Reasons You Should Choose A Career In Medicine
A career in medicine offers tremendous rewards both personally and professionally. If you have a passion for science, helping people, and making a meaningful difference, then medical professions should be at the top of your list. There are many reasons why choosing a career in medicine can be highly satisfying.
Here are the top 7 reasons to pursue a medical career include the following:
1. You Get To Help People Directly
A career as a physician, nurse, medical assistant, or other healthcare professional allows you to help improve people’s well-being directly. Seeing patients recover and regain health and mobility thanks to your care can be profoundly rewarding. If you enjoy serving others and gain a sense of purpose from impacting lives in a positive way, a medical career may fulfill you in ways other jobs might not.
2. Demand For Healthcare Jobs Is High
Careers in the healthcare industry are currently in high demand and are expected to rise over the coming years. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that between 2016 and 2026, the job growth rate for healthcare occupations will be over 18%, significantly higher than the average rate for all occupations. This demand, along with the need to fill vacancies from those retiring, means healthcare jobs tend to be stable and plentiful, offering good career security.
3. You Can Choose From Many Roles
Within the healthcare industry, there are many possible career paths to choose from depending on your level of education and experience. This includes jobs like physicians, nurses, physical therapists, paramedics, medical technicians, medical assistants, and more. If the role of diagnosing and treating patients directly as a doctor does not appeal to you, other healthcare support jobs still allow you to contribute to the well-being of others in meaningful ways.
4. The Salary Potential Is Strong
Careers in medicine, especially physicians and surgeons, offer very strong salary potential. For example, the median salary for a physician in the U.S. is over $208,000 per year. An anesthesiologist averages over $267,000. Nursing and therapy jobs also provide an above-average salary, often $50,000 to $100,000 per year or more depending on the specific occupation and level of experience. Even entry-level jobs like medical assistants earning an associate’s from a medical assistant program in Phoenix or elsewhere start around $33,000, a respectable salary.
5. Opportunities For Career Advancement
Medicine provides viable paths for career progression over time. Most healthcare jobs offer opportunities for continual learning and specialization. You can advance from registered nurse to nurse practitioner or nursing director. A physical therapist can become a senior therapist or clinic director. Medical assistants can train to become nurses, technologists, or physicians over the years while gaining valuable on-the-job experience. Many start with entry-level roles and work their way up as ambition and life circumstances allow.
6. You Can Pursue Many Interests
There are medical careers to suit many interests and passions. If you enjoy helping people live healthy lives, consider nutrition and wellness. Technologically inclined? Pursue radiology, surgical technology, or biomedical engineering. Fascinated with the human mind? Become a psychiatrist. There are many branches of medicine that would engage different interests including oncology, cardiology, obstetrics, pediatrics, geriatrics, internal medicine, and more. You can choose a medical field of work that you find most personally fulfilling.
7. A Respected And Valuable Profession
Medicine is a highly respected profession that is invaluable and meaningful to society. As a physician, nurse, therapist, or medical assistant, you would be practicing an honorable vocation that contributes real value to the lives and health of others. The work often comes with a sense of prestige as you partner with patients and their families during times of illness or vulnerability. While the hours and work conditions are not easy, healthcare careers provide a purpose that transcends many other types of employment.