What to Consider Before Embarking on a Career in Medicine

If you’re wondering whether a career in medicine is right for you, you’ve come to the right place. 

Before you begin submitting a healthcare job application, however, it’s important to approach this realistically. Medicine is a competitive and testing industry both personally and professionally, often pushing students to their very limits in their first few years on the job. Applicants should avoid looking at career prospects in medicine with rose-tinted glasses and diligently research, plan, and reflect on whether this is right for them.

However, don’t let the competitiveness of the healthcare sector dissuade you from taking routes into working in this field. While it’s undeniable that it comes with its challenges – many of which have been widely documented in the press in recent years – a career in medicine promises career fulfilment like no other. With proper planning and preparation, you can set yourself up for a prosperous career following medical school and training. As 2024 is upon us, there’s no better time to begin kickstarting your graduate job search.

If you want to understand the key steps to take before leaping into the medical field itself, then look no further.

Are You Passionate and Motivated About Medicine?

First and foremost, you should do some serious self-reflection, pinpointing exactly what draws you towards a medical career.

Some important questions to ask yourself include:

• Am I genuinely passionate about healthcare and scientific discovery? Remember that medicine (like many graduate schemes) requires many dedicated years of – often full-time – study and training. Are you realistically able and driven to succeed here?
• Do I want to help people? Possessing empathy and understanding different perspectives can better patient relationships.
• Am I comfortable making quick, critical decisions under pressure? Doctors often handle stressful situations with impacts on health outcomes.
• Can I cope with the emotional demands? Illness, suffering and death affect everyone but handling it daily requires a different level of emotional and personal resilience that might not come naturally.
• Are there specialisms in medicine that particularly interest you? You may have identified a particular career path outside of the ‘typical’ realm of general practice and hospital work, such as intensive care, oncology, radiology, research, diagnostics and testing, and many others.
• Are you motivated purely by money? If so, a career in medicine may not be for you. While there are routes to achieving a high-paying medical career, this shouldn’t be your primary objective. 

If your motivations stem from the right place like the desire to learn, help and make a difference, medicine could be very fulfilling. 

Which Area of Medicine Appeals to You?

Medicine as an employment sector contains numerous specialities and sub-sectors, ranging from paediatrics, cardiology and dermatology to newer ones like sport and exercise medicine. 

While you may not have a specific interest and hope to find this down the line, it can be good to pinpoint a handful of areas that you can envision yourself working in. Consider the following medical avenues, although this list merely scratches the surface:

• Patient interaction – General practitioners, psychiatrists, and psychologists will require more face-to-face consultation time with patients than exclusively surgical or neurological disciplines.
  
• Procedures – Surgeons, for example, may be expected to conduct a wide range of operations on a given day, while radiologists may face more routine working patterns of assessing and interpreting images and data. Consider what is most appealing to you.
  
• Work environments – Paramedics conduct urgent and time-crucial operations and procedures for admitted patients, while family physicians balance a healthy mixture of office and on-site visits. These are drastically different working environments and patterns which some may be more suited to than others.
  
• Conditions treated – Rheumatologists handle joint or muscle diseases, neurologists address the nervous system and optometrists test vision and identify eye health problems. If you are interested in specific conditions and their treatments, then this can be helpful to identify ahead of time.
  
• Patient profile – Paediatricians work exclusively with babies, children and young people, while palliative carers provide specialist end-of-life care and support to patients, often elderly. Consider whether you see yourself working with specific age groups or types of patients.

It can be helpful to talk directly with medical professionals in fields of fervent interest to get a more accurate idea of a typical working day. This can help you narrow down your options even further.

How Competitive are Your Chosen Specialities?

Doctors will always be in demand, and this is unlikely to change. While some professions are more competitive than others, the sector is always expanding and new avenues are constantly opening. 

However, entry to medical school is very competitive and requires you to get excellent A-level grades (or equivalent level 3 qualifications). While each medical school sets specific entry requirements, you will likely need to demonstrate, from the outset:

• GCSE certificates in 7-10 subjects, including English Language, Mathematics, Biology and Chemistry (or dual award science) at grade B/6 or above.
• A* or A grades at A-Level including Biology (or Human Biology) and Chemistry, with predictions of AAA at minimum.
• A predicted or achieved first or upper-second-class degree in an approved subject from a recognised institution. 

Once you graduate with your medical degree, you can take a few different pathways. After a compulsory two-year foundation programme, followed by either a three-year GP training course or ‌a speciality programme which lasts between five to eight years. 

Consider your academic background carefully before embarking on any study of medicine, to address any missing prerequisites or skills gaps needing improvement. Strengthen any areas before applying for medical school to ensure you aren’t setting yourself up for immediate disappointment.

How Can You Best Prepare Your Application?

Studying medicine is a huge commitment and shouldn’t be decided on a whim. Applying for roles in the field requires attention to detail and plenty of research ahead of time.

It’s vital to find out as much as possible about the realities, expectations, and entry requirements before you apply.

We recommend you do the following before beginning any medical application:

• Speak with friends and family about your intent to enter the field.
• Discuss career prospects with your teacher(s), personal tutor(s) and career adviser if you have one within your school, college, or university.
• Consider one-to-one graduate coaching and mentorship from independent, objective career specialists, like those at GraduateCoach.
• Attend open days at various medical schools to get a glimpse into life in a specific facility or profession.
• Arrange consultations with doctors about careers, or perhaps arrange to shadow them on a day.
• Consider offering your time and services to undertake paid or unpaid work experience in a medical facility, to give yourself real-world scenarios to digest.
• Take the initiative to attend talks or conferences about medical careers.
• Consider taster courses or summer schools if a nearby medical school offers them.

Conclusion

It’s clear to see that entering medicine is not a decision to be taken lightly. However, don’t let the competitiveness and years of study and training deter you from entering an enriching and meaningful career that can offer long-term job security and fulfilment. Once you graduate, you can begin earning a respectable salary which can only increase with experience and depth of applications. 

You can experience varied situations and challenges (both practical and intellectual) on a day-to-day basis when you enter the field, but ultimately you will be filling a respected role that society values highly. Use the guidance above to position yourself successfully from the word go.

Featured image by Karolina Grabowska from Pexels