How To Build A Successful Medical Career
There are different fields of study in the vast world of higher education, and the medical field is just one of them and every enthusiast in this field of study deserve to excel in this career path. The blog post is well detailed and explicit and will aid those interested to build a successful medical career most definitely…
WHAT IS THIS FIELD ALL ABOUT?
The medical field is obviously a field of study that deals with the general study and practice of all things medical for the provision of health care services to the immediate population. This field of study deals with certain areas of study such as the medical sciences, health care sciences and even medical technology. This article is going to guide you through the perquisites of being in the medical field, and how to build a successful medical career. For aspirants, practitioners and generally curious minds stay tuned…
WHAT ARE THE REQUIREMENTS OF BEING IN THE MEDICAL FIELD?
Different fields of study come with several benefits of their own. The medical field is a unique field that provides the practitioner with so many benefits and perquisites that exposes them to so many grand opportunities. Apart from the huge financial benefits which are quite certain when you are involved in this field, there are other amazing benefits and opportunities that this field provides. Perquisites such as:
- You are highly respected for your great achievements in the field. In African nations like Nigeria, you are highly revered just for the title (Dr) attached to your name.
- You get to meet other wonderful minds who inspire you to go on in the field.
- There’s a certain fulfillment you get from the lives you save every day.
- You get to feed your mind every day with new ideas. In this field learning never stops.
- You are privileged to establish worthwhile relationships, you can benefit from, with the consumers you can attend to. For instance, you could be a family nurse or doctor
- Depending on your level in the field you get opportunities to hold public offices such as being the Commissioner of Health.
- It is regarded by some as the best job in the world, now isn’t that enticing.
- And not to forget the bills you rack in per annum. Records have it that some surgeons earn as high as 11million Naira a year now isn’t that amazing….
HOW TO SURVIVE
In every sector of the labor market, there’s always a high competition and survival is very essential. Truth be told the medical field is one of the toughest sectors of discipline in the world and is highly challenging. To make it in this field you have to be a survivor. Survival is essential for growth “In a survival situation, it’s a do or die. The ones that take action, using knowledge and common sense live” ~Daniel W. Shrigley. Here are some tips on how to survive in the hectic medical field if you’re a medic:
1. Be Smart:
Now I am not talking about intelligence or knowledge you get from reading the recommended books, and audiovisual assistance, no I am talking about survival smarts, being totally conscious of the system and how things are run in the system. Now I’m not saying that reading is not essential, of course, it is, it’s highly necessary to gain academic knowledge, but here I am talking about social smarts. Knowing the system is the first step to being “smart”. There are ways to get to know the system, it’s very easy, you just have to be open-minded. Firstly, you have to ask around, there are elders in every society, and in the medical society. The elders are the medics who have been there before you came.
The elders would love to assist you and guide you because during when they were new to the system they were most likely guided in the same way too, so go ahead and ask. Most systems in this field are governed by superiors, who are proud, and love the reverence of the freshmen. You have to be respectable enough to learn their likes and dislikes. For instance, in some systems, you can pass examinations if you don’t represent the ideas of your superiors on your answers. That’s the smarts I am talking about. Another easy way to get to know the system is by personal observance. If you have known the system the next step is to obey the rules and guidelines of the system. Yes, I’m talking about conformity. Don’t worry you will be your own boss one day, but for now, be wise.
2. Be Humble:
If we are familiar with the song of the award-winning American rapper ~Kendrick Lamar, with the same title as the above subheading, then we might be a little more familiar with the concept of humility. Being humble is a highly necessary criteria for survival in the field. Now humility is a virtue that some people are not familiar with, but honestly, at this point in your life, you have to curb your pride if you hope to survive and rise. Now, I am not saying to be humble to almost the point of stupidity, no, I mean just be respectful and lenient towards your superiors.
Recall from the previous parts of the article where I said that your superiors are proud and expect humility from you, so be wise and give them exactly what they want. Do not argue on cases with your superiors, your diagnoses might be correct, but if your superior says otherwise, then that is what it is.
Be available when your attendant or consultant wants you to be, you are not busy. I repeat, you are not busy, no matter what you are working on, as a resident in training, or intern, or medic in training, when any of your superior needs you, better be there. He or She is going to be the one to promote you, and you are to learn a lot from them. So fit your schedule around what, and when they require of you. By being respectable around these superiors, you might gain their respect too and at the end of your training, you will certainly get good recommendations from them. So my dear, no matter what you know, please just set your pride down, so you could thrive easily
3. Be Careful:
As straightforward as this subheading sounds, I tell you it is quite complicated. What does carefulness mean? In this context, carefulness means taking caution and being meticulous in one’s day to day activities. Easy it may seem, some doctors have lost their certificate privileges and their license to practice medicine. The cause of tiny mistakes they’ve made during practice, or sometimes cause of a single mistake.
Because as a medical practitioner, the lives of patients are put in your hands, there’s much pressure, one wrong the decision and everything is lost. If you are already a fully practicing doctor, all responsibilities rest on your shoulders. There are certain protocols that are required of you to follow whilst handling a patient. Now if these protocols are followed and the patient doesn’t come out alive, then you did your best and it’s not your fault. But if you did otherwise and end up losing the patient, lawsuits could be filed against you. And you could lose your license in the process. I can’t lay more emphasis on this than I have already. Do not be afraid you can do this; you just have to believe in yourself.
If you are a medic still in training, then much responsibility doesn’t rest on your shoulder. All you need to do is follow the instructions and guidelines set down by your superiors and you are good to go. Surgery I think is where total carefulness has to be applied. So if you plan on venturing into this area of specialty or are already there, you have to be prepared. You have to be calm and optimistic anytime you are about to begin an operation or anything like that.
The specialists in medicine, you have to be accurate as to when giving a diagnosis. Because that determines the course of treatment that will be administered to the patient, so make the right decisions. By doing these simple three Bs you are surely going to survive this. Just stay calm, take deep breaths and ride on. Believe that no matter what happens, no matter how hard it gets you are going to survive.
HOW TO MAKE IT BIG IN THE MEDICAL FIELD
Many of us want to achieve great feats in life. Many of us have big dreams. Some achieve this by being multitaskers, by carrying out several tasks and investing in several business ideas. In the medical field, if you are a practitioner, and love and want to excel in your field, you have to stay focused almost totally on it. But no worries, there are some other details I will enlist that will improve your chances of making it big in this field. Read through and see for yourself. In order to make it big in the marvelous medical field, you might require:
1. Connections:
Now it is a common fact that we all need each other to excel in life. For instance, an entrepreneur and CEO (chief executive officer) such as Bill Gates needed companies such as Microsoft in 1986 where he made his biggest investment. Which is the major contributor in his success today. We all need well-written books written by several other people to acquire knowledge. I could go on and on about how we are all connected and need each other to excel, but I know you get the point already. In the medical field, the kind of people you should aim to make connections with are your superiors, patients who you can benefit from, connect with your other colleagues who seem promising.
This is very essential it would help you gain more experience in the field. And by making friends with the sets of people I have enlisted. You might even end up connecting with a future president who can make big things happen for you later in time. To make tight bonds with people all you have to do is be the best version of yourself and have high self-esteem. Be nice and outgoing. As people appreciate communication very much. Do this and you are one step closer to being a big shot in the health industry.
2. Politics:
Yes, politics! It’s a mean to an end for big dreamers. Some of us want to hold public offices in the government to serve and improve the welfare of the citizens of the nation. It isn’t going to be easy. To get to the top in politics you have to possess three key qualities. You have to be highly educated and wise, you have to be able to represent yourself in public place and have great influence. And most importantly you have to be good with people. If you know you have political aspirations, you have to start early. Make your intentions known to people indirectly, by the way, you relate with them.
From the higher institution, you can encourage yourself by the achievements you make. You try hard and see if you could win an important public position. If that works out, then you are one step closer to achieving your big dreams. Try to represent that position properly so that the next time you come out, you would have more supporters. Politics opens many doors of opportunities. You get to meet other people in higher offices, whose influence can rub off on you, to make you a better politician.
3. Be Business-minded:
For some of us, the medical field is just a means to an end. It’s not where our passion truly lies, but we practice it because it pays well and we can do it well enough. For some people, they end up doing it for the rest of their lives, but they is a way out of it. Being business minded my friend is the key. You have to be willing to save up the money you earn. Save it till it is big enough to invest it in what you truly love. Attaining total happiness in life is really making it big. You not only work better when you participate in what you truly love. But you feel total fulfillment every day after work. So my dear friend, don’t be afraid to go after what you truly love, but be wise about it.
4. Entrepreneurship:
Now, this is for the “big dogs”. This is for the true lovers of the medical field who want to make a great impact on mankind. First off, who is an entrepreneur? An entrepreneur as described by the English dictionary is a person who organizes and operates a business venture and assumes much of the associated risk. In essence, an entrepreneur is someone who owns and runs a business. The richest doctor in the world Dr. Soon-Shiong. Forbes estimates his net worth to be 12.3 billion dollars. He is a medical entrepreneur owning several companies and pharmaceuticals. You can make it big too, all you need to be is to be smart and invest in the right business. And also, read some business books that will guide you to make the right decisions
In the end, all you need to do to make it big is do dream big, have the right mindset, be a go-getter and never settle for less. Lots of feats can be achieved in this field. The best thing to focus on in this profession is to become a specialist. That way you can focus on a specific area and become a master at it. Lastly, Study hard, keep on striving to be the best for you and not for any other person, and I promise you will achieve great things. God bless you!
