6 answers
Girly
Student
Tembisa, Gauteng, South Africa
1
Question
Asked
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What to choose in the medical field ?
How do you know which specialized sector you should choose in the plethora of medical careers?
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6 answers
David Weinstein, MD, PhD
Physician/Scientist
7
Answers
Dobbs Ferry, New York
Updated
David’s Answer
Medicine and human biology can take you places where you might never have expected to go. I started off believing that I would practice tropical medicine- which I did for a year. I treated patients with Hansen's Disease (aka leprosy) and studied its biology. Hansen's Disease is an infection of the peripheral nerves, which led me to a life-long infatuation with the interaction of the immune system and the nervous. I did another residency in neurology and a fellowship in neuropathology. My best advice is to keep an open mind. Human biology is really cool and it can teach lots about how to treat patients for whom treatments remain elusive
This a super cool and niche thing to work on! Is leprosy still a big issue in the science community?
Gurpreet Lally, Admin
Emile NGABO
MD CANDIDATE | HEALTHCARE COMMUNICATIONS
1
Answer
Kigali, Rwanda
Updated
Emile’s Answer
Dear Girly,
Thanks for this interesting question, which many people have. In fact, many people choose careers due to community influence rather than their personal choice; which is wrong.
Choosing a career should go along with understanding what you really enjoy doing with your time. Because each medical specialty has got its own style. Some demands time on a desktop job, others demand a long time talking to people (patients), while others require hands skills to do procedures. Understanding what you enjoy more than another would be a good hack to know what you will enjoy.
Moreover, understanding your long-term career goal is essential in choosing a specialty. This includes thinking about big passions like improving medical research, improving healthcare systems, empowering future generations of clinicians, improving maternal and child health, improving the quality of life in your community (or of particular health concern), etc. Thinking about this helps you know what to pursue in the medical field.
Do not forget financial benefits, time demand, work shifts and workload differs across medical fields. Thus it has to be taken into consideration while making a decision; however medical career is more of passion than anything else. Never come to medicine if it is someoone pushing you to do so, only come if you love the art.
Welcome :)
Thanks for this interesting question, which many people have. In fact, many people choose careers due to community influence rather than their personal choice; which is wrong.
Choosing a career should go along with understanding what you really enjoy doing with your time. Because each medical specialty has got its own style. Some demands time on a desktop job, others demand a long time talking to people (patients), while others require hands skills to do procedures. Understanding what you enjoy more than another would be a good hack to know what you will enjoy.
Moreover, understanding your long-term career goal is essential in choosing a specialty. This includes thinking about big passions like improving medical research, improving healthcare systems, empowering future generations of clinicians, improving maternal and child health, improving the quality of life in your community (or of particular health concern), etc. Thinking about this helps you know what to pursue in the medical field.
Do not forget financial benefits, time demand, work shifts and workload differs across medical fields. Thus it has to be taken into consideration while making a decision; however medical career is more of passion than anything else. Never come to medicine if it is someoone pushing you to do so, only come if you love the art.
Welcome :)
Saviour James
Medical Doctor
3
Answers
Lagos, Nigeria
Updated
Saviour’s Answer
Hello Girly,
Well the medical field is one that can be very interesting and also challenging and frustrating if you don't like what you're doing.
In choosing a specialty for some people they start from as early as applying for medicine while some while in medical school and others later as GPs. Some factors that could influence choices include:
1. Financial benefits
2. Personal experiences
3. Passion/Hobbies
4. Parental/Superior influence etc
What I'd advise before making that very important step in your life are to consider the following:
1. Did I find the topics related to this specialty easy and natural while in school?
2. Would I be happy and fulfilled while pursuing this specialty
4. Do I have a natural liking and passion for this field?
5. Will I be willing to go the extra mile for my patients and to give my best in this specialty?
6. What does the future hold for this specialty?
7. What can I contribute and make better in this specialty?
I'm sure if you can answer these few questions it'll help streamline your choices...
I hope I have been of help to you and wish you all the best in your chosen specialty...
God bless 👍🏽👍🏽
Well the medical field is one that can be very interesting and also challenging and frustrating if you don't like what you're doing.
In choosing a specialty for some people they start from as early as applying for medicine while some while in medical school and others later as GPs. Some factors that could influence choices include:
1. Financial benefits
2. Personal experiences
3. Passion/Hobbies
4. Parental/Superior influence etc
What I'd advise before making that very important step in your life are to consider the following:
1. Did I find the topics related to this specialty easy and natural while in school?
2. Would I be happy and fulfilled while pursuing this specialty
4. Do I have a natural liking and passion for this field?
5. Will I be willing to go the extra mile for my patients and to give my best in this specialty?
6. What does the future hold for this specialty?
7. What can I contribute and make better in this specialty?
I'm sure if you can answer these few questions it'll help streamline your choices...
I hope I have been of help to you and wish you all the best in your chosen specialty...
God bless 👍🏽👍🏽
Aimee Kneip
Work in a hospital laboratory, teach at a college
24
Answers
Saint Cloud, Minnesota
Updated
Aimee’s Answer
I agree with the above answers especially if you're talking specifically about medical school to become a doctor.
However if you're asking about other medical careers that exist there's nursing which is very patient heavy and much more well known. You're dealing with patients all of the time and depending on your level of schooling and certification you have more responsibility.
There's also careers that are a little more behind the scenes like radiology which is taking x rays and other visuals of the body to help diagnose. So you'd see many patients for short amounts of time here. There's respiratory therapy which is very specialized in making sure the patient's breathing is being regulated properly. Similar to radiology there's lots of patients in quick succession. Pharmacy can see lots of patients quickly or not many patients at all depending on the place worked. Preparation for pharmacy includes lots of chemistry and some math. And finally there's laboratory, which is what I do. This generally doesn't have much patient contact except sample collection then samples are run in the laboratory to help with diagnosis. Again a lot of chemistry is needed but also a lot of biology. (Especially anatomy and physiology). All of these careers have multiple levels of schooling available.
Lastly I don't want to forget other essential work to the hospital. There's nutrition, environment services, sterile processing, and maintenance as well. These professions help keep the hospital running but have little responsibility for patients. Nutrition has the most responsibility to patients as they have to make sure the patient's are getting the food they are supposed to. Environment services helps maintain cleanliness throughout the hospital and stop infection. Sterile processing is specific to surgical areas keeping tools cleaned. Maintenance makes sure equipment in the hospital is running as it should-usually not as special of equipment ie beds, ivs, etc not instrumentation or robotic surgery equipment. Most of these are on the job training with no additional education needed.
Hope this helps.
However if you're asking about other medical careers that exist there's nursing which is very patient heavy and much more well known. You're dealing with patients all of the time and depending on your level of schooling and certification you have more responsibility.
There's also careers that are a little more behind the scenes like radiology which is taking x rays and other visuals of the body to help diagnose. So you'd see many patients for short amounts of time here. There's respiratory therapy which is very specialized in making sure the patient's breathing is being regulated properly. Similar to radiology there's lots of patients in quick succession. Pharmacy can see lots of patients quickly or not many patients at all depending on the place worked. Preparation for pharmacy includes lots of chemistry and some math. And finally there's laboratory, which is what I do. This generally doesn't have much patient contact except sample collection then samples are run in the laboratory to help with diagnosis. Again a lot of chemistry is needed but also a lot of biology. (Especially anatomy and physiology). All of these careers have multiple levels of schooling available.
Lastly I don't want to forget other essential work to the hospital. There's nutrition, environment services, sterile processing, and maintenance as well. These professions help keep the hospital running but have little responsibility for patients. Nutrition has the most responsibility to patients as they have to make sure the patient's are getting the food they are supposed to. Environment services helps maintain cleanliness throughout the hospital and stop infection. Sterile processing is specific to surgical areas keeping tools cleaned. Maintenance makes sure equipment in the hospital is running as it should-usually not as special of equipment ie beds, ivs, etc not instrumentation or robotic surgery equipment. Most of these are on the job training with no additional education needed.
Hope this helps.
Bether Gerber
family nurse practitioner
24
Answers
Tucson, Arizona
Updated
Bether’s Answer
one way to find out is to get an entry level job in the field you are interested and see if you like it.
if you want to be a nurse, first become a medical assistant in a hospital. you will see what doctors and nurses do and you will get an idea of you would like it or not.
you could also become an EMT if you are interested in working in an ER. you will get a lot of experience with emergencies.
if you are interested in pharmacy school, become a pharmacy technician first.
if you want to be a doctor in an office, get a job as a medical scribe in an office. you'll lean a lot about what office doctor's do.
i think the best job in medicine right now is nurse practitioner. they have the best work life balance. they make more money than nurse and the job is less physically demanding, and they get more time off than doctors and have way more flexibility in their career. good luck!
bether
if you want to be a nurse, first become a medical assistant in a hospital. you will see what doctors and nurses do and you will get an idea of you would like it or not.
you could also become an EMT if you are interested in working in an ER. you will get a lot of experience with emergencies.
if you are interested in pharmacy school, become a pharmacy technician first.
if you want to be a doctor in an office, get a job as a medical scribe in an office. you'll lean a lot about what office doctor's do.
i think the best job in medicine right now is nurse practitioner. they have the best work life balance. they make more money than nurse and the job is less physically demanding, and they get more time off than doctors and have way more flexibility in their career. good luck!
bether
Elisha Reddick
unit secretary
4
Answers
Atlantic City, New Jersey
Updated
Elisha’s Answer
Hello,
I would say your best bet would be to shadow different physicians and volunteer in a hospital to see different specialties and find out what specialty catches your interest or what you could see yourself doing. You can also watch videos or find shadowing sites where physicians discuss their speciality for a better understanding. For me, I am interested in OB/GYN and decided to continue my education and pursue that speciality as my career in the future. Good Luck!
I would say your best bet would be to shadow different physicians and volunteer in a hospital to see different specialties and find out what specialty catches your interest or what you could see yourself doing. You can also watch videos or find shadowing sites where physicians discuss their speciality for a better understanding. For me, I am interested in OB/GYN and decided to continue my education and pursue that speciality as my career in the future. Good Luck!