Congratulations! You’ve just gotten your high school diploma and have the entire world at your disposal. You’ve always had a passion for helping others so you feel like medical school is the way to go. Upon doing research you realize that there are a lot of programs that you can pursue during your undergrad. How do you choose a medical degree that can set you up for success? (Image Credits: Prostooleh/Freepik)
Well, the first step is choosing what medical career field you want to go into. After that, you’ll need to pick a school that offers a good program. Check out this guide to learn what your options are.
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Registered Nursing
Registered nursing is a career field that is always in demand so it won’t be hard for you to find a school that offers a good program for it. Besides being in demand, the other advantage of pursuing a degree in registered nursing is variety.
You’ll be working closely with patients to diagnose their ailments and help them learn to manage any health conditions they have. What demographic you work with is up to you. You can specialize in the elderly or small children.
You also get a choice when it comes to where you work. Registered nurses are all over the place from hospitals to small clinics.
The program itself will take you through medical science, coordinating care, community nursing, and clinical nursing.
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Healthcare Administration
If you have a weakness for blood and needles, don’t worry. There’s still a job in the medical field that you can go after. With healthcare administration degrees, you’ll be running the clerical and managerial tasks.
Your education at the Institute of Medical and Business Careers will centre around, business (of course), finance, human resources, medical policy, health laws, public relations, and strategic planning.
It’s a lot of studying but once you’re done, you’ll have a career that’s both in demand and profitable. You’ll also have your pick of programs considering that there are a lot of them.
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Nursing Administration
A nursing administrator oversees the nursing staff in a facility to make sure that they are carrying out their work in a safe and financially smart manner. If one of the nurses isn’t performing up to standards, it will be your job to fire them and hire a replacement.
You’ll also need some financial smarts as you’ll be over budgets and spending. Since you’ll be attending regular board meetings, it’s important that you have some leadership and organizational skills as well.
Every medical practice from large institutions to smaller clinics needs a nursing administrator so you’ll have some choice when it comes to where you’ll be working once you finish out your degree program.
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Nursing Practice
Having nursing practice degrees is a lot like having a degree in registered nursing. In fact, you’ll hear the term advanced practice registered nurse thrown around a lot.
You’ll still have your pick of facilities. You could go to work at a family practice or maybe go into pediatrics. The difference between nursing practice and registered nursing is that there’s a little bit more work involved.
You’ll be expected to stay on top of the medical industry. You’ll be taking classes in medical science, health economics, medical policy, and leadership. You have to know the ins and outs of how everything operates.
It’s a lot of work but you’ll be paid well for your services and the degrees aren’t too expensive to get.
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Health Service Administration
A degree in health service administration puts you on the planning side of things. You’ll be in charge of directing the medical and health services in a clinic. You’ll be on top of the legal and financial parts of running a practice.
As a health service administrator, you won’t get that much hands-on time with patients but you’ll be able to help them in other ways. If a patient has an issue with the care they received they may come to you so you can get to the bottom of the issue.
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Clinical Research Coordinator
As new medical technology develops, there has to be someone there to do research and tests. That’s where you come in. If you pursue a degree in clinical research, you’ll be working under a train professional to organize and carry out various clinical trials.
You’ll be gathering patients from all walks of life to take part in these trials. You have to make sure that they fit certain guidelines and keep them safe while testing is going on.
Most of your classes will consist of learning medical terminology, clinical research, project management, ethics, and pharmacology. This degree isn’t as in demand as some of the others on this list but it’s a worthwhile field of study none the less.
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Health Information and Medical Records
Degrees in health information will prepare you for a life of storing retrieving, analyzing, securing, and transmitting patient information and other records. You’ll be taking classes in mathematics, accounting, and computer concepts. Everything you need to become familiar with medical systems and technology.
Once you graduate you can become a record clerk, office manager, or you can go into insurance claim coding. There’s a ton of room to advance and grow.
Choosing a Medical School
Every medical school degrees on this list is worth considering but if you don’t go to the right school, you won’t see as much success as you would like. Now that you’ve chosen your program, it’s’ time to pick out a school that can facilitate learning and set you up to be the best you can be.
Location
Location is important! A surprising amount of graduates work in the same state where they attended school. If you go into medical records and there is no demand in your area, you won’t see much success.
There’s also the little matter of financial support. If you can’t afford to stay on campus, you may want to stay closer to your family so you can commute back and forth.
You also have to consider what your school is near. If your favorite pastime is swimming but there’s no pools or places where you can swim nearby, you may not be as happy at your school as you could be. This seems like something small but your happiness does matter when pursuing a degree.
Cost
The next thing you should consider is the cost. Many of the medical degrees went over are pretty affordable but it still costs thousands of dollars. Especially if you want to get your master’s degree later on.
If you don’t have a parent or family member helping you it can be a lot to pay for all by yourself. The stress of trying to afford your program can set you up to fail before you even begin.
So, research around to find the most affordable degrees you can. Try to go after scholarships or talk to the financial aid department at the school to weigh your options.
Prestige
Going to a high-class well-known school could pay off for you in the long run. It looks better on your resume than some smaller, lesser-known institution.
You might be able to find a higher paying job purely off the prestige your school carries. That will help out a lot when it comes time to pay back your loans.
Class Sizes
There’s something about being a name instead of a number that’s pretty nice no matter what school you go to. When your instructors know your name and class sizes are small, they’ll be able to give you the one on one attention that you need to succeed.
You’ll also meet lifelong friends who can be valuable allies after graduation. Smaller classes give you a tight-knit family and create a “we’re all in this together” mentality.
Program
If the school has a pretty good clinical research program but is known for its English program, it might be a good idea for you to consider a different school.
Similarly, if the school is known for its clinical research program but it’s full of scandals and other unpleasantness, you don’t want that reputation following you after you graduate. Heavily research a school and your chosen program before you commit.
Get a Medical Degree That Will Set You Up for Success
Have you always had a passion for helping others? Do you want a high paying job that’s high in demand? You should consider pursuing a medical degree.
There is a lot of degrees out there and tons of schools that offer programs in them. All you have to do is decide which program is best for you and do a little bit of research on the school before putting in your application.
Are you looking for more careers that will make you rich and successful? Check out the business & wealth section of our blog daily for more articles like this one.