This seems like a solution looking for a problem.
204 karma · joined March 12, 2014
Options are to go with a service company like Aptible or TrueVault, or fumble through vast amounts of obtuse technical and legal documentation, then hire a security expert to audit your homemade system and hope that everything goes OK. Both options, as they currently exist, require a fair amount of $$$.
I'm just surprised at how few resources there are that explain what it takes, and I hope that someday soon, healthcare startup CTO's will be referred to clearly documented open source solutions that are fairly fool-proof, rather than paid-for services (@sebst). Amazon's compliance page is unfortunately uninformative (@byoung2).
What do you want to do with it? Learning CS for the sake of learning CS is one thing -- just follow a progression of courses on Coursera or MIT Open Courseware.
If you are a problem-solver, learn as needed. Read blogs, do Codecademy, etc.
A little background is this is a one-year add-on to an MD. The healthcare aspect is a whole separate discussion, but briefly, my decision is complicated by the fact that I will be doing a residency and not using any of the MBA skills for several years (besides the leadership, team management, etc.). I'm hoping the MBA will serve as a starting point for launching a healthcare-related technology company later in my career -- writing a business plan, drawing on former connections for co-founding, securing funding, etc. I think most of the considerations you all mentioned regarding the decision still apply.
Do I think the skills are worth learning? Yes, absolutely. Are the business course offerings directly in line with what I'm passionate about at the moment (coding, stats, data analysis, web dev)? There's overlap, but this is one of my bigger sticking points. Am I going to be bored out my mind in Accounting? Sometimes I wonder if I should wait until after residency and go for a hardcore Informatics MS. Do I like the idea of delaying work/income for a year? No. Do I like the idea of taking on so much debt? No way. Do I want to surround myself with intelligent people who have the balls to start companies and move large sums of money around? Hell yeah. This is one of the biggest draws. Do I want a corporate job? I like the idea that an MBA could mark me for leadership at an academic medical center. Do I like (and need) structure? As much as I love MOOCS/MIT open courseware and think of myself as an auto-didactic person, I know myself enough to say that the going would be much tougher without a formal program.
It's not an easy choice, but I'm grateful to have the chance to make it. Appreciate your insights.