Finding your preference in the medical field.

 The knowledge of the various types of medical careers and their significance from my last blog post leads to a new question: Which one of these career paths should you focus on? Making the decision that your aim is to help save lives isn’t hard, it’s choosing how and where to make impact that becomes tough. How can you overcome this inner uncertainty and make an outstanding choice for yourself?

Faced with the dilemma of lacking the merit to study Medicine and Surgery, it felt like I could not pursue my dream of being a pediatrician anymore, my dreams sucked away into an abyss. Finding new purpose felt hard and the disappointment was striking yet Today, I’m a proud medical lab scientist aspirant in her second year, all my dreams restored, purpose renewed. I was able to find my preference among the medical careers available to me and discover fulfillment. How did I accomplish that and more importantly, how can you achieve it?

Here are tips and my experiences.

Self-introspect- Getting to know yourself is a great way of exploring your preference in the medical field. It is important to know your interest, understand what you like and don’t like, as well as what makes you feel fulfilled. In my case, I was of the opinion that being a pediatrician would make me feel fulfilled, but further introspection after I couldn’t make the cut-off to study medicine made me realize that my main interest is in helping kids not necessarily pediatrics. This realization allowed me to think outside the box and look for alternatives to fulfill my realized interest. Learn to think deeply about yourself and explore options that work best for you.

Research- Use resources such as the web to find out what career conforms to your interests and personality. For instance, I love to help kids, make research, discover new things and to be an integral worker as well, a career that fits my personality would have to be a job that involves making numerous research, finding solutions and working as a part of a team to produce results; with that in mind, I was able to make my research on medical careers that could fit this purpose, and I made my decision from there. Researching different health-care specialties broadens your mind on the scope of medical careers and helps you clearly choose one suited to your tastes.

Get Expert opinion- The web can only do so much, getting advice from someone in the field you have found intriguing, to further explain to you what it entails, the requirements and share their experiences with you. Talking to a medical laboratory scientist I know made me feel more connected to my choice and its entrails. Getting the dos and don’ts from a medical professional helps you feel closer to the experience and how you should move forward on your own path. Shadow healthcare professionals you know and also volunteer in healthcare settings such as labs or hospitals during the period you have to decide if you have such an opportunity. Learn to seek out information about your choice career from a veteran.

 Career test assessments- This option would be great for anyone who has issues with introspecting. These career assessments query you concisely about your personality, interests, goals, preferences and aspirations.  This helps you to identify what you relate to and point you in the direction of potential medical careers that match your personality and goals. Examples of these career test assessments include the Strong Interest Inventory which I used, Holland Code Career test as well as the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. Take advantage of these career planning resources.

Consider a career mentor/ coach- From the comfort of your home, you can find out personalities in your career choice that have taken to putting their experiences on the internet for all to see. These professionals could be your mentor, guide or career coach seeing as they would be privy to a wealth of information and experiences in the field. Keeping up with these professionals will give you insight into how life as a professional in a setting career is and show you snippets of their duty round-the-clock as well. I personally love @labscientistlifestyle, @medicallaboratoryscientist and @thelanceletgroup on Instagram as well as several medium bloggers for my chosen medical career.

I was able to find what was suited to my personality, my interests and goals. I felt no pressure from my inability to get what I thought what was best for me, in fact I have grown to see it as a blessing in disguise.

 There’s nothing better than studying with passion and interest. As a medical professional, love for the job is quite important to remain dedicated when the going gets tough.

I hope this post helped you realize the importance of finding your preference among the available medical careers and how to go about choosing your career path.

Thanks for reading!