Medical careers
 

Does anybody work in the medical field? :confused:

I've been weighing my options and trying to figure out what I want to begin doing with my life. I'm almost 20, at community college, slow moving but I've got about 30 credits under my belt. I know I'm still young & have time but I don't want to continue taking classes if they're going to be a waste. I do have my English 111, Oral Speech, Intro to Psychology, etc which are all pretty much used for any degree. I have yet to take a math or a science yet because I failed my math placement test which means I have to take 2 non-credit math courses before even getting into a regular algebra class. I'm TERRIBLE at math. :rolleyes: There is an option to re-take this test after taking a 5 day math review type class. Which is what I want to try and do.

The medical field has always been in the back of my mind. It's never what I pictured myself doing... but I love to talk to people, I'm personable and friendly, I enjoy helping people, and it seems like a good career choice at this point in time because it's such a growing field, esp. in this economy.

So at this point my goal would be to get my associates degree in either Radiation Therapy or Physical Therapy Assistant. My college (Anne Arundel Community College - AACC homepage) has pretty reputable programs for these but you have to be accepted and it's definitely hard work, lots of science, which I've never been the best at but I think I could do it.

Does anyone have any first-hand experience of what it's like to work in the medical field? I'm more of a computer girl so I thought my computer skills could tie into something medically.... esp. in radiation therapy. Any other medical careers that you may know about, let me know. How is the hours, pay, work environment, etc? Thanks!

Was an RN......went to school and lasted in the field for about 2 years........Worked in the Surgical Floor and at a State Hospital, then went on to work in Pediatrics.....too many things turned me away....mostly children with terminal illnesses and abuse cases......The other Dr's egos.......
Some can be such $@#$ heads.

I'll be stalking this! :)
I plan to go to school to become a Canine Psychical Therapist/Holistic Vet.

It'll be nice to see what experiences people have in any Medicial Career really!

Cool.....that I could deal with.......

Just please don't become a vet that is now so common......one that is practicing for $$$$$$. Now I understand you need to make a living......but, most vets are putting $$$$ in the forefront instead of the love of the animal.

Yeah, I don't know if I could deal w/ children being sick, that would be hard. I wouldn't want to be an RN just because... well, I don't know, I just see myself specializing in one field, i.e. radiology. Thanks for your input!

Wow! I would love to be a Canine physical therapist!! I need to look more into this. My true passion would be to work with dogs! But most careers you can't make a living off of.

Not true, do you know how much a good handler makes. Have you seen the rigs they drive? Luxury to the max.......That and being able to work with what they love the most....dogs

Wow, so thanks for bringing up canine physical therapy! I just found this.... Canine Rehabilitation Institute | Welcome There's classes available right in Baltimore, 35 mins from me. I'm highly intrigued by this and doing more research.

Before I was disabled I was a medical secretary and then a surgical scheduler. I loved it. I took a course.It had nothing to do with my BA In early childhood education back in 1978.Geesh, I am old. I was always horrible in math and it sounds like you are a people person. Perhaps your college offers a associates degree in medical administration. I think it would be right up your alley! Good luck.
Vicki

I took courses in medical coding. It was fun though I went in a different direction and work in medical billing as a csr at a call center. There are so many directions you can go in. Good luck in anything you choose.

I'm glad you are interested! That is amazing you found some classes near you I actually happened upon the website once, here is another as well Canine Rehabilitation | UT Certification Courses and Seminars

Retired Nurse. Had a great career,, Loved it! Floor nurse, Charge Nurse, Nurse Manager, Nursing Supervisor, Diabetic Educator. Nursing is a great career with many opportunities in travel/career goals. Good luck with what ever you decide!

I am an RN. I've never worked with really sick people. There are alot of other opportunities out there that allow you to work in non-terminal areas. For instance, I started out as an LPN and worked in a doctor's (OB/Gyn) office while getting more college credits at night. Then I started working at the hospital in the postpartum unit where I got experience with newborns. When I graduated from RN school, I transferred to the NICU unit where I worked with some sick babies but not the micro preemies that may not have a chance of survival. From there, I transferred to the Labor & Delivery unit where I stabilize newborns during and right after delivery. I have the most awesome job in the hospital!

Becoming a nurse was the best decision I've made. I can't imagine myself doing anything else. I work night shift and have to work holidays and some weekends...it is a sacrifice. I can't travel to see family around the holidays, etc. However, I'm a single mom, own my house, own my car.... Nursing has allowed me to be independent.

I've dealt with my share of egotistical doctors but you do need to have some thick skin to be a nurse. It gets better as time goes on. You just have to ignore them. Fortunately, the organization that I work for has no tolerance for that kind of behavior from doctors. They will get written up in a heartbeat!

By the way, I'm horrible in math and I made it through....

I'm taking courses in medical coding right now!
It's challenging!

My Bachelors degree is in Nursing - out of school (at age 28), I managed a gyn. clinic (bc I already had mgmt / lots of experience in human services); I then worked about 7 years for Medtronic in the pacemaker/defib. (implantable) field - traveled all over the U.S. and also to Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Madrid - which was such a tremendous opportunity. So, that's where I think the medical field, in almost any area, can really surprise you - in that soooo many things can be possible. When I was in nursing school, if someone had said "oh, you'll work w/ pacemakers/defibs in the biotech industry, btw" -- I would have just said "um, huh?".

And in the canine industry...really...who knows? Look at the trainer Tamar Gellar...she is Oprah's dog's trainer and was on the Oprah show...I bet she didn't ever predict *that* :D! If you follow your heart/interests...you never know where it might lead.

To me, it sounds like working w/ dogs is sounding really exciting to you...esp. the Canine PT career. Is there anywhere near you where you can shadow a PT?

I work as a registered nurse. I worked 9 yrs in med/surg and the last 7 in hospice. I love what I do!

The medical field always has opportunities...hope you find what interests you most and stick with it. Sounds like you are such a people person...how about social work or counseling? Such a high demand, and so very rewarding. Good luck!!!

I've been an RN for 13 years...All during college i said to myself I'll do any type of nursing EXCEPT Pediatrics. Well, I've been a Pediatric nurse for 12 years LoL Dont ask me how that happened...i just sorta fell into it and i absolutely love it. I am one of those nurses though that do work with terminal children. I see it as giving as much as you can to these kids for what little time they have left. I stay in touch with many of the families I've come in contact with . It's a hard job...yes we do get alot of crap from doctors and higher ups...you learn to walk away and just roll your eyes at them.:rolleyes:

My suggestion is to definitely figure out what you want to do first. I've always told myself that I would not do a job that i didnt love...to me, its just not worth it. Remember...its not always about the money...sometimes you just have to go for something you Love doing! Good Luck with your decision!

I"m a nurse and the nurses are absolutely RIGHT! You can do so many many different things with an RN degree! I've been a teacher of nursing for almost 30 years now. I LOVE it so much and can't imagine doing anything else!!!

I am a Surgical Tech~I worked for a little over a year on an organ procurement team traveling to different hospitals (and morgues) to harvest organs for transplants. It was an adrenaline rush each day that I worked but also very wearing emotionally when it involved young donors..If I was younger and didn't have a family I mostly likely would have continued for a while longer. It was 24 hr call and the pace was at times very tiring both mentally and physically. I now work as a Clinical Tech/Medical Rep with breast cancer PT in the OR during surgery and LOVE my job!

If you like Radiology you might want to consider Nuclear Medicine Tech, which is a sub-specialty of a Rad Tech.

Don't let Math hold you back~dive in and you will see that it will all come to you if you are truly determined. :)

Thanks SO much for all the ideas & suggestions. The help was GREATLY appreciated. I've been looking into everything!

My daughter is graduating HS this year and will be heading off to get her BS in Nursing. Everyone makes it sound so easy to get a nursing degree, but we are finding that after she completes her required courses, she has to apply to nursing school and it is highly competitive. So she is stressing about being accepted, (although she is an excellent student and excels in math and science). Her friend just applied and her school accepts 70 out of 200 or more applicants. No one in our family works in the medical field, so we have not known how to direct her. She has been shadowing professionals, and asking a lot of questions. We have found that there is a hundred different ways for people to end up at the same place and it is a matter of which direction you want to go to get there. A bit overwhelming! But, she is more interested in skilled nursing what ever that is. What everyone is saying is true though, there are a lot of different opportunities out there and even if you want to do something that you don't feel there is a high demand for keep in mind that personal motiviation has as much to do with your career as anything, so if you are motivated to go to where there are opportunities and sell yourself doing it, nothing can stop you. Good luck!

That's great that we make it sound easy but believe me it wasn't at all! The years I spent in nursing school were the worst of my life. It didn't help that I was doing it while working and being a single mom. My nose was constantly in a book studying. Sometimes I had to choose between studying or sleeping. Then I had to study for state boards.. Getting into nursing school is the easy part.

I wish your daughter the best of luck and after all the hard work, nothing will be as rewarding, I promise!

I totally agree getting in is the easy part! But all the work is def. worth it, I am a RN on a Cardiac med/surg. floor and I LOVE it. Nursing is the greatest job you get to see every aspect of life and you get to share it with the patients and families you care for. Yes there are sad times, but when you see someone so close to death and then to see them walking out of the hospital when they are discharged it is great. As an RN I can work in any field of nursing, if I don't like one or am bored with the job (I never am) you can go into another area of care. They are very much in demand so you have job security and the benifits are good too.

I am a Respiratory Care Practitioner, I have been doing it for about 12 years now. I work mostly in Adult Critical Care (which is my #1 fave) and NICU with the micro preemies 24weekers and over. I couldnt imagine doing anything else :D

Hey Brit. :) Looks like we are kind of in the same boat. I am in school right now, and I think I want to work in the medical field but I am still really unsure about exactly what career I want to pursue. I am only 18, and I am in my second semester, but I don't want to waste my time taking unnecessary classes if they will not benefit me in the future. Technically, I am majoring in Pre-Pharmacy, but as time goes on I feel like science is just not my thing. I am taking chemistry right now and I want to pull my hair out! I don't want to be one of those people that stays in school forever but I also don't want to rush through school and end up with a job I may potentially hate.. :( At first I wanted to be a vet, then I shadowed one.. :eek: I immediately realized I wouldn't be able to do it. The job sounds so admirable, but it really takes a special person to be a vet. I also considered physical therapy, but I shadowed a PT, and the job just looks unappealing. There appears to be a great deal of nurses on here. I guess that is something I never really considered. Hmmm. :confused:

I will be checking back on this thread as well!

Wow, sounds like we're in pretty much the same boat! I am just *SO* confused. There is so many options out there. I'm taking this semester off to get my thoughts straight and decide what I wanna do. I feel like I'm just wasting money and classes if I don't know what I want to do. Because, for example, if I choose the medical route, half the classes I've taken will be worthless towards that degree. I would love to be involved in media type stuff as I love computers, videography, photography, etc but it just seems like such a tough field to get into and I don't know! I just have a lot to think about. I would love to work with dogs one way or the other, being a trainer seems like it'd right up my alley and something I'm passionate about but I think that'd be more like a side-thing to do.

I started in the medical category, but went a different way. I was convinced in high school/early college that I wanted to be a doctor/researcher. I even got into medical school straight out of high school. But, when I got to college and started doing the coursework I realized I hated it...and my heart just wasn't in it enough to do it for four-eight more years. Well that's when I discovered psychology. I've always been more of a people person, and I love that the psychology degree--like many nursing or other medically-related degrees--is very flexible, and there's a lot you can do with it or use it as a springboard for.

I graduated with my Bachelor's degree last year, now I'm in school for my Master's degree in Mental Health Counseling (basically like a psychologist, except more wellness-focused, the pay is actually fairly similar now because HMOs/PPOs prefer them and it requires less training--only 2.5/3 years). Last summer, when I had more time, I worked with a dog trainer, using my psychology degree to train dogs...that was a blast! Definitely just try to take all of your general required classes before you completely make up your mind because that's the only reason I ended up doing what I am now! You might be surprised what you like and are good at! Good luck!