How To Determine The Right Medical Field For You

Careers and jobs in the medical industry have for long been popular. The reason for this interest is because these professions are considered to be well paying and stable. There is also a growing demand for medical personnel almost everywhere. This need for medical care is rising as populations around the world continue to boom and are growing older in many countries. Perhaps another reason why health care careers are gaining popularity is due to the many popular TV shows about the medical field. Hits like Grey’s Anatomy fictionally portray and paint the medical field as exciting. Who doesn’t want to puzzle over unknown illnesses and come up with unorthodox treatments that save lives and escape death by a whisker?

So if you are considering entering the medical profession, you need to take into account some things before choosing the medical field you want to specialize in. Several medical professions are available and you want to be sure to find the one with the best fit for you.

Here are a few things that can guide you in making this selection.

1. Your Motivation

Various medical careers are extremely demanding. They start with the years of extensive training that you need to enter them and continue with the enormous daily responsibilities. So you should examine what motivates you to seek a career in the medical field. If you are seeking the adventure, excitement and romantic entanglements delivered daily as in TV shows, maybe you need to reconsider the field. However, if you are motivated to help people in need, get your patients to lead healthier lives and make a difference this could be the right career for you.

There are several other factors that can point you in the direction of the right medical field. You are maybe very innovative and wish to improve or develop new treatment methods. In that case, perhaps working in a pharmaceutical lab suits you. A passion for biology and chemistry could also be a major guide. If the anatomy side suits you more as opposed to chemistry, perhaps you want to pursue biology. Medical fields have a wide array of options and you should be motivated and enthusiastic about what you eventually undertake.

2. Your Intended Place of Work

Medical personnel work in varied and diverse environments. This should inform your motivation to pick a medical field. Your choice may be to work in medical practice or in a hospital as a nurse, doctor or therapist. Even here, there are several other options. Some prefer to work with children, which directs them to select pediatric careers. A job such as a medical aid can place you working in an assisted living center to help senior citizens. Other fields can lead you to administrative offices and labs when it requires less interaction with people..

Think about the best environment for you. Sensitive individuals might avoid careers that will lead them to the ER. Working in hospice care with patients at their end of life requires special emotional and interpersonal skills. Unconventional work environments in schools, military bases and cruises are also available. Are you looking for a job with a set 9-5 hours and a proper life balance or something more varied?

3. The Role You Want to Play

Do you want to be a surgeon, doctor, nurse or something else? Even within these professions, there are many subfields. Nursing encompasses a range of jobs from the local elementary school nurse to an RN working a critical care ward. Medicine includes everything from nurse practitioners, family doctors, and specialized surgeons to a wide range of jobs that allow hospitals and healthcare systems to run (for example technologists, technicians, lab workers, medical administrative jobs, and caregivers).

Again, the role you want to play might be determined by your nature. Those good with people and working in teams might choose to be a medical assistant or a physician. Stress-resistant and energetic people are great additions to military bases or ER rooms. Coding and medical billing specialists and pharmacy technicians need to be well-organized and very meticulous.

4. Necessary Strengths and Skills

Different medical careers require different strengths and skills despite the fact that they may share many underlying principles and technical requirements. Many, though not all, of these jobs require working under pressure and shouldering much responsibility. The fact that a person’s health and indeed their lives depend on you is no small thing. You should have the right skills for your field. How is your medical knowledge, communication/interpersonal skills, or technical background. These skills can be obtained from attending the right school, training centers and gaining work experience. Before choosing where to obtain these skills you need to ask yourself several questions.

For instance, if you set on a career in dental assisting, ask yourself questions like which school will deliver the skills to get you there? How hard is dental assisting school and is it the right fit for me. These are just examples that will help you make an informed choice to determine whether you chose the right medical field for you.

5. The Training and Education You Need

Every medical specialty needs a certain level of education, be that a graduate school degree or a high school diploma. The amazing thing with medical fields is that plenty of opportunities to further your education are always available. This comes from the fact that medicine faces constantly changing technology, new diseases, emerging treatments, and improved procedures. Many careers are available and you should take time researching their training levels before deciding. A degree, diploma or certificate may be needed and this is what determines the amount of time that you will be in school for. Get a school and education level that suits you, which helps you determine the medical field for you.


Training for and working in many of these medical fields can be demanding, but this should not deter you from pursuing a career in health care. The important thing is determining what is the right field or specialty for you. Once you have overcome this hurdle, the rest will become much more straightforward for you. Good luck!