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Preparing for Pre-med and Pre-HealthFrom the MCG 2008 edition by Laura NathanThinking about a career in health care but not sure you want the fast-paced and high-pressured lives of the doctors in Grey's Anatomy, ER and Scrubs? Don't worry! You've got plenty of options even if you don't want to endure the rigors of medical school. (And, if you want to become a doctor, you don't have to be a surgeon to be successful--the blood and guts that go along with surgery just make TV shows a little more gripping!) There are many different majors and programs for you to pursue that lead to a wide variety of health care careers that are personally and financially rewarding. A career in health care covers a broad range of professions and occupations. These include medicine, dentistry, nursing, pharmacy, physical therapy, veterinary medicine, psychology, public health, hospice care, speech-language pathology and social work. And, you don't have to be involved in the "clinical" side of things. Health care is a big business, and there are opportunities to be involved in management, such as health care administration, as well as policymaking, including public health research, planning, advocacy, and administration. Also, each of these areas has various sub-specialties. So, if you feel you're cut out for a future in health care, you'll eventually need to ask yourself some questions: Do you want to treat patients for physical or mental problems? Would you prefer to work with patients directly or be in a management role? What's most appealing: private practice, a hospitalbased setting or a research facility? Don't feel any pressure to sort out your entire life now. These are just a few ideas to help you identify your areas of interest. What can I do in high school to prepare for a career in health?Dr. Laura Thompson, Coordinator of the Health Fields Advising Program at Furman University, recommends high school students interested in health sciences do four things:First, take "a full course load for all four years of high school. Take as much math, science, and English as possible." Good communication skills are indispensable. Second, take as many Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate courses as possible. "If you perform well in these courses, you may even receive college credit, which will allow you to move more quickly through the required college courses. "Third, demonstrate your "leadership skills by holding office in student organizations." When you're working in a fast-paced emergency room, private practice, hospital administration or pharmaceutical company, your clients and colleagues will expect a take-charge attitude. Fourth, volunteer in the field and, Thompson says, demonstrate "your ability to function successfully outside your socioeconomic group." Nursing homes, clinics, and hospitals are good places to look. In college, you may find opportunities to shadow a doctor or assist in medical research. What should I study in college?Once you begin college, your advisor will direct you to your school's requirements for the health field in which you're interested. Typically, colleges don't classify pre-med or other analogous areas as majors. Rather, students seeking to attend a professional school will often have to take a certain minimum number of credits in specific areas, such as the sciences.Some schools have specific pre-med and pre-health programs which, while not formal "majors," give students access to an advisor who: ensures they take all of the courses required for medical or other professional health school; helps secure internships; and prepares students for the arduous testing and application process required for professional school in these areas. If, however, you're drawn to one of the areas that don't necessarily require attending a professional or graduate school, such as nursing, nutrition, physical therapy, psychology, social work, health care administration or public health, you probably won't have to take the same amount of science courses. Some areas, like nursing, offer a number of different routes. For example, nurses can become licensed practical nurses by attending a two-year certificate program. However, a four-year bachelor's degree is generally required to be a registered nurse and command more money, responsibility, supervisory authority, and job options ranging from inhome care for people with life-limiting illnesses to working on trauma cases in a large hospital. And, to get the bigger bucks in a specialized area of nursing, such as a nurse practitioner or nurse anesthetist, a master's degree and/or experience will be required. Some health care providers, such as physicians, pharmacists and dentists, must earn professional degrees before being permitted to practice. In some other areas, extra schooling may be required to distinguish yourself as a certain type of professional. For example, psychologists generally need to receive a graduate degree while social workers do not. Likewise, public health administrators need a master's degree in public health (M.P.H.), but health educators do not. Consequently, you should be prepared to study hard throughout, and quite possibly beyond, college. As Hendrix College biology professor and pre-med advisor Mark Sutherland explains, "Don't get discouraged if you find the course material challenging; almost everyone does. You will wonder several times during your undergraduate and professional or graduate school years if it is worth it. But if you find excitement and fulfillment in providing health care, it certainly is!" One college I'm considering says it gets 90 percent of its pre-med students into medical school and other professional health programs. Should I try to attend this school?There's a lot to be said for a college that succeeds in getting most of its students into medical or other professional health schools and for your desire to maximize your odds of being accepted into such a program. However, Sutherland warns, "There is no nationally standardized format for calculating acceptance rates to professional schools, so the numbers reported by one school may have little relationship to numbers reported by other schools. You should be very skeptical of extremely high numbers. A school may report a 100% acceptance rate because its one and only applicant was accepted, so this number tells you very little about the quality of their preparation program."The acceptance percentages at some of these schools are very high because the students in these programs who aren't going to "make it" are politely told to pursue a different major or withdraw from the pre-med track. So, just starting in these programs doesn't ensure that you'll get into the professional school for which the program is geared. Donald Taylor, the Dean of Benedictine University's College of Science, encourages students and their parents to consider a number of factors in deciding which undergraduate college to attend if the student has the intent of going to medical school (or some other professional health school). These include the number of graduates placed in professional school per year, the types of pre-professional advising and mentoring each school offers and the opportunities for hands-on learning experiences in the medical field. All of these careers sound great! How do I decide which one to pursue?There are many factors to consider when selecting a career path. First and foremost, you should consider the stress and hours required of some health positions. Do you want a stable 9-to-5 job, or are you willing to put in 12-hour days in an emergency room, clinic, or nursing home without the luxury of turning off your pager occasionally? Remember that the higher-paying posts will require more schooling. For example, according to Donna Shaffner, Daemen College's Director of Undergraduate Admissions, "to be a competitive candidate for higher-paying nursing positions with more responsibilities, you'll need a B.S.N. and a master's degree."Also consider your personality. If you nurture your friends and family, you'd probably be great working directly with patients as a doctor, nurse, social worker, psychologist or hospice provider. If you like to follow the news and debate public policy about family planning or health hazards like toxic waste and infectious diseases, you might enjoy a career as a public health planner or administrator. If you prefer working with professionals or business people, you might pick a medical specialty like anesthesiology or radiology or go into health care administration. Or, you might decide you'd like to do medical or pharmaceutical research. Finally, while you shouldn't choose your career path based solely on the monetary rewards, you should consider the pay relative to the amount of work, stress, and education you'll have to endure. You'll also need to factor in your ability to pay back loans for college and professional school (if you expect to have any) and support yourself and any dependents you may have in the future. Keep in mind, however, that there will be a broad salary variation depending on where you work. A salary of $50,000 in Brooklyn, N.Y. isn't the same as $50,000 in Topeka, Kan. What is the outlook for health professions?
It's hard to make any general statements because of the high amount of specialization. However, with our population growing older, an abundance of health professionals will be needed in coming years. "The demand will be high for all types of doctors as a large portion of the medical workforce retires," says Sutherland. (The baby boomers have already started retiring and moving to warm climates!) |