From Lehman Brothers To Medical School

It's been about five years since the banking system nearly collapsed. One investment bank actually did — Lehman Brothers was allowed to fail.

It wasn't saved by the government, it wasn't swallowed up by a competitor. It just died, as a result of bad mortgages that weighed down its balance sheet.

Bhavin Patel was working for Lehman Brothers in 2008, as a mortgage analyst. His job was to analyze mortgage loans that would be bid on by the company and would later be securitized and traded on the market.

These are the mortgage-backed securities that many economists blame for the economic collapse.

Patel was laid off in March 2008, right before Lehman Brothers collapsed.  He started medical school that September, and is now a medical student at the Cook County Hospital.

Here & Now's Jeremy Hobson caught up with Patel during his shift at the trauma unit.

Patel said that one of his most profound experiences as a medical student was helping to deliver a baby during his obstetrics and gynecology rotation.

He finds being a doctor a much more satisfying profession than finance because of the impact he has on his patients' lives.

"I can sleep well at night knowing that in some way or fashion I made their life a little bit better today," Patel said.