Anyone have any ideas or case study examples of non- traditional routes that could be pursued while in medical school or just of people that have done things a little differently in medical school?

I have several close friends who saw a different light while in medical school. Realizing early on that full time clinical practice was not in their best interest, these students began quietly pursing a better life than that of being a slave to medicine.

By networking, contacting various human resource persons for companies of interest and just getting "out there" these adventurous students were able to discover several non-clinical opportunities that were more appealing than a 3 year residency and a life on call. One still practices part time, but on his own terms. Both of these friends work in the medical device industry and have amazing careers.

I'm finishing my last year of med school, not planning on applying for residency. Although I had originally gone to medical school with the intent of completing residency and practicing medicine, I became more interested in business and technology. Having a background in EMS, I started a state and nationally licensed EMS training program half way into my second year of med school that has really taken off. At the beginning of my fourth year, I also became involved consulting in the eletronic medical record industry, helping hospitals implement EMRs. Between running my businesses and consulting (which allowed me to use my medical training, specifically how physicians think and document) I was much happier with these fields than the clinical work of my rotations (and making about as much an attending physician in my ventures sure helped!). I plan to continue building my medical training company after graduation and pursue a master's degree in medical informatics.