Ask HN: I'm an MD and a hacker. I would like to do something interesting. | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: I'm an MD and a hacker. I would like to do something interesting.

8 pointsbobowzki12 comments

I have an MD from a European university. I'm currently working as a junior physician in a university hospital.

I also enjoy hacking and have 5 fairly popular apps (in my country) in the Apple app store, one in android market. These are client server apps with the backend in python (using mostly django). I did all the coding and design alone. I've also done hardware projects using ucs (PICs and AVRs mostly, C and assembly). I have one first authorship in a peer reviewed journal.

Don't get me wrong, I find my current job very interesting. However, I can't shake the feeling that there has to be more out there...

I am looking for (worldwide, I would like to travel): - Research groups where I can combine my skills and perhaps pursue a phd. - Any tips&tricks on how to find these groups, and how to approach them. - Any other ideas. Are you an MD and a hacker? Do you have suggestions on how to combine these skills?

albin.stigo@gmail.com

I stumbled upon this after reading your post: http://www.quora.com/Finding-Co-Founders/How-do-I-go-about-f...

To quote:

I am a software engineer from a top 5 school and more than 10 years of experience with a couple of blue chip software companies and one billion dollar exit from a pre-IPO joining.

I have a deep passion for health empowerment, diagnostics, biohacking, and natural healing.

I also happen to know a good deal about the terminology and mechanisms pertaining to medical practices and procedures.

I would like to bounce some ideas off some MDs with whom I would eventually want to bring on as co-founders or as part of a medical advisory board. These folks would help me with product management and product marketing as well as add legitimacy to my enterprise.

The ideas are mostly software based, but some of them may involve a bit of custom hardware and/or hardware integration with medical devices.

How would I go about networking with such potential cofounders with the said qualifications and credentials?

Is it likely that a doctor would forgo a 300-500k salary to work at my startup for 20% equity?

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Might be worth talking to the Quora OP.

maybe doing a PhD in Bioinformatics would be interesting for you. See for example: http://www.bu.edu/academics/grs/programs/bioinformatics/phd/

Thanks!

Just wanted to say thanks again for your feedback and let you know I have secured a three week bioinformatics exchange.

Cool! Would be fun to know what think of it.

You might want to look into (Management) Consulting companies. They provide diverse projects and need creative people from lots of fields. Being able to hack data and bridge gaps between business, medicine and engineering is a plus too.

Sorry to ask the obvious but what is MD in this context? Where I work it stands for Managing Director. It didn't seem to quite fit right in your post though.

medical doctor

Thanks for clarifying, I did not know a Physician was also referred to as an MD.

First line says "I'm currently working as a junior physician in a university hospital"

There is so much opportunity in medicine right now for automation and quality improvement through good software. You're in a great position!

The author of Land of Lisp (an excellent and fun primer on writing games in Common Lisp) is both an MD and a hacker. Perhaps you could try to get in contact with him for advice.

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