(LifeWire) -- Janice Shih might be the most educated pastry chef you'll ever meet.



Janice Shih left her career in medicine at age 38 and became a pastry chef.



Shih attended Johns Hopkins University, followed by medical school at George Washington University, then practiced for eight years as an obstetrician/gynecologist before realizing that baking, not medicine, was her calling.



"Everyone would say, 'You're a doctor; it must be so great to be able to save lives,'" she says. "But I felt like I was just pushing papers and feeling pressure to see more patients in less time. It was very draining. It just wasn't fun anymore."



So in 2004, at age 38, she swapped her stethoscope for a rolling pin and enrolled in the pastry program at L'Academie de Cuisine in Gaithersburg, Maryland.



"I had always been interested in pastries -- mostly interested in eating them," she says with a laugh.



Shih now owns Tenzo Artisan, a bakery and catering company in Baltimore that specializes in pastries for people with food allergies -- it's rewarding, she says, to make birthday cakes for people whose dietary sensitivities had forbidden such treats.



She's one of thousands of career changers who have left their cubicles for culinary school. Enrollment has risen 40 percent since 2000 at the Culinary Institute of America, and it's up 15 percent this year at The Art Institutes, which operates 30 culinary programs across the country. The trend is helped by a growing cultural interest in gourmet food and a proliferation of cooking-themed TV shows like the Food Network's "Ace of Cakes" and Bravo's "Top Chef."



Plenty of possibilities



Students attending the grueling programs, which can last six to 38 months, can dole out as much as $30,000 to $40,000 for the diploma. And then the real work begins.



Neil Robertson, 44, was technical director at a graphic design firm in 2003 and felt like he no longer fit the mold. He quit his 18-year career and attended the French Pastry School in Chicago. "I've always loved to bake," he says. "But baking in a professional kitchen? I wasn't sure that I could handle it."



In his first professional experience after pastry school, he found out how tough it can be: "I came very close to tears." Yet he persevered, and five years later became head pastry chef at Seattle's Canlis restaurant.



"You're not a chef as soon as you finish culinary school," says Michael Ruhlman, author of "The Making of a Chef," an inside look at life at the Culinary Institute. "You're a chef only after spending several years further honing your craft and learning the ropes. To say otherwise would be like saying grads of medical school could instantly be called pediatric neurosurgeons the day after graduation."



And becoming a chef isn't the only option. "There are so many possibilities today," says Culinary Institute President Tim Ryan. "Catering, sales, manufacturing -- we even have graduates who have launched clothing companies (or) become food scientists."



Jen Beltz, 38, and Thom Householder, 40, testify to that. In 2004, they quit their jobs at AARP and followed their palates to Italy.



Using the proceeds of their house sale, the couple attended a five-month culinary program in Florence, then a nine-month course in Canada. All the while, they had no idea where their gastronomic education would take them.



"Some of our friends and family seemed to think we were a bit insane," Beltz recalls.



But with their newfound culinary know-how, Beltz and Householder launched Front Burner PR, a boutique public-relations and marketing firm in Portland, Maine, that focuses on restaurants, hotels and other food-related clients.



Don't quit your day job just yet



Think carefully before writing your resignation letter -- culinary school is no cakewalk, says Robertson. "It's hot. It's fast. It
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Janice Shih Tenzo Artisan, a bakery and catering company in Baltimore "Top Chef." Janice Shih obstetrician/gynecologist Janice Shih like the Food Network's "Ace of Cakes" and Bravo's "Top Chef." a bakery and catering company
question: Who has become the owner of a catering business?, answer: Janice Shih | question: What type of business does the doctor now own?, answer: Tenzo Artisan, a bakery and catering company in Baltimore | question: Which TV show fed the trend /, answer: "Top Chef." | question: Who may leave office drudgery for cooking school ?, answer: Janice Shih | question: What was the profession of the individual who left their job for cooking school?, answer: obstetrician/gynecologist | question: Who said "It just wasn't fun anymore," ?, answer: Janice Shih | question: Which TV shows are leading the trend?, answer: like the Food Network's "Ace of Cakes" and Bravo's "Top Chef." | question: What business has the physician started?, answer: a bakery and catering company