back towards my passion for exploring technology and despite the demands placed on me by my full-time university course, I have launched a tech company called Synap, which is already having a big impact on the way thousands of students study for exams.

But while entrepreneurship is the right path for me and, I believe, many other medical students with a passion for innovation – it’s not right for everyone.

My family have come to terms with my decision to leave the profession because they know I am driven enough to succeed. Have they questioned the time and money spent on a degree I won’t be pursuing as a career? Of course, but they also believe that my time spent at Leeds University is an investment for the future. The medical skills and training I’ve learned and developed are transferable to so many areas of my life and I know they will make me a better businessman.

There’s a lot I love about medicine and the NHS, but being a doctorpreneur will provide me with an opportunity to help more people from the outside.

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