Every high-school student has to make a very hard and stressful decision - choose his or her future career. Choosing a career is an important task, as one is to find the best match between the personality, knowledge, skills and interests. Nowadays modern world and society has hundreds professions available and presents a great range of job opportunities: business, service, science, medicine, education, arts and etc. A person may choose a profession he likes, enjoy the studies, by afterwards encounter problems when searching for a job. Because of that every aspect of the challenging decision has to be thought over. All the same, the choice has to be made.
My beloved niece Jenny is currently standing at the parting of the ways – she is a high-school student and is about to make a difficult decision. She turned to me for an advise – as I have passed courses in Business Economics Medical and have an idea of the today’s market and business situation – whether to become a medical doctor. After having done a great research on the topic, studying and learning all hidden rocks, I was ready for suggesting my point of view.
Nowadays doctors treat patients in a great variety of areas: psychiatry, surgery, pediatrics, oncology, anesthesia and others. They use gained medical education and knowledge to diagnose and cure illnesses, order and perform tests, treat different conditions, prescribe medications, perform operations and consult patients on healthy living conditions. To develop kills for medicine practice , a lot of time, diligence and desire is needed, so the student needs research the training process first. Medical schools are very competitive , only about 40 % of applicants are accepted. Several complex and serious steps need to be taken for a student to transform into a professional and they are following:
Complete undergraduate education and pass examination:
Apply to Medical School:
After the examination students select a medical school and submit the application to AMCAS, which sends the application to colleges or universities.
Complete studies at Medical School:
Doctor’s career starts in medical school, which lasts four years and includes full-time study. Course of study are divided into classroom studies in sciences and clinical trainings, where knowledge and skills are develop.
Pass first two parts of USMLE:
Apply for and start residency:
When being at final year of medical school, students narrowing their medical specialties and apply for residency. Residency programs last three years and grant trainings in chosen specialties.
Pass third part of USMLE and finish residency:
Third part of USMLE is to be completed at the end of residency - clinical management and valuation of doctor’s ability in practice.
Gain certifications and State license:
After medical education is completed, doctors are to earn certification in their field. Medical licensure is ruled by state boards of medicine and each its own requirements.
Apply for jobs:
Most of the doctors begin searching for jobs while residency, they go on the market and search for career opportunities or respond to recruiter’s offers.
As we are considering medicine as a possibility, I have also noted all the pros and cons of my niece’s potential choice:
1. Many opportunities after graduating:
There many opportunities for medical graduates for future jobs, as this profession is in in demand. One may choose to work in hospitals, public health care centers, institutes and etc.
2. Working with people:
My niece is a people person and I believe that medicine could suit her right. She has tolerance towards social groups and always ready to meet new people: at hospitals that would be patients and their families, medical staff and etc.
3. The possibility to help people directly and contribution:
4. Team work:
Today Medicine is a team work, as students, professionals are divided into smaller groups and are given s possibility to perfect the skills: doctors work with other doctors, nurses.
5. Respect in society:
Nowadays doctors are placed on the top of the social scale, which leads to major responsibility, as usually doctors present moral authorities.
6. A great need for doctors and stability:
Today there is a great need of more doctors in the world, which means that after school medicine students will easily get a job. Many career options are available for doctors: from main care to research. Another great reason to study medicine is stability.
7. Constant learning:
For people working in medicine studies never end: everything starts in college, where basics for further skill development are provided, then summits and seminars are organized for doctors.
My niece on her own needs weigh all the career possibilities and think if all possessed opportunities and her talents are will be in demand and what benefits she would gain from medical career. A person must discover himself: his personality, goals, interests and values – this will help answering the challenging question; also be realistic about the challenges that students and doctors face and consider educational expenses. It has never been a secret that medical school is very expensive: today mostly all medical schools are increasing tuition, at the same time federal funding is declining, the ability to obtain new resources is narrowing and scholarship assistance is dropping. The question worries many: if medical education could possibly be worth the financial investment done? According to different studies in this field, the answer is yes: “out of 22 different careers by lifetime earnings, net present value, and rate of return on educational investment, only four professions (lawyers, chemical/petroleum/nuclear engineers, pharmacists, and computer scientists) topped medical specialists” (Bodine, 2015). While education is expensive, it may be said that the career is rewarding. Another point is that if you choose a career in medical care, there are many loan repayment programs available to finance the education.
What is very important when speaking about this career is doctors’ salaries - Medicine is one of most highest-paying job in the U.S.A. In General doctors’ earning exceed six figures. Of course, different factors influence salaries, and that is location, specialization and education. One should remember that “although doctors have the opportunity to earn a generous income, medicine is certainly not the type of career to pursue for the salary alone” (Iecabroad, 2016). Dedication and about five or six years of hard work at schools and afterwards are required. Sometimes according to the chosen area qualification may last over a decade. People know that “whether you go into private care, consultancy, surgery, dermatology, general practitioner etc a career in medicine can be rewarding and satisfying on many different levels” (Pinchard, 2012).
Choosing a career is a difficult choice for any student. Because of that my niece and her classmates should have a firm idea of what they want and could be good at. I believe that Jenny is more than just suitable for such career: she has always been eager to make differences in people’s lives, to have a direct impact and possibility to help others. But she should also consider giving up free time which is a must for becoming successful professional.
In The United States there is a great increase in the number of physicians connected with patient care. A normal rate of sufficient supply of physicians is established in the country, while the distribution of doctors is problematic - overpopulation in metropolitan areas in comparison to nonmetropolitan. Specialized physicians have increased in numbers, this influenced medical care costs, and they are higher than if principal care physicians were better utilized.
Industry of physician services contains many barriers to entry, a service differentiation and sellers. The supply of physician services economists call as a production process. It consists of: nurses, physician assistants, medical technicians, people at reception, equipment, an office space, medical supplies. As history tells us, before most of the physicians were self-employed, today the number dropped, and many self-employed physicians usually work in practices of four or more.
The government and private sectors both provide expenditures on physician services. Government spending provide 1/3 of the total spending, when the private sector - 2/3 of spending. Existence of managed care plans effect physician market and develops the concept of insurance companies discussing prices with physicians, which makes physicians to decrease costs, so that insurance companies will be paying less. Money spent of physician services greatly increased lately. The increase rate of services’ costs increased at rate which is higher than the inflation rate, and is increasing faster than the inflation rate.
Medicine is a career, which is driven by service and it “has traditionally been regarded as a rewarding career both financially and socially” ( Eschenbach and Woodward, 1989).When someone is considering studying medicine, he or she should know “that this is not an easy or a simple job, but a job with a lot of sacrifices and personal investment” (Derke, 2016). If Jenny decides to become a doctor, she will have to be putting patients and other people first, will become a life-long learner, her experience will continually expand. It is a career which needs quick decision-making, giving answers to people, as your actions always matter. In spite of the fact that there are many challenges in this field, I believe that Jenny may be a great doctor and will be able to obtain her own benefit. My advice to her is to be realistic about them. Despite the challenges, future reward should lead her.
References
(18 April, 2016) Derke F. Top 10 Reasons to Study Medicine. Master portal website. Retrieved from http://www.mastersportal.eu/articles/422/top-10-reasons-to-study-medicine.html
(30 April, 2015) Bodine P. Does the High Cost of a Medical School Education Pay Off in the End? Noodle website. Retrieved from https://www.noodle.com/articles/does-the-high-cost-of-a-medical-school-education-pay-off-in-the-end
(24 May, 2016) 5 Reasons To Study Medicine In The UK . Iec abroad website. Retrieved from http://iecabroad.com/5-reasons-study-medicine-uk/
(10 August, 2012) Pinchard M. WHY CHOOSE A CAREER IN MEDICINE? gapmedics website. Retrieved from http://www.gapmedics.co.uk/blog/2012/08/10/hy-choose-a-career-in-medicine/
Eschenbach, Woodward Medicine as a career: Choices and consequences. Theoretical Medicine, 1989. Print.
