Careers in Medicine part1 Physical therapy & Anesthegiology

Not to burst anyone's bubble but chances are many of us will not end up working in the professions we've dreamed about for years, and that isn't necessarily a bad thing either.

There are lot of factors why people desire a certain career: economic incentives, reputation, freedom, expression, admiration, and personal experience. Chances are though most of us aren't going to become orthopedic surgeons pulling down $600K a year, just getting into medical school could be one factor, the residency program is VERY competitive among other things. You'll be OK though if you're prepared. If you get into medical school you'll probably find another specialty that fits your intended lifestyle (there are probably careers that would give you greater job satisfaction). If you have a hard time getting into medical school you might find out you really like research and may ultimately decide to go that rout, you may go into nursing a find fulfillment there.

The other day I talked to a RN who planned on becoming a PA. He went to Pacific Lutheran University in Washington where the PA program suffered and died while he attended school there. After graduating with a bachelors in Biology he contemplated medical school and applied and while he was waiting he found a 3 month EMT certification program, he loved his job and was offered a position with the hospital where they paid for him to to become an RN and he's been there for 15 years. He told me he was glad he was working where he was it fit his life style, he leaves work at work, no malpractice insurance, good benefits, works as little or as much as he wants, he has a lot more patient contact then the doctors do and that is what brings him satisfaction with his job.

I'm not telling you to go into nursing (unless that's what you want to do) but be flexible and open minded, he could have reapplied and probably gotten in (he only applied to University of Washington, and University of Hawaii) but he found something that fit the lifestyle he wanted and that he truly loved doing. With that said consider the following careers.

Physical Therapy:Aspiring PTs have the option to go for a bachelors or doctorate program (however the number of masters programs is shrinking). The prerequisites are similar to medical school but differ with each school and you would take the GRE. Like medical school getting into PT school is competitive.

People who go into physical therapy can specialize and switch specialties in mid career if they want to. Many work in hospitals or make home visits but the majority work in clinics which provides the opportunity to run and manage your own business. You don't have to ever be "on call" and malpractice insurance is nothing in comparison to what and M.D. has to pay.

Depending on where you live the average yearly salary is roughly $60K-70K but it is possible to make much more since a large portion of PTs only work part time.

PT's can focus on rehabilitation for specific injuries, geriatrics, pediatrics, and injury prevention.

Careers similar to physical therapy include: athletic training, occupational therapy, and personal training.

Anesthesiology:

Anesthesiologist go to medical school and then take an additional 4 years of residency training followed by 1-4 more years of internship. Anesthesiologists determine whether someone is fit for anesthesia and then monitors them so the surgeon can focus solely on the operation. Anesthesiologists also have the choice to become pain specialists which is a rapidly growing and much needed field. Anesthesiologist typically have extraordinary math and memorization skills. They preform complex calculations on the fly to adjust drug dosages/rates and they must know how and when to safely use the millions of drugs at their disposal.

Anesthesiologists don't have much continuation of same patient contact they typically meet with the patient before the operation and are with them as they come out of anesthesia, most of their time is spent with the patient unconscious. The anesthesiologist must identify and treat conditions such as high blood pressure in as little as a few heart beats to prevent serious damage.

Anesthesiologists don't have to build up their practices since they are usually employed by hospitals and surgery centers and that also means that they don't have to take work home with them (unless they're on call).

Anesthesiologists average between $400K-600K a year but their malpractice insurance is among the highest. Recently there has been a trend in hospitals hiring nurse anesthetists making finding a job more difficult.

Similar careers: Nurse anesthetist, pharmacist