Have you thought about becoming a doctor? It is a lucrative career, as the median salary is $208,000 a year.
If you search for “highest paying jobs in the US” on the Internet, you’ll find that the top nine of these jobs completely consist of medical occupations. From dentists to surgeons and general anesthesiologists, there are no occupations with higher salaries than these jobs. For this reason, a lot of people wonder if they would be fit to attend medical or dental school.
Going to medical school requires making hours and dedication, and it’s certainly not for everybody. This article will delve into what it takes to go to medical school and will help you determine whether or not medical school is the right place for you.
You Shouldn’t Be Afraid to Perform Procedures
First and foremost, medical occupations are not like any occupation. You’ll need to be able to deal with all the wonders of the body and the people they belong to. During and after medical school, there will be a lot of injecting syringes, cutting into body parts, and other practical assessments that are not for anybody. Are you curious to know whether this is something for you? Then check out Webop.com. On this website, you’ll find all sorts of medical procedures explained with detailed texts and instruction videos.
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During medical school, you’ll be asked to perform a number of medical procedures. Sometimes, you’ll be allowed to use a puppet, but for most practical exams, you might need to perform procedures on a real human being. It takes great courage and self-confidence to be able to conduct such tasks if you don’t have a lot of experience yet. Some practical exams you might need to conduct are as follows.
- Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE): this is one of the most common ways to assess a student’s practical skills. It includes interacting with “patients” (often actors) and solving a medical case study. You’ll have to demonstrate physical examination skills, write down findings, and create treatment plans.
- Anatomy and Physiology Demonstration: For this practical assessment, you’ll need to perform tasks that require great anatomical knowledge. This assessment might require dissecting a model or cadaver and explaining the processes involved.
You Don’t Mind Being Buried in Books All the Time
During your time in medical school, most of what you’ll learn will be theoretical knowledge. You’ll be buried in mountains of books and will have to learn about everything there is to know about the human body, even if you feel like it has nothing to do with the occupation you would like to perform. According to Kaplan, the average first-year medical school student spends 30-40 hours a week studying. For example, some common assessments you might endure during medical school are as follows.
- Problem-Solving Scenarios: you’ll be presented with a hypothetical patient and will be asked to come up with a diagnosis and a treatment plan for this “patient”. You’ll need to have great critical thinking skills and problem-solving abilities to pass this assessment.
- Communication Skills Assessment: communication is essential when it comes to diagnosing a patient, and for this reason, it is an important skill to have
You Don’t Mind Putting in the Hours
Attending medical school is certainly not a walk in the park. It takes lots of work and dedication to get through the coursework. This means that you might spend your weekends and evenings studying instead of going out and enjoying college life.
Even before getting into medical school, you’ll have to put in lots of work. This is because medical schools are notoriously selective and only accept students who can prove they have put in the work and maintained high grades in their previous educational careers. Once you are accepted into medical school, you’ll see that it takes unparalleled dedication to succeed.
Medical school is a long journey and takes more than your average college education. For example, besides attending classes, you’ll need to put your knowledge into action by interning at a hospital. You might need to work nights, evenings, and even holidays to be able to graduate.
You Have the Right Motivation
As mentioned in the introduction, lots of people consider attending medical school because it will ultimately result in a high-paying job. However, money shouldn’t be your motivation to become a doctor. The medical sector is all about healing people and caring for them, so medical school shouldn’t be your choice if you don’t care about this essential factor of the job.
Alternatively, some parents have had the dream of their child becoming a doctor even before their child was born. Just because your parents want you to be a doctor shouldn’t mean you should. As said before, becoming a doctor is about helping people and not about making as much money as you possibly can and securing a wealthy future for yourself.
If money is your motivation, it’s also possible to achieve this goal with a business, law or other education. And besides, whatever education you choose, chances are you’ll be working in this sector for the rest of your life, so you might as well choose something you enjoy.
Conclusion: Should You Attend Medical School?
If you’re thinking about attending medical school, there are a few things to ask yourself. Firstly, you should know for sure that you don’t mind performing procedures, such as using syringes to inject and even cutting into the flesh of cadavers or models. These are common practices in medical school and cannot be avoided. Besides, you should be willing to put in the work and spend your evenings, weekends, and holidays either studying or interning at medical facilities. If you’re looking for that “young, wild, and free” college experience, medical school might not be for you.
Lastly, make sure that you have the motivation. Medical education is not cheap, and you should have the right support system. Consider that if you want to make lots of money, or your parents want you to have a bright future by attending medical school, you might be stuck your entire future in an occupation you hate. Consider all of these factors before enrolling at a medical school.
