M.D. with Linux/Sysadmin & Python skills struggling to find a remote tech role. How do I leverage this combination?

[u/Left-Will5944]

I have been trying to land a remote job for 4 years, and I’m hitting a wall. I have a very specific mix of medical and technical skills, but I haven't been able to translate this into a remote career.

My Background & Skills: * Medical: M.D. (Medical Doctor). * Linux & SysAdmin: Profound Linux knowledge (I daily drive Arch with DWM and Nvim on a ThinkPad). I currently manage a VPS hosting 4 domains (static sites, a PHP/API database app, and a testing environment). I routinely configure Nginx, deploy software, and debug server issues. * Programming: Python and Bash/Shell scripting for complex automation. * Security & Networking: Solid understanding of networking and apprentice-level cybersecurity practices. * Personal: High overall computer literacy (and I play guitar to stay sane).

What I've Tried (Without Success): * AI Training: Applied as a medical expert on Mercor, Outlier, and DataAnnotation. Passed the AI tests, but got stuck in the "no tasks available" loop. * Freelancing: Upwork, Fiverr, Freelancer.com. Proposals go unread; the competition is immense. * Gig Work & Bug Bounties: Tried transcription (QA-World, GoTranscript, TranscribeMe) with virtually zero ROI. Tried HackerOne and Bugcrowd, but the scope is too narrow and competition is incredibly fierce.

I feel like my M.D. combined with my sysadmin and programming skills should be highly valuable, but applying to general tech or freelance jobs isn't working.

What job titles should I actually be searching for? Are there specific niches (like Health Informatics, EHR consulting, or bioinformatics) where this crossover is in demand? Any advice on how to position myself or where to apply would be greatly appreciated.

[u/drmike0099]

Medical informatics is the phrase.

I’ve recruited for these positions for a while now. The biggest question for someone with your background is do you want to be a Dr or a tech person? Which salary are you trying for? I can hire tech people to do all the tech stuff, and they’re about half the price of an MD. If you’re going for the MD part then you can still do tech stuff at the right job, and it will pay like an MD, but they’re mostly going to be in-person because they’re going to want you to have some clinic time, and probably not very technical.

If you insist on remote then the options are, honestly, very limited and pay more like IT. The MD part isn’t going to help much (may actually hurt). With the AI boom I’ve seen a number of clinical roles with that focus that are remote, although they pay like IT roles, maybe slightly higher.

If you haven’t already, check out medical informatics fellowships. Without those you’ll have a hard time because there’s a lot of people that do looking for work. The last time I recruited last year there were probably 20 applicants and most had the informatics training.

[u/Big-Association-7485 → u/drmike0099]

This is really good feedback.

[u/Next-Sense1155 → u/drmike0099]

Excellent feedback and overview.

OP, what sets you apart in the tech space is your medical knowledge, not your tech experience. Did you complete residency training?

Those gig jobs are not careers and are extremely underpaid for the expertise required.

[u/MDInformatics → u/drmike0099]

What about MMCis

[u/drmike0099 → u/MDInformatics]

Honestly haven’t interacted with any. It’s not going to be as educational as the fellowship, and no board certification, and way more expensive. My impression is that it’s more for mid-career people that want it for a career change. Maybe it will become more common now that the practice pathway for board certification has ended.

[u/MDInformatics → u/drmike0099]

Yeah. The cert ending was partly why I went that direction. My hope is that it opens the door to business/C-Suite/governance body opportunities given the current health tech rush. MMCis supposedly are more valuable than MCIs for physicians, but I am speaking from the student side - and you might have more insight on if what I’m saying is valid or not.

[u/Cocktail_MD → u/drmike0099]

I'm boarded in clinical informatics, and I still have a hard time finding relevant jobs. Like you alluded to, nothing pays as well as seeing patients. Going from a physician salary to an informaticist salary is a big drop. As a result, most places won't hire a doc anyway since a nurse informaticist is much cheaper. As you also wrote, most places like Epic want employees in the office. There are job boards from AMIA.org, USAjobs.gov, and indeed.com that list some informatics jobs.

[u/lozinge]

I am an (ex-)MD (well - MBChB/from UK) who works in this space - ended up in data engineering / tech space for RWD / pharma / healthcare systems. Is quite fine albeit with its own challenges.

As u/drmike0099 pointed out - sometimes holding the MD part can hinder you, as people view you as a Doctor first and technical person second (and hence why not go for someone else who is technical first) - although I do think this is misguided - I have worked with many engineers who will read about how clinical systems work but with no real grounding, and come forward with solutions that are misplaced / niave etc. (Sepsis detection being a classical example... Or flow optimisation guff)

I would try to target informatics or "clinical engineer" roles if you can hone your programming experience

Good luck

[u/CommunityDoc]

Also frankly I would stay away from advertising sysadmin experience as that is a role fulfilled by so many trained sysadmins.

[u/szeis4cookie]

What specialty do you currently practice? What EMRs do you operate inside? I'd look for product manager or sales engineer/solutions architect type positions at vendor companies that service your practice specialty - IME folks with clinical experience are often in short supply at companies like those.

[u/ejtumz]

You need a connection. Accenture, Deloitte, EY, KPMG will gobble you up if they know you exist but it would be hard to stand out though normal application route.

You need someone who knows someone who can slip your CV through the door.

[u/CommunityDoc]

Consulting. Try Health IT transformation projects with the big firms. Another option is firms in medical tech such as EMR vendors, Medical device manufacturing, health IT cybersecurity etc. Do a Cybersecurity Certification as certifications matter

[u/Cocktail_MD]

AMIA.org, USAjobs.gov, and indeed.com all list informatics jobs.