For nearly five years, Jimmy Choy crunched numbers and navigated high-stakes trades in the fast-paced world of finance. Today, he is trading equity derivatives for stethoscopes to facilitate a career pivot to medicine.
Choy is a third-year clinical student at St. George’s University School of Medicine, completing rotations at Humboldt Park Health in Chicago, IL. A New York City native, the leap from finance to medicine was no small shift for Choy, but it marked a return to a calling he had once set aside.
Answering a call put on hold
As a college student, Choy volunteered in healthcare-related programs, piquing his interest in medicine. However, he ultimately chose to pursue finance for stability and built a career at firms like Tullett Prebon ICAP, City National Rochdale (Royal Bank of Canada), and Group One Trading.
Still, where possible, Choy explored ways to infuse medicine into his work in finance. As an MBA venture fellow at Health Innovation Capital, he caught a glimpse of how innovation could transform patient care by exploring early-stage healthcare impact investing. Impact investing is an approach to investing that aims to deliver financial gains while also driving meaningful social benefits.
Choy found working in finance to be intellectually stimulating and high-paced. He developed skills in risk management, decision-making under pressure, and analyzing complex systems. But at the same time, something was missing.
“I often felt my work, while valuable in the markets, lacked the direct human impact I desired in a career,” he said.
Then the pandemic hit his home city of New York with devastating force. His pre-existing interest in medicine coupled with a healthcare crisis would push Choy in a new direction.
“During COVID-19, that question of true happiness kept echoing in my mind as I watched doctors step up to care for patients in crisis. I realized that while finance gave me stability, it didn’t give me fulfillment,” he said.
“Choosing medicine felt like coming home to a calling I had put on hold.”
–Jimmy Choy, third-year clinical student
A mission larger than himself
The pandemic highlighted for Choy the vulnerabilities of patients and the extraordinary dedication of healthcare professionals. COVID-19 galvanized him to do everything he could to tangibly alleviate suffering and expand access to care. He began working as a medical scribe in a nursing home catering to underserved populations. Seeking to go further in medicine, he built up his education and experience with a Post Baccalaureate in pre-medicine studies from City College of New York.
When applying to medical school, he found the right path forward at SGU. Choy says that SGU offered flexibility, resources, and a way to pursue medicine after a career transition. He was able to start medical school immediately after receiving his degree, allowing him to avoid putting his life on pause, which was critical for maintaining momentum after leaving finance.
Currently, Choy is making the most of his clinical experience.
“SGU has prepared me academically through rigorous coursework and opportunities like the critical care selective in emergency medicine and anesthesiology,” Choy said.
For Choy, this combination of training and opportunity has brought him much closer to achieving his dream of becoming a physician in service of his community.
Building a future in community health
Mapping out his future, Choy has found his non-traditional background to be an asset. His long-term goal is to become a primary care physician committed to community health and healthcare innovation. Drawing on his financial background, he aims to bridge the gap between clinical practice and healthcare systems, working to make care more accessible and sustainable in underserved areas.
“Ultimately, I hope to combine my business acumen with medical expertise to improve patient outcomes and strengthen healthcare delivery models, a need made all the more urgent by what I witnessed during COVID-19,” he said.
For his family, the career pivot is proof that he has found his true calling.
“When I was working in finance, my family was proud of me, but they often asked if I was truly happy,” Choy says. “Medicine has given me a sense of purpose that my family have immediately recognize in me.”
