Is a Career in Medicine Right for You?

Before you jump in and start trying to become a doctor, consider whether a career in medicine is really for you. Many people want to become a doctor because of the prestige and pay. However, if this is your only reason for becoming a doctor, consider another career. Becoming a doctor and actually being a doctor are very stressful endeavors. If you don’t have a passion for the actual work that you are doing, you stand a good chance of burning out and being unhappy with your career. Since other people’s lives will literally be in your hands, you want to make sure that this is something that you really want to do.

One of the best ways of seeing whether a career in medicine is right for you is to get as much experience with it beforehand as you can.  Try volunteering at a hospital, or even as an EMT. This way, you can see how you like working in that environment. Another good idea is to try shadowing a doctor or surgeon for a day, and seeing what it is like. Anything you can do to get a better idea of what day-to-day life for doctors is like, the better chance you have of finding out if this is the right career for you.

How to Become a Doctor

So, you’ve decided that becoming a doctor is what you really want to do. The first step is to get a solid four year degree. You can typically major in anything you want to, but there are certain courses that are required for admission to medical school. You will want to check with schools to see which courses these are, but they typically include organic chemistry, biology, physics, and calculus. It is very important that you excel in these studies. Medical school admissions are very rigorous, so maximizing your GPA will greatly increase your chances of getting into school.

The next step before applying to medical school is to take the Medical School Admissions Test, or MCAT. This is a challenging exam that tests your verbal reasoning, physical science, biology, and writing skills. In order to maximize your score on this test, try taking practice tests to hone your skills. This is a hard test, but the better your scores are, the better your chances are getting into medical school.

Now, it’s time to start applying to medical schools. This application process requires several letters of reference, essays, and interviews. It is important to put your best foot forward during this process. Show up to interviews on time, clean, and well dressed. If necessary, practice interviewing in order to perform well during the process. The application process can be quite lengthy, so you need to plan ahead. Many applicants take the year off while waiting for acceptance to medical school, while others are able to start right after finishing their bachelors degree.

Once you’re in medical school, the real work begins. The first two years of medical school are very academically focused, where you will learn the basics of medicine. The next two years are more practically focused. During this time, you should decide which field of medicine you want to go into. During your fourth year, you’ll begin the process of finding your residency program. It is important to find a residency program that matches your interests, so be sure to do your homework and investigate the different options.

Once you graduate from medical school, residency begins. During the residency period, you will work as a doctor under the supervision of others.  This gets you practical experience. The length of your residency depends upon your specialty. Most residencies take about four years, but some specialties, surgeons in particular, may take as long as nine years. The residency period is usually quite stressful. The first year, called intern year, is well-known for transforming for bright, motivated medical students into mindless, sleep deprived zombies. You will be paid during this residency period, but not extremely well. However, once you have finished your residency and completed all necessary certifications, you’re now ready to become a doctor.  Finally.

As you can see, the process of becoming a doctor is very long and strenuous. Not everyone who tries makes it, so it is often prudent to have some sort of backup plan. Once you become a doctor, you also need to prepare for the long hours and stress. Unfortunately, today’s doctors often have to worry about factors that extend beyond their expertise in medicine. Practicing doctors have to consider malpractice issues, and deal with insurance companies. All this put together to make medicine a stressful career.

However, if you have the passion, the drive, and the fervent desire to succeed as a doctor, then no other career will do for you. If this is the case for you, keep pushing for your dream. It will take a lot of hard work, and possibly some failures, but the journey will be worth it.

Getting Educated

The first big step you need to take to get a bachelors degree. Since dental schools have very high admission standards, you want to do very well in getting this degree and show that you have what it takes to become a dentist. Typically, you can major in anything you want for undergraduate education. However, many schools have requirements for certain sciences, such as chemistry, biology, and physics. There are often some requirements for various humanities classes. This is because good communication skills are important to becoming a dentist.  Be sure that you check with the admissions departments at the dental schools that you’re considering, and see what courses they require for admission. It is important that you work very hard in school. You want to get a high GPA, and show your involvement in school activities. Basically, you want to make yourself stand out as much as possible when applying for dental schools.

Applying For Dental School

Before you apply to dental school, you will need to take the Dental Admissions Test(DAT). Your score on this test will help determine whether or not you get into the school. This test measures general academic ability, and the ability to comprehend scientific information. In order to do well on this test, it helps to study first. Get a good prep guide, and work through it in order to familiarize yourself with the test. Once you feel you’re ready, you can apply to take the test online. Once you complete the test, you will instantly receive your score. Before you take the test, you will be able choose to send your scores to specific schools. Put your top schools down on here, and add in any other schools that you’re considering applying to.

Of course, this brings up the question of which schools should be applying to. Choosing the best school is much like using other schools. One great technique is to visit the school, get a feel for the environment and see if it is a place that you would like to spend the next four years. Look into the clinical programs, and see how you like them. Of course, make sure that your school is accredited. It is often a good idea to do a little research and see how well alumni from the school are doing in their practices. Overall, just make sure the school seems like a good place that you could work well in.

Once you have taken the DAT and chosen a school, it’s time to start the process of applying to dental school. Keep in mind that this is another four years of learning. You want to make sure that you get into a school that suits your specific needs. Work hard on these applications, making sure that you write quality essays, and include all of your extracurricular experience while you were in school. Often times, you will need letters of recommendation from professors. Be sure to ask professors to give a good, accurate representation of your skills to the schools you’re applying to. Do your best to put in the best application possible.

In Dental School

Hopefully, if all goes well, you’ll get into school. Now, the real hard work begins. The first two years of dental school consists mostly of classroom work. You will take basic biology, anatomy, and other relevant courses. Around the third year or so, you’ll begin to do more hands-on work, often working on real patients and honing your skills. Of course, will be under the supervision of experienced professors. Before you leave school, you’ll have to take the board certification exam. This comes in two parts, the first being taken during the second year in the second part being taken during the fourth year. Every state has different requirements for becoming a licensed dentist. Be sure to work to complete all these requirements state that you want to work in.

After School

Once you have graduated from school, and are properly licensed, it’s time to find a practice. Fortunately, during your years in dental school, you should have built the contacts necessary to find work. If not, you’ll need to find existing practice that is looking to hire another dentist. This might take a lot of phone calls, but if you have the skills, you should be able to find work.

So, as you can see, becoming a dentist is not an easy thing. It takes a lot of work, and dedication. Few other professions, other than other medical fields, had the same amount of education required to begin practicing. However, if you have the skills and the drive to make it through, dentistry can be a very rewarding and lucrative career.

Classes in High School

It is important to have a good math and science background if you are serious about nursing. Taking the four years of math and four years of science can help you prepare for the nursing journey. Science classes that include chemistry and biology are imperative to your understanding for nursing. Many high schools have strong health care programs. Students can graduate from high school with either a Certified Nursing Assistant, CNA license or License Practical Nurse certification, LPN. If you have a vocational high school in your community, check those out. Graduating with CNA or LPN will allow you get a job right out of high school.

Registered Nurse

When most people think of nurses, they are thinking about registered nurses or RN. These nurses have either a two-year college degree or a four-year degree. RN’s can get training at the local community college, a university, or a training hospital. The student will take math and science classes along with medical terminology, anatomy, biology, and chemistry. Competition is fierce for most nursing schools. Try to keep your grades up in high school to help with acceptance into a nursing program. Some schools have a waiting list that is several years long.

Specialty Nurses

Nurses can specialize, so depending on the specialization they may take extra classes in pediatrics to work with children, or geriatrics to work with the elderly. They may have an interest in surgery where they will get the training to work in the surgery unit at the hospital.

For every type of specialty, there are nurses who specialize in that disorder. Alzheimer’s, oncology, obstetrics, and gynecology nurses all work in a specific field assisting doctors to treat patients. Once you have your degree you can get the added training at the hospital, clinic, or other facility where you work.

Travel Nurses

Nurses that usually travel with affluent families or people who have illnesses are usually RN’s or nurses that specialize in the disorder they are treating. For patients that are on dialysis, the traveling nurse will set up and monitor the procedure for the patient. If a parent has sick children with a specific disorder, the nurse will oversee the child’s health care and monitor the medications.

Visiting Nurses

Many organizations that provide health care for people in their homes have a need for visiting nurses. These nurses visit the home of the ill patient. They provide sponge baths, medication checks, monitoring wounds, dialysis, or other medical procedures that are needed.

Hospitals/ Doctor’s offices

Most doctors’ offices have a nurse to do the pre-screening before the doctor sees you. The nurse usually takes your weight, temperature, blood pressure, and charts why are you visiting the doctor for the day. You can find doctor’s office nurses in small town, rural, suburban, and urban cities.

If you are more interested in hospitals, nurses are on every floor in the hospital. From the emergency room, to the surgery floor and every floor in between you will find the need for nurses. The pediatrics floor is where the sick children are in a hospital. If you have, a preference to work with people that have had surgery you can work on the recovery floor helping people to recuperate after surgery. Some nurses work side by side with doctors in the surgery room, assisting in the process.

You may want to work in the laboratory as the lab nurse. Most hospitals have a pharmacy and nurses may work in that pharmacy. A nurse may also, work in the office helping with the insurance for the many patients being seen in the hospital. There are so many different jobs for a nurse in the hospitals and doctor’s offices.

Other Places for Nurses

RN’s can work in other places outside the hospitals. They may take a job for an insurance company. Pharmacy nurses may work for a large pharmaceutical company or drug store. RN’s may work for other big companies where employees have to have notes to come back to work after being ill. Nurse may do blood pressure checks or other minor procedures to employees while at work to assure wellness of workers. Nurses may work at a large church or a daycare facility. Most nursing homes have several nurses on staff. Some large pharmaceutical stores are putting nurse’s stations in the stores to provide simple procedures like flu shots, blood pressure procedures, and diabetic screens.

Nurse Educators

Nurse Educators are usually nurses with Master’s degrees. They teach nursing skills to the many nurses looking for a nursing certificate. They work in hospitals, colleges, and vocational school. There is a high demand for these nurses.

Job Search for Nurses

After thinking about your specific training, and what you really like doing in the nursing profession, finding a job is the next step. Depending on what you want to do your search my take a different route. If you are interested in being able to work the same schedule as your children, you may want to consider being a school nurse. Searching different school districts will help you find a job. If you are interested in working at a hospital, you may start your search at the local hospitals in your community. There are specific recruiters for traveling nurses or nurses that want to work for large companies.

Having a current resume with all of your training and certificates will start the process. Make sure you have a current license. If you are interested in working on a cruise ship as a nurse you should search out the various cruise lines, make sure you have a current passport for those positions. There are jobs out there waiting for you to get your paperwork in order.