Alternative Medical Careers

The average person goes to school at age 4 or 5 and perhaps graduates from secondary school in the late teens. To become a doctor there is another 4 years of premed and 4 years in medical school. Add another 3 to 7 years in specialist training and you could easily be 30 years old before starting your career as a fully trained doctor.

For some the love of medicine makes this a small price to pay but for others, you just cannot afford to wait so long. Perhaps because of family commitments or other pressures. So is there an alternative way to be involved in patient care without going through medical school?

Pharmacist. This actually allows you to contribute to the care of patients without too intimate a degree of patient contact. traditionally a pharmacist dispenses drugs either in the hospital or at a drug store. But the role of a pharmacist goes deeper. A pharmacist also tries to ensure that the patient takes the drugs in a safe manner with regards to proper dosage and timing.

Laboratory Technician. As a lab technician there is a wide spectrum of different sub specialties open to you. The requirements and scope of a microbiology lab technician is different from that of a haematology lab technician. Because the individual roles are so varied, there is a wide selection of options in this one field

Nursing. As a nurse you will never lack for a job. In the United States and England, nurses, especially good dedicated nurses are in great demand. As a possible career path, with increasing roles for nurses, there is the option to advance to the level of specialist nurse in your chosen medical field

The duration of time required to train in the medical related fields above varies but is usually less than 5 years. And the roles are of great relevance to the overall care of the patient

Here, they will learn subjects such as anatomy, biology, chemistry, infection control, medical terminology, physiology and several others before undergoing hands on training. You will have to pass appropriate examinations before being allowed to move on to the next stage of your training.

There are also options to working in medical related fields without any patient contact. In an earlier post we have discussed medical transcription which is a thriving and potentially lucrative field. The flexibility afforded by medical transcription makes it a very attractive option.

Drug representative. You could also opt to be a sales rep for a pharmaceutical company. This usually attracts a competitive salary and is associated with travel to a wide variety of places

This is not meant to be an exhaustive article on alternative medical careers. It however should stimulate you to try and find out more about this especially if you are at a crossroads in your employment history. There are other options that do not require full time study. Just look online for part time courses that may suit your current situation .

Options for Careers in the Medical Field

Most people are now considering options for careers in the medical field whether they are fresh out of high school and want to pursue a career in health care or they are already well established individuals needing a change of focus in their careers. Despite a career in health care services being challenging, the returns for acquiring a job in this type of profession can be very rewarding in terms of professional and personal satisfaction. This is why many individuals are beckoned to join the health care field.

Fortunately for these individuals, there is a high demand for skilled professionals in this field. The high numbers of jobs available and the continuously growing demand for individuals to fill these positions is a result of an aging population coupled with advancing technology.

So while people get older and age, technology allows for more services and treatments in health care that lengthen life expectancy and improve one’s life quality. It also doesn’t hurt that lobbyists continue to push the agenda of health care at the forefront of the political platforms of heads of state.

So all in all the future for individuals in the medical or health care field are quite promising. With attractive benefits, numerous opportunities for career advancement and varied areas to choose from to suit each individual preference and inclination, the medical and health care field has indeed become the place to be for people who want to take charge of their lives and improve their careers.

The opportunities in the medical and health care field are indeed numerous. When traditionally the only positions that were top of mind for individuals in this field were doctors and nurses, now doors to vast opportunities have opened up and there are positions for medical assistants, medical encoders, medical billing specialists, medical supply sales people, and lab technicians have come to fore. This is only scratching the surface because the list of opportunities goes on and on and while job opportunities increase so does the list of medical colleges increase.

So now if you want to secure a career in the health care and medical field, you won’t lack options for choosing a medical school to go for. Even better is the fact that these medical and health care schools conduct their trainings and lessons using flexible schedules that allow students to study and continue working on their day jobs. This makes the time, effort and money invested into medical college all well spent.

While traditional medical school that train individuals to become doctors is also time, effort and money well spent, this path is clearly not everyone. The amount of money and time spent to become a doctor cannot be afforded by everyone. Fortunately, for less time and less money, individuals can still be a part of the fast growing medical and health care field through medical colleges that offer specialized courses and training.

One can simply not go wrong in choosing to explore the possibilities offered in the medical and health care field because the options are vast and there is sure to be an option suited for each individual preference and requirements.

For instance, people in sales can choose to move and launch their career as medical supply sales agents where they target physicians and other health care professionals and specialists to purchase or endorse their particular products to their patients.

Careers in the medical field are numerous so be sure to choose one that suits you best.

Job Descriptions For Medical Careers

There are many different types and descriptions of jobs in the medical field
The ones that obviously come to mind are Doctor, Nurse, Physiotherapists
But there are other roles that are important in the care of a patient. And the possibilities and potential of a care in any of these other roles is enormous.
In this post we will go over the job descriptions of roles in the medical field that are predominantly non clinical

By non clinical we refer to jobs that do not directly involve patient contact on a treatment administering basis

Medical Coding

We went over this in great detail in an earlier post but to summarize medical coding is the process of assigning unique codes to medical procedures and investigations. This essentially is for the purposes of issuing the right bill for insurance and government bodies. Medical coding in some countries is often referred to as insurance coding

Click on Medical coding continuing education for more information

Medical Transcription or Medical Secretaries

The treatment of any patient often involves several different bodies. For example a patient who has a family physician comes in to see the cardiologist for chest pain and is then referred on to the cardiac surgeon for a set of bypass grafts. Information needs, in this scenario to be shared between the family physician, cardiologist, cardiac surgeon and insurance company. The secretary is responsible for typing and disseminating the relevant letters. The secretary is also key in coordinating clinic appointments, operating lists and is often a point of contact for the patient

More information at a career in Medical Transcription

Medical Informatics

A rapidly growing and very lucrative aspect of medical career. Medical informatics involves the development of software for the collation and dissemination of patient information while paying attention to the needs of patient confidentiality.

It deals with the resources, devices, and methods required to optimize the acquisition, storage, retrieval, and use of information in health and biomedicine.

Medical Assistantship or Medical Clerks

Medical assistants serve and fulfill different administrative and clerical roles needed in different health care facilities. The job of the medical assistant is to take care of the details like bookkeeping, filling out and managing patient charts and files and arranging appointments

People skills is an essential qualification for medical clerks as they have frequent and close contact with patients, albeit in a non clinical role

Health care assistants or Auxiliary nurses

These are different to the above because their role is primarily clinical. They are non qualified staff that help the nursing staff with the more routine tasks e.g changing dressings, measuring blood pressure and helping patients with baths