3 answers
Ava
Student
Dalton, Massachusetts
1
Question
Asked
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How did you decide the medical field you wanted to go into?
I am interested in the medical field but am not sure what i want to be. #confused
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3 answers
Suzanne Sorkin
Retired family physician and medical educator
106
Answers
Traverse City, Michigan
Updated
Suzanne’s Answer
Ava, you're asking a good question because the health field offers a lot of different choices for a career. In general, healthcare workers first and foremost should want to help people. Then most health care careers also require an interest in science, a willingness to work hard and to to take your work seriously (not that there can't be a decent balance with family and fun time). If these things sound like you as a person and what you see yourself doing, then I would suggest you try to expose yourself to and read about as many different healthcare careers as you can. There are physicians (requires four years of medical school after university plus at least 3 years of a paid residency), there are nurses (training can vary from an associate's degree at a community college through bachelors and graduate degrees depending on what you'd like to do), physicians assistants (who have bachelors or masters degrees), various therapists (physical therapist, occupational therapist, see/language therapist, respiratory therapist, x-ray tech) most of which require at least a bachelors degree and some a masters or doctoral degree, pharmacists (typically a 5 year college program) and then other positions which do not require so much formal education such as certified nurses assistants, PT assistants, medical assistants, pharmacy techs, etc.
Wow! I hope that doesn't feel overwhelming. I just wanted to make the point that there are lots of ways to find a home in the health care if that is what is appealing to you. For myself, I wanted to be a primary care physician. I really enjoy variety and seeing many different types of patients so I became a family physician. Other doctors like to have a great deal of knowledge about a single topic so they specialize in that area. The thing you might want to do now is talk to people who do different kinds of health care work and ask them "Why did you pick this particular field? What's the best thing about it? What's the thing you would change if you could?" Once the pandemic, permits this you can also try to volunteer in a health care setting or even get a job as a certified nurse assistant (CNA) which is open to teenagers in many states.
If you are thinking about becoming a physician, check out this website https://www.aamc.org/system/files/2020-11/aamc-road-to-becoming-doctor-2020.pdf
This website talks about how medical students decide what branch of medicine to go into:
Wow! I hope that doesn't feel overwhelming. I just wanted to make the point that there are lots of ways to find a home in the health care if that is what is appealing to you. For myself, I wanted to be a primary care physician. I really enjoy variety and seeing many different types of patients so I became a family physician. Other doctors like to have a great deal of knowledge about a single topic so they specialize in that area. The thing you might want to do now is talk to people who do different kinds of health care work and ask them "Why did you pick this particular field? What's the best thing about it? What's the thing you would change if you could?" Once the pandemic, permits this you can also try to volunteer in a health care setting or even get a job as a certified nurse assistant (CNA) which is open to teenagers in many states.
Suzanne recommends the following next steps:
Cameron Diep
Clinical Research Assistant
56
Answers
Palo Alto, California
Updated
Cameron’s Answer
The medical field has many different subdivisions, so it is perfectly okay to not know what kind of medical worker you want to be!
The best way for you to answer this question is to get involved in the medical field and learn as much as you can about the various medical jobs that are out there. You can talk to medical professionals, shadow physicians, volunteer at a hospital, conduct research at a local university or institute, and so much more.
With these experiences, it is important to reflect on what you learned, whether you enjoyed what you were doing, and if you could see yourself continuing that kind of work. This will allow you to make a more informed decision about what exactly you want to do. But even with this information, it's still acceptable to not know what you want to be! There is plenty of time for exploration and opportunities to change fields.
The best way for you to answer this question is to get involved in the medical field and learn as much as you can about the various medical jobs that are out there. You can talk to medical professionals, shadow physicians, volunteer at a hospital, conduct research at a local university or institute, and so much more.
With these experiences, it is important to reflect on what you learned, whether you enjoyed what you were doing, and if you could see yourself continuing that kind of work. This will allow you to make a more informed decision about what exactly you want to do. But even with this information, it's still acceptable to not know what you want to be! There is plenty of time for exploration and opportunities to change fields.
Suzanne Sorkin
Retired family physician and medical educator
106
Answers
Traverse City, Michigan
Updated
Suzanne’s Answer
Ava, this is last website I meant to include in my answer above; https://www.ama-assn.org/residents-students/career-planning-resource/choosing-medical-specialty