Career options within and outside of medicine with a medicine degree

[schuey]

What kind of career options are there inside medicine with a medicine degree broadly? Such as, GP, consultant, associate specialist, surgeon, jobs in public health (what are these?), pathologist, (research? law?) others?

And what kind of options do you have outside of medicine having gained a medicine degree? What kind of non medicine jobs does a medical degree open up outside of medicine?

[Kinkerz]

What kind of career options are there inside medicine with a medicine degree broadly? Such as, GP, consultant, associate specialist, surgeon, jobs in public health (what are these?), pathologist, (research? law?) others?

And what kind of options do you have outside of medicine having gained a medicine degree? What kind of non medicine jobs does a medical degree open up outside of medicine?

Why on God's green earth would you want to do a degree in medicine, and then not work in medicine?

[ben_]

People do occasionally change their minds, you know...

[giella]

A lot of "branch-out" medics go into business or management. Their leadership and decision making skills are in high demand. They may go down the more obvious routes of research or teaching or journalism. Lots of doctors end up setting up their own businesses as well, often in the medical field as they have expert knowledge.
Medicine gives you a unique knowledge base which is one of the business world's greatest untapped resources. The skills and the qualities you have developed are also pretty sweet to potential employers.
It would ultimately depend on the individual though. If they had a whim to go and become a PE teacher or a septic tank cleaner there wouldn't be anything stopping them.

[Kinkerz]

People do occasionally change their minds, you know...

Thank you. Without that post I'd have never know that awe istilling, valuable piece of information.

Yes. People change their minds. Of course they do. But if somone's having feelings that they may want to change their careers, before they're applying to medical school. Maybe they shouldn't be applying to medical school. I mean, the whole reason you apply to medical school is so that you can be a doctor! Why put yourself through the horror that is UCAS A100 and the gruelling five years at medical school if you don't even want to be a doctor?

[giella]

I think the underlying point to the question was to ascertain what options are available to those who did change their minds. I'm hopefully going to become a statistic for what options are available to History graduates from the University of York for instance. My life is turning on my having changed my mind. 5 years ago I wanted to be a professional historian. That's why I put myself through the process of whatever the hell my UCAS code was back then. A year ago I didn't know what I wanted to do, so I did a CELTA. 8 months ago I applied to do a media internship at the BBC and in June I splashed out on a camera I've yet to finish paying off because I toyed with the idea of turning my semi-professional interest in photography into a profession.
I realised in July I definitely wanted to do medicine. I realised that I would be capable because of the analytical, communicative and interactive skills that I'd developed over the four years I'd been a history student and an ESL tutor and I knew I wanted to because of the time I'd spent in NHS and health care settings and because there would be so many career paths open to me within the NHS and so many opportunities outside of it as well, in journalism, research, teaching and travel.

[Kinkerz]

I think the underlying point to the question was to ascertain what options are available to those who did change their minds.

Well that would depend on how far out of medicine one would want to go. Research, teaching and (medical) journalism are the main three that I could see the odd medic going into.

[giella]

I think it's important to be savvy about your career choice. You shouldn't do any degree unless you're aware of how it can enhance your career prospects. With medicine, perhaps it's a little obtuse to think too far beyond the obvious or rather to miss the obvious entirely. But many people have other goals than just becoming a doctor, goals that they may think they have to lay aside in order to get to that one. It's worth exploring what the other options are to
1) see what other professional options there might be if a medical career can't accommodate your personal interests and goals, such as having a family or travelling the world or making a lot of money, and involves too many sacrifices
2) to see what other options there are open to you if you find that being a doctor wasn't all it was cracked up to be.

You might want to start thinking about these sorts of things. I definitely don't just have the one goal right now.
That's another reason med schools like "well-rounded" individuals. With an experienced perspective, they hope those people will become doctors, and that the job won't become them.

[Gizmo says -]

People do occasionally change their minds, you know...

but you'd ave to be a fcuking idiot to take on a five year course if you werent completely committed.

massive debt for no reason
loss of those years of life most useful for moving up the employment ladder.
loss of those years in life most suited to sports that university expenditure cannto possibly contend wif.
starting out on the job/mortgage/children ladders years after your friends.
loss of potential earning for 2-5 years, amounting to anyfing between £25,000 to £100,000.



ok, you might start off in the wrong job for six months, but you'd move soon enough. really, only a total buffon would mek that kind of mistake where you lose out on those five years of life in oder to gain a massive loss (considering you could ave made a msaller loss for a more appropriate degree, it is a massive loss).

if you arent sure about medicine, dont do it, its got to be said.


but yeah i know ben, the skool is full of buffoons like this.
its called an admissions policy.

[Gizmo says -]

Thank you. Without that post I'd have never know that awe istilling, valuable piece of information.

Yes. People change their minds. Of course they do. But if somone's having feelings that they may want to change their careers, before they're applying to medical school. Maybe they shouldn't be applying to medical school. I mean, the whole reason you apply to medical school is so that you can be a doctor! Why put yourself through the horror that is UCAS A100 and the gruelling five years at medical school if you don't even want to be a doctor?

becos it looks good to teacher and pupils.