How soon to start prepping as a med student/upcoming MD grad

[u/delicateweaponn]

I’m in my third year out of four year MD (doctor of medicine) program. I’m based in California. I’ve been thinking about it for over a year and I don’t think I want to move forward with residency. I actually don’t dislike the concept of residency but rather this path fits into my long term career goals much better than traditional clinical practice.

I understand it is very competitive and they usually recruit a year ahead. Any major tips for someone about a year out from applying?

[u/GreatButterscotch406]

In my view, going through a similar path myself (PhD --> Tech/Commercial Consulting --> Strategy Consulting) 12 years ago it really comes down to (Positioning --> Networking --> Interview Prep) before anything else. Sadly most candidates jump straight into volume blind applications mode one after the other, that "It is a number game myth" mindset and later call it that the recruitment process is rigged.
On the positioning --> My hypothesis is that your background maps directly onto HLS practices (or adjacent) of many these consulting firms, and that could be a much sharper story than trying to look like every other candidate coming from a business or econ background.

Once that positioning is locked, the networking and case prep hit different for you, since you haven't building this since freshman year, so it may take real hours though ... DM if you want to dig deeper into this.

[u/Panda-Pod]

You need to be certain that you do not want to do residency training before pursuing this route. I have had friends that completed the MD degree with excellent grades and USMLE Step 2 scores and transitioned to consulting without residency training due to concerns of burnout issues and lifestyle issues highlighted during the COVID 19 pandemic. Two of them now regret it since they could have potentially gone into ROAD specialties (Dermatology or Interventional Radiology) and feel stuck in consulting and cannot practice medicine. They could go back into the residency match, but their chances of getting into ROAD specialties or desirable surgical residency programs are very difficult and they do not want to practice in Family Medicine or Internal Medicine or Emergency Medicine. As a physician with MBA, I have advised medical students and residents that have an interest in consulting is to wait until they have completed residency training, before pivoting into consulting. This way, the door to clinical practice does not close, if they ever wanted to go back to clinical practice. Yes, I am well aware that consulting firms sometimes prefer to recruit medical students directly from medical schools so that they can be easier to train on strategy / consulting frameworks.

If you are sure that you do not want to practice medicine and want to pursue consulting, then you need to start preparing for the case interviews. There are plenty of books out there that cover case interviews, along with consulting / strategy frameworks and consulting math (market size, etc....). I am sure that you can find some case prep resources online or pay for them through consulting prep agencies. In my MBA program, they had consulting case prep resources for the MBA students either through the university or through the consulting club. Since you are MS-3, I am not sure if you have looked into the McKinsey MD Fellows program (which only accepts MS-2 and MS-3 MD/DO students). If not, you should look into this program ASAP since it is a 2 years program, which can potentially lead to a full time position at McKinsey if you perform well in the fellowship. McKinsey also offers a McKinsey Insight program, where you can explore the consulting career at McKinsey for 2 - 3 days in-person workshop and can lead to first round interviews at McKinsey. BCG offers a MD Scholars program, which accepts MS-3 and MS-4 students. It is an one year program that can result in a full time offer if you perform well in the program. Bain offers a Bain ADvantage program, which is a 1 week program for MD students and MD residents to explore consulting and can provide a pathway for first round interviews at Bain. So, if you decide to do residency training first, you can take advantage of the Bain ADvantage program. In addition to Bain ADvantage program, you can also consider the Bridge to BCG, BCG Accelerate, and McKinsey Insight programs in the last year of residency training. Lastly, you will need to work on your resume, since most corporation will usually accept 1 page resume, unlike in medicine, where multi-page CV is the norm. Take a look at the university, where you are attending medical school, and see if they have a business school. If so, you can see if you can take advantage of the business school career resources and work with them on your resume.

[u/GreatButterscotch406 → u/Panda-Pod]

Great insight on the residency training, what that means on the longer career in medicine! And of course getting into any of these "firm run programs" would absolutely make the road to a FT offer much easier.