Leaving a Stable Career to Pursue Medicine or Patent Law?
’m 3 years out of undergrad and trying to decide between medicine and IP law, and I honestly feel pretty lost.
I graduated with a BS in Chemistry and currently work in consulting, where I work closely with IP/patent lawyers. I originally planned to go to medical school and completed all the prereqs during undergrad, but after graduating I needed financial stability to help support my family, so I took the consulting route instead.
Now that I’ve had a few years in industry, I’m questioning whether I should go back to school and pursue the career path I originally wanted, or continue down the IP law route that I’ve been exposed to through work.
The problem is both paths are huge commitments:
- Medicine = 4 years of med school + residency
- IP law = likely a chemistry master’s first (from what I’ve heard, chemistry patent law is hard to break into with only a BS) + 3 years of law school
I genuinely find both interesting for different reasons:
- I liked the science/human side of medicine and the sense of purpose behind it
- I enjoy the strategy/business/technical side of patent and IP work
What makes this harder is that I’m already in my mid-20s with a stable career, so it feels risky to walk away from income and start over either way.
For people who considered both medicine and law (especially patent/IP law), how did you decide? Do you regret your choice? And realistically, how difficult is it to build a good career in patent law with a chemistry background compared to biotech/engineering?
Would really appreciate advice from anyone who’s been through something similar.