Many aspiring doctors spend too much time on medical textbooks and scientific concepts that they tend to forget one of the most important qualities that every doctor must possess: people skills. Your job as a doctor is not limited to making diagnoses, administering medications, or performing operations. The medical profession expects you to be more than a healer. To do your job better, you also need to assume teaching and counseling duties. Here is why interpersonal skills or people skills are important in the medical profession.
Better doctor-patient relationship
If there is one thing you should gain from your patient, it has to be trust. Your patient’s trust is very important because it will help you do your job better. Patients, in general, prefer having friendly and approachable doctors. They find it easier to explain their situation or forward their questions if their doctors show actual congeniality and genuine sincerity. If you want to get a full scoop of your patient’s feelings and concerns, then be approachable and amicable enough to be entrusted with secrets.
Healthier working environment
Exceptional people skills are also needed to develop and maintain good working relationships with the other staff members of the hospital. Remember that doctors cannot work alone. You need nurses to administer IV fluids, hematologists to perform blood tests, and radiologists to operate X-ray machines. For non-doctor medical practitioners, there are only two kinds of doctors: doctors we love and doctors we love to hate. “Doctors to love to hate” reassign all their work and blame all their mistakes to other people, while “doctors we love” make polite requests and give flattering compliments for every job well done. Treat your colleagues as your equal. The lack of an M.D. after their surnames doesn’t make you any better than them just because you have that title. Learn how to properly interact with the other hospital staff members and be the doctor that everybody loves.
Successfully performing a bypass operation or perfectly stitching a surgical suture is not enough to save a patient’s life. Real saving starts after the critical medical procedure. You need to convince your patient to commit to a healthy lifestyle. The fastest way to recovery, after all, is the patient’s willingness to heal.
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Not all medical graduates pursue a career in medical practice. Turning away from emergency rooms and laboratory testings, however, doesn’t mean that you have to throw away everything that you learned during your four years in medical school. You can still use your medical education in a non-hospital setting. Here are some alternative career options for medical graduates like you.
Genetic counseling
If genetics was your favorite subject in medical school, then you should probably consider a career in genetic counseling. Genetic counseling is a health profession that involves the provision of medical information and emotional support to families with histories of genetic disorders. Your job as a genetic counselor is a mix of doctor duties and social work: you investigate a family’s hereditary background and analyze genetic patterns to help them understand the risks of genetic disorders and implications of birth defects.
Important courses: genetics, biology, psychology, and public health
Medical examiner
Do you enjoy watching CSI more than House, M.D.? If you do, then put your medical education to good use by becoming a medical examiner like Al Robbins. Your job as a medical examiner is like your typical activity in gross anatomy class: you cut up cadavers. The only difference between the two, aside from getting paid lots of money, is that medical examination requires you to determine the person’s cause of death. Your role is very essential in forensic science because it will be the main focus of the investigation.
Important courses: physiology, anatomy, pathology, and biochemistry
People develop dreams of becoming of doctors because they wish to do good in this world by saving other people’s lives. Wearing a scrub suit, however, is not the only way to do that. You can still touch other people’s lives by applying the knowledge you gained in medical school to counsel people and giving expert advice to different organizations and companies. So, if you feel like traditional medical practice is not for you, then don’t worry. You can still save lives.
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Thanks to Dr. McDreamy, surgical drama Grey’s Anatomy is currently one of the most-watched television shows in the US. Aside from the tangled love lives of the main characters, another source of confusion among the non-medical viewers of the show has to do with the differing titles of the doctors. Why is George still called an “intern” while Meredith and the gang are already “residents?” What makes “attendings” any different from other doctors? Why does everybody call Dr. Webber “chief”? To help you understand the indication of each title, here is a glossary of common hospital staff terms.
Medical interns
First-year residents fresh from medical school graduation are called medical interns. Because the results of their medical exams are yet to be released during the start of internship, medical interns are not yet licensed to practice medicine. To gain hands-on medical experience, however, medical interns are allowed to scrub in for some surgical procedures.
Medical residents
If they manage to pass their medical boards and intern exams, medical interns will move on to be medical residents (thus the explanation why George remains an intern). Medical residents are doctors who legally practice medicine under the supervision of attending physicians. Aside from practicing medicine, medical residents also perform teaching and supervisory duties to medical interns.
Attending physicians
Doctors who have finished training for their medical specializations are called attending physicians. As the “doctors in charge” in their respective sub-departments, attending physicians are ultimately responsible not only for the medical care of their patients but also the clinical performance of their residents. In teaching hospitals, attending physicians are required to teach interns and train residents to become better medical practitioners.
Chief attending
Every institution needs a boss. In a hospital, the big boss is the chief attending. The chief attending is an attending physician who is responsible for the overall organization of the entire hospital department. In the surgical department at Seattle Grace Hospital, that responsibility is given to Dr. Richard Webber.
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Have you decided on a medical specialization yet? If not, then you should start checking your options now. Selecting a medical specialization, just like writing sample medical school personal statements, needs a lot of careful planning and evaluation. One of the things that you have to consider in your selection is the tightness of competition. Medical practice, after all, is not only about helping other people survive but also helping yourself survive. To help you make your choice, here are some of the most competitive medical specializations according to most people.
Neurosurgery
It may look easy for Dr. McDreamy, but neurosurgery is actually one of the toughest specializations in the medical world. There is absolutely no room for mistakes in neurosurgery because the nervous system is the control unit of a person’s entirety, so damaging one part of the brain can ultiately harm the whole person. Even the slightest mistake in neurosurgical operations may lead to paralysis, coma, psychosis, brain damage, or death. Despite the risks associated with it, neurosurgery still remains as a favorite medical specialization among aspiring doctors. Many doctors are drawn toward neurosurgery because it is both challenging and exciting. The human brain is so powerful and delicate that every successful neurosurgical operation seems like a medical breakthrough.
Dermatology
In a world where people are obsessed with physical beauty, it comes as no surprise that competition in dermatology is very tight. Skin care services, despite their being expensive, remain very popular because people want to look good all the time. Dermatology, however, is not limited to wart removal or skin whitening services. It also involves the treatment of skin diseases such as impetigo, dermatitis, acne, Hodgkin’s lymphoma, eczema, and melanoma. Because of its wide scope of potential patients, dermatology is still one of the most sought-after medical specializations today. Dermatology appeals to many medical practitioners because it involves a wide variety of medical procedures and a huge amount of salary.
Competition in neurosurgery and dermatology is tight, but it doesn’t mean that you have to cross them out of your list. If you think you can handle the insertion of electrode in people’s brain or the removal of tissue from people’s eyelids, then go for it. After all, you did mention in your sample medical school personal statements that you will do whatever it takes to succeed in the world of medicine.
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After coping with stress in medical school and adapting to the pressure of medical residency, doctors must face yet another tough challenge in their medical career: the selection of medical specializations. Here are some of the most popular medical specializations:
* Plastic surgery
One of the most popular specializations in the world of medical practice is plastic surgery, but what most medical students do not understand is that plastic surgery is one of the toughest medical specializations to excel in. The reconstruction of physical deformities and enhancement of physical assets are not as easy as creating incisions or making stitches on a patient’s body. Plastic surgery is always coupled with a lot of risks, which usually include paralysis and death.
Cause of popularity: Aside from the expensive rates involved in surgical procedures, surgery owes it popularity to people’s undeniable obsession with physical beauty.
* Pediatrics
Because cute little kids are so hard to resist, more and more medical students are making their way toward pediatrics. The job of pediatricians goes beyond asking for deep breaths and checking for possible infections. Pediatricians provide medical care not only for children’s physical health but also for children’s mental condition and social wellness. They also give tips and guidelines on how to avoid chronic diseases and maintain proper nutrition.
Cause of popularity: Aside from having adorable children as patients, pediatrics owes its popularity to the fact that most parents will pay large amounts of money just to ensure their child’s safety.
* Obstetrics and gynecology
Probably the most popular medical specialization among female doctors is obstetrics and gynecology. This medical specialization remains close to every female doctor’s heart because it focuses on parts of the anatomy that are found only in women. Obstetrics and gynecology deals with the provision of medical care for the reproductive health of both pregnant and non-pregnant patients.
Cause of popularity: Aside from the challenge and excitement of administering births, the fact that women get pregnant and give birth every single day assure these medical practitioners of a stable practice.
The cultural popularity, as well as the amount of salary involved, should never be the basis for selecting a medical specialization. Medical practitioners should choose a medical specialization in which they feel most useful in. Those interested in treating skin diseases should pursue dermatology, while those who are interested in treating heart diseases should go for cardiology. The selection of medical specialization must always be based on passion because that is the only way doctors can do their job effectively.
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Learning doesn’t stop with your graceful exit from medical school. Medical practice, in itself, is a continuous learning process. To help new doctors learn more about the professional practice of medicine, medical experts began setting up teaching hospitals. Teaching hospitals are medical institutions that focus not only on providing medical care to patients but also on providing clinical training to interns. To give you an idea on which teaching hospitals to consider, here are some of the best teaching hospitals in the USA.
Johns Hopkins Hospital
Johns Hopkins Hospital is responsible for the birth and development of popular medical specialties such as neurosurgery, pediatrics, endocrinology, and urology. Other medical breakthroughs such as the discovery of restriction enzymes, the identification of the three polio virus types, and the operation of the first blue baby have been all made in Johns Hopkins Hospital. To preserve and continue its legacy in the world of medicine and health care, Johns Hopkins Hospital invests in the proper training and education of its medical practitioners. A proof of its success? Eighteen consecutive years of recognition as the best medical institution and teaching hospital in the USA.
Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center
Joining Johns Hopkins Hospital in the list of top medical institutions and best teaching hospitals in the USA is Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Canter. Aside from getting recognition for its overall medical services and programs, the teaching hospital also gained praises for its outstanding medical specialties. Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center is also known for its low mortality data, advanced medical technology, and brilliant medical practitioners. The secret to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center’s success? Its effective clinical education and training program not only for its interns but also for other medical residents.
Massachusetts General Hospital
Experience, they say, is the best teacher, and that saying is evidenced by the success of Massachusetts General Hospital. The teaching hospital, aside from being one of the best, is also one of the oldest medical institutions in the USA. The medical staff from Massachusetts General Hospital, through its affiliation with Harvard Medical School, is dedicated to finding new ways to improve medical clinical practice and develop medical innovation. The annual budget for their hospital-based research program is over US$400 million, the biggest in the USA.
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Student-teacher ratio is the number of teachers with respect to the number of students in a given academic institution. To ensure the effective conveyance of knowledge from teacher to students, the preferred student-teacher ratio is between 10:1 and 15:1. Here are some examples of medical schools with low student-teacher ratio:
Washington University School of Medicine
An example of a medical school having low student-teacher ratio is Washington University School of Medicine. Only a limited number of students are admitted to this St. Louis, Missouri medical school because the administration wishes to preserve the quality of its graduates. Washington University School of Medicine, by limiting its annual enrollees, is able to provide equal opportunities and quality education to each medical student.
Harvard Medical School
With over 10,000 faculty members to educate its medical students, Harvard Medical School has one of the lowest student-teacher ratios in the country. To preserve the school’s academic excellence, the Harvard faculty sees to it that each medical student is given enough attention and education to become a great medical practitioner. Harvard Medical School, aside from having a low student-teacher ratio, is also the current number one medical school in the country according to many experts.
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Like Washington University and Harvard University, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine maintains a low student-teacher ratio to ensure the proper education of its students. Johns Hopkins medical school started the “Hopkins Model” of teaching, which is a combination of basic science education and intensive clinical mentoring.
Top medical schools have low student-teacher ratios
Most medical schools with low student-teacher ratios also do well in overall top medical school rankings. Harvard Medical School, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and Washington University School of Medicine all managed to secure top 5 spots in the 2008 list. One of the main reasons for this is that the teachers find it easier to teach in an intimate setting than a crowded room. Learning, after all, is easier when you share a classroom with ten more students than a lecture hall that can accommodate almost a hundred people.
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After graduating from medical school, you have to make another difficult decision: the choice between practicing in government hospitals and in private hospitals. The choice between the two, of course, is subjective. It all depends on what matters to you most – equipment, facilities, or salary. So, which one is better: a government hospital or a private hospital?
Government vs. private hospitals
Government hospitals or public hospitals are medical institutions that are owned and funded by the government. The money used to pay for the services of medical practitioners, supply of medical equipment, and maintenance of medical facilities all come from the national budget. The types of medical institution that are funded by private owners, medical insurers, and hospital fees are called private hospitals.
Medical facilities and equipment
Because they have very limited funds, government hospitals lag behind private hospitals in terms of medical equipment and facilities. Private hospitals, thanks to the medical service fees paid by the patients, have enough funds to purchase the latest medical equipment. If you’d rather work in hospitals with high-tech facilities, then you should work in private hospitals. You are also assured of the availability of supplies, cleanliness of rooms, and efficiency of facilities.
Salaries and debts
In terms of salary, private hospitals offer higher salaries than government hospitals. Working in government hospitals, aside from not getting paid enough for your efforts, is extra stressful. Because the medical rates are either free or relatively cheap, more patients flock to government hospitals than private hospitals. As a doctor, you have to do your best to attend to all their medical needs – even if it means cutting your vacation short.
If you relied on government scholarships for financial support when you were in medical school, working in government hospitals is an effective way of immediately paying off your debt. Although you will not earn much money, working in government hospitals allows you to pay off your student loan in the form of public service. So, while your former classmates are still trying to figure out how to extend their payment terms, you are actually paying off your debt by simply doing what you love best – saving people’s lives.
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Just because you received your medical school diploma while wearing a graduation cap and gown, it doesn’t mean that you have to forget about your student loans. Yes, your student loans – the mere reason you were able to make it all the way to graduation. You don’t need to be a hot shot celebrity doctor to pay off your debt, all you need is this set of tips on how to pay off your student loans.
* Calculate your debt
How are you going to pay off your student loan if you are not even sure how much money you owe? To determine your total debt, gather all your student loan notices. If you can’t find them all, you can always ask your school’s financial aid office for a computation. Before you end up paying more than you should, make sure that your debt total is exclusive of any other financial obligations besides the student loan.
* Contact your lender
Upon discovering how much money you owe, contact your lenders and arrange a meeting. Although your lenders were generous enough to pay for your medical education, you have to remember that they expect to be paid. The purpose of your meeting is to ask for a payment term extension, and if possible, an interest rate reduction. Explain your current financial situation and, who knows, maybe they will grant your requests or at least come to an agreement that benefits both you and the lender.
* Consolidate your loans
To save money on interests, you should consider consolidating your loans. Loan consolidation is the process of combining all your existing debts into one loan. This means that instead of managing multiple loans with different interest rates and payment terms, you only have to pay for a single loan with a fixed interest rate and a fixed payment term. Consolidating loans is advisable for fresh graduates like you because it allows you to simultaneously pay off all your debt while saving more money on interest.
* Save your money
After consolidating your loans, you must now start saving money to pay off your debt. Saving money is easy if you have enough discipline to do so. Spend money only on important things such as food, transportation, and bills. Refrain from buying unnecessary items like concert tickets or designer shoes. Always save up for your consolidated student loan so you can be worry-free when the monthly deadline comes.
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After four years of spending lunch breaks with cold cadavers in medical school, you may come to a point when you think that, probably, “this doctor thing is not for me.” So, what are you going to do? Apologize to your parents for your very expensive tuition for the past four years? Regret getting absorbed in pharmacology textbooks for four grueling years when you could have watched reruns of How I Met Your Mother instead? Find an alternative career, of course! Don’t put that medical knowledge to waste! Here are some alternative careers for medical school graduates like you:
Be a science professor
Remember how you wished for a good science teacher who can simplify Kreb’s Cycle and explain the significance of Darwin’s theory of natural selection to high school students? Well, now is your chance. Be a science professor. Teach students how to properly write scientific names and how to correctly identify a cockroach’s gender. You have lots of options in teaching. You may teach gross anatomy in medical school, molecular genetics in college, or general biology in high school. You can also serve as thesis adviser to undergraduates or online consultants in different web-based classes.
Be a medical journalist
Have you noticed how some medical journals seem like they were actually written by medical professionals? Well, some of them are. If you have a passion for both medicine and writing, then you can try a career in medical journalism. In medical journalism, you will write medical articles or scientific documents based on the studies of other doctors or scientists. Your background in medical studies will be very beneficial in this field because you will be easier for you to decipher different scientific concepts. If you have a knack for translating highly technical medical jargon into layman’s terms, then your skills will be highly valued in this industry. Medical journals cater to everyday people too, not just to doctors.
Be a biomedical scientist
If you still want to develop treatment methods and investigate medical conditions without wearing a scrub suit, then try a career in biomedical research. In biomedical research, you will conduct studies and perform experiments to help improve the field of medicine. You may research on the growth, health, reproduction, diseases, and overall development of organisms.
Just because you realized that cutting up patients is something you don’t want to do on a regular basis, it doesn’t mean that you have to completely give your dream of helping other people. You can still touch lives even without sporting a stethoscope or holding a scalpel.
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