CS careers offer higher income than medicine
12 posts across 3 communities in the last 30 days; 50% from r/cscareerquestions.
“Yeah but we're talking about popular medical job like doctor who makes a lot. No hate but it's a different kind of things you gotta do ane not 'lol i could just study this for money'.Medical student still grinds a lot and the pressure is still there. I dislike it when someone in…”
“I have been in medical schooll for 2 years but I really cant stand the idea that medicine will not payoff until maybe I pass 30 unlike CS i can land a job early while in uni and get experience that gets me a good paying job before 30”
“Hi everyone, I’m about to start my first year of a B.Sc. in Computer Science, but I come from a science (medical/PCB) background, so I have absolutely no prior programming experience. I chose CS because I realized I genuinely enjoy logic, problem-solving, and analytical thinking…”
Users compare career paths in computer science and medicine, noting that CS often leads to earlier earning potential and significantly higher salaries, particularly with opportunities at tech companies.
SOURCES (52)
“But are they making more than doctors and if yes are those positions harder or easier to get than becoming a doctor? [re: Are there tech jobs that work less and pay more than being a doctor?]”
“If you don’t mind me asking, was it worth it? Do you make a high TC? [re: Are there tech jobs that work less and pay more than being a doctor?]”
“Just as the title says. I know there are tech jobs that definitely earn more than doctors but most of those jobs work more than your normal average doc. What I wanna know is, are there any jobs within tech that work the same or less than your average doctor that pays more. Is it harder to get these jobs than to become a doctor or is it easier? Thank you for the responses and your feedback. submitted by /u/Warningsignals [link] [comments]”
“You don't "have to" do any of those things. Just work for a boring bank or a health insurance company. You'll be fine.”
“In much of the world the barriers / gatekeeping for medicine are significant. Not to mention time to first real paycheck, effort, and difficulty.”
“I will probably get downvoted, but I am a student not sure whether to choose this or medicine. submitted by /u/moe_34567 [link] [comments]”
““Physician and software engineer at the same time,” given what you’ve described, undersells the SWE role and the rigor involved a bit. There’s more to it than vibing some code: designing reliable, scalable systems, maintaining them, and being accountable when things break. AI makes building things more accessible, and I'm glad you're able to now, but that’s different from taking on the full role.”
“Sounds like too big of a question for reddit. Not sure if it’s an option, but you could take a 6-12mo leave of absence from med school, spend 2-3mo going super hard on CS fundamentals, offer to work at a startup as an unpaid intern while auditing a few online university courses, and see how you actually like it”
“Hi there, and thank you in advance for taking the time to read my post. I am a healthcare professional who's made the jump to CS and got back to University. I am presently in my second year and about to start my first internship! I have always had an interest towards life sciences, especially biotech and am considering the possibility of pursuing a Masters degree after my Bachelor's. On the other hand, I wonder if a career in research or R&D is truly what I am looking for; Especially”
“Hi there reddit, and thank you in advance for anyone taking the time to read my post. I am a healthcare professional who's made the jump to CS and got back to University. I am presently in my second year and about to start my first internship! I have always had an interest towards life sciences, especially biotech and am considering the possibility of pursuing a Masters degree after my Bachelor's. On the other hand, I wonder if a career in research or R&D is truly what I am looking f”
“This take seems somewhat insane to me. I'm genuinely curious, which specialties would those be? Let's say we pick radiologists, wouldn't the best use of AI be to review scans after the doctor gives their opinion so that anything they might have missed could be flagged for further review by another doctor? Having the AI make a judgement first and using doctors to review increasingly large quantities of scans sounds like a recipe for disaster.”
“Hello, I'm 19F rn preparing for my country's medical entrance exam, but I'm contemplating it. I saw many posts telling me the IT sectors are much better than health sectors because they provide a stable early career while in medicine I'll be studying for years and years to come and still wouldn't earn as a mediocre IT guy. Rn I'm very scared and regretting it. I wanted to be a doctor but what if I always stay poor? submitted by /u/YvesSaint1109 [link] [c”
“So it takes around 8 years to finish medicine in my country (and no, it’s not America or Canada, also the pay is pretty shit if I stay in my home country) and I am only two years in. Recently I started self-studying tech related programs including the basics of Python, pandas and Numpy libraries SQL Microsoft Access And am planning to learn APIs and learn how to connect all of these skills using python libraries However when I saw the tech market it seemed like the chances of finding a job espec”
“Most CS masters programs at “elite” schools (Columbia, Berkeley, CMU etc) will let basically anyone with a pulse and $100k in. If you’re willing to burn cash it’s pretty trivial to get a brand name CS degree mid career”
“I mean I don't think it's that crazy, I know multiple people who switched into medicine. My one cousin is now an orthopedic surgeon. He was originally in business and got an MBA, then his brother got a weird rare disease (Guillain-Barre Syndrome) and he got really into medicine while he was in the hospital. My grandfather and uncle were also doctors and my other uncle was a dentist so it was on the radar but most of us went "meh, not into dealing with people". Anyway it wasn”
“I agree. Med school is certainly harder but it is a lot easier as well. The biggest difference is that CS requires more networking, initiative, and social skills. Med school relies more on sheer intelligence. Well, you need social skills for the patients but much less to land the job and after you get hired you’re not going anywhere. A lot of guys are on here are 100% more suited for medicine.”
“Honestly, at this point I think that CS is terrible choice. But people thinking that medicine is great, need to understand that not everyone can handle dealing with bodily fluids, smells, stress, psychological aspects of seeing people die etc. Making a mistake is much serious, and you can lose your license to practice. Accounting probably can be ok, but it is less in demand. Companies need only a few accounts compared to other employees. I can imagine that getting a job without a lot of experien”
“So I live in the UK and plan to study here but move back to my home country Kurdistan. I'm fresh out of GCSEs to be honest but got good results (which I know hardly matters). Basically, I'm stuck between becoming a neurosurgeon or software developer. I know how stupid the contrast is between the two jobs but everyone tells me I should go into medicine because im smart but I personally enjoy coding much more. I don't care TOO much about the money as I know both jobs would provide me w”
“Yeah but we're talking about popular medical job like doctor who makes a lot. No hate but it's a different kind of things you gotta do ane not 'lol i could just study this for money'.Medical student still grinds a lot and the pressure is still there. I dislike it when someone in tech just think "oh i couldve went there' like its an easy alternartive”
“The more I think about it, the more I wonder why someone would choose CS over something like accounting or medicine. Simple. I build stuff. Accountants don't build anything. Doctors don't build anything. They're certainly important jobs, but they're not building anything. At most a doctor may go into research and discover things, but they're almost never building anything. With software engineering, you graduate and then the grind never really stops. LeetCode, projects, new t”
“I’m a physician, but medicine was never really the field I was interested in. I pursued it mainly because it was my parents dream for me to become a doctor, and I eventually did. Now that I’ve achieved that, I’m seriously thinking about moving towards something I’ve actually been interested in since childhood which is software engineering. With the rapid growth of AI, my interest in software development and AI has only increased, and I’m now considering learning programming and software engineer”
At $100,000, you're in the 79th percentile, earning more than 79% of Americans. Source: income percentile calculator I'm a bot. Reply with !optout to stop receiving responses.
“Law school or (with prereqs) medical school. If I were young enough, I'd become an Air Traffic Controller in the US. CS grads are desirable for having quick reaction times, technical knowhow and being able to stare at computer screens all day. Pay is rather good, you have job security and have to be a US citizen. Had an internship and realized actually staring at a screen for 8H + the stress of a boss is a recipe for back pain and poor health That's funny you complain about sitting in an”
“Did both. Now finishing up med school. You’re obviously young and have some growing up to do (judging from your comments about why medicine). It’s not a bad idea but know eventually you will need to commit to one thing or another.”
“Fair. I'm after the dream and I got it. I don't care if I have to code all day or it's digging ditches, the WLB and pay are what I'm after. I certainly don't mind coding all day either, I quite enjoy it. What's your current job?”
“And we have exactly the same system of med schools in Poland - basic school of medicine + specialization. The same system is also for psychology + clinical specialization and nursery + specialization.”
“You don't need passion, you just have to want it badly enough. If you work as hard as a doctor or lawyer does, you'll get a job. Most people, especially young people, just don't have the work ethic. Like if you built Facebook, or tinder, or whatever, you would 100% get a job. So... Just do that”
“A couple reasons - The kind of person that becomes a Doctor is very often also narcissistic and/or has a god complex. Especially surgeons. This personality is also present in much of the admin. - Hospitals are so levered up on tech, that things like printers can become business critical equipment. - This critical coverage must be provided 24/7;”
“I have been in medical schooll for 2 years but I really cant stand the idea that medicine will not payoff until maybe I pass 30 unlike CS i can land a job early while in uni and get experience that gets me a good paying job before 30 submitted by /u/OddArgument2454 [link] [comments]”
“Hello, I'm an international student trying to map out my major/career path in the US, torn between Computer Science (CS) , Data Science (DS) , and Computer Information Systems (CIS) . With the current tech job market and recent immigration/H-1B policy changes (like wage-weighted selections favoring higher salaries), how are these three fields holding up for new grads requiring sponsorship? CS: Still oversaturated at the entry-level, or is the market recovering? DS: Is a bachelor's/master”
“Hi everyone, I’m about to start my first year of a B.Sc. in Computer Science, but I come from a science (medical/PCB) background, so I have absolutely no prior programming experience. I chose CS because I realized I genuinely enjoy logic, problem-solving, and analytical thinking much more than medicine. Even though I’m excited about the switch, I’m also completely overwhelmed because I have no idea where to start. There are so many resources online that I don’t know what’s actually worth my time”
“TLDR: I am not passionate about computer science, I love medicine though. But I picked computer science over medicine because it takes less time and requires less money. But I have realised that I genuinely couldn't care less about what I am studying and instead still am drawn to medicine. Should I stick with my current career path for safety or pivot despite the risks? Hi, so I am currently studying computer science and mathematics, so basically, I am in the tech field. Honestly, I”
“The only way the number of roles goes up at this point is if it becomes menial work like IT helpdesk. IT used to be a highly paid and sought after field, now it's 90% low paid helpdesk, desktop, or outsourced team members, with just a couple actually skilled network engineers to keep things running. The truth is you don't actually need that many people to understand how a system works. It's sufficient to have one person who does and an army of low paid unskilled staff (or in this cas”
“Hi all, Looking for a reality check on a career pivot. Genuine question: is this actually a sane move, or am I about to make a costly mistake? Where I'm at: Computer Science degree, followed by 2 years working as a software engineer. The jobs haven't been great, post-graduation it was genuinely hard to find work, and it's been a bumpy ride since. I don't know if staying in this field and going further into it (pursuing a Master's in CS or a related field, followed by a PhD in”
So you don’t regret going into medicine? Did you grow up poor too?
“I've led a slightly weird life that's resulted in my completing a CS degree and currently being in my last year of med school. I'm glad I did CS because it's honestly really interesting and I find having the knowledge it gave me intrinsically fulfilling. It opens cool doors occasionally and I've got some projects I work on as hobbies. That said, I love medicine so there was never any question I'd end up here. I think it's a better financial play. The stability is just”
“Most plateau. But most also choose to. It is very difficult to climb the corporate ladder. It’s easy to coast and just do your job, it’s not easy to keep grinding for decades and play politics to get ahead. There is a good amount of luck involved as well.”
“If you go CS, you're going to lock yourself out of medicine. If the only reason you want to do CS is for the money, you're not going to be able to compete with the people who are as passionate about the subject as you are passionate about medicine. If you do premed Biochem, you can transition into Bio-informatics through graduate studies if med school doesn't work out. In that way, biochem premed gives you more options later on to do either.”
“Go Cats. I went to UK for CS and my brother went to UK for undergrad and for medical school, so I may be the perfect person for you to ask! I started earning earlier, but my brother (1 grade younger) just started as a full time doctor last year and now we have about the same income. I started earning at 23, him almost 10 years later. The big difference though, is he stayed in Kentucky and I moved to the west coast and work at a big tech company. He lives in a mansion, I live in a townhome. Our h”
“Software devs “think” when they write programs, healthcare workers know stuff to treat parients. In practice you need both skillsets to succeed in either field, but that’s how the saying goes. Good luck to you, whichever choice you go with! And congrats on getting into college with a full ride!”
“Nope, but this was a career change, had some great opportunities, and things worked out amazing. My bachelor's was in criminal justice, and my master's is CS (ML track) from Ivy. Was able to basically jump right into a great company and role, fully remote. Basically my path is a unicorns path.”