Career choice question

[BioGeek83]

---

Members do not see this ad.

I've been looking around the net for the past 2 months and am having trouble making a decision. I'm 25 years old, and was laid off from my aerospace inspection data analyst position when the company I was with went under.
I'm taking this opportunity to go back to school to get into something that I feel I will actually enjoy. Problem is I don't know what that is lol.
I know with 100% certainty it will be in the medical field. I want to study diseases, their progression, how to cure or treat the diseases.
I would love to be a diagnostician or an oncologist. Problem is med school is pretty unaccessible for me right now. I just bought a house 2 years ago, I am engaged to a woman that isn't very keen on traveling too much. I'm 25 years old, will be 28ish by the time I'm ready for med school (not the most popular age for med school), and the closest med school is about 5 hours away.
I found this forum in my searching and thought I'd ask you guys your opinions. Right now I'm majoring in Microbiology, and am going to specialize in virology. Does anybody have any other suggestions? Thanks guys!

 

[StIGMA]

I want to study diseases, their progression, how to cure or treat the diseases.
I would love to be a diagnostician or an oncologist.

These two careers - studying disease and treating diseases - are very different. I suggest getting involved in bench research or whatever research you find interesting, spend a year or longer there, and see if you want to do it the rest of your life. As for being a medical practitioner, get involved in health care and see if you like that more or less than research. Are you interested in pursuing a PhD or MD, or are you looking for a quicker professional degree?

I just bought a house 2 years ago, I am engaged to a woman that isn't very keen on traveling too much. I'm 25 years old, will be 28ish by the time I'm ready for med school, and the closest med school is about 5 hours away.

First, do not count on being accepted to a particular medical school. Once you know what you want to pursue, talk with her and make sure you know the requirements that professional training will mean for each of you. This may mean selling the house and moving elsewhere, cutting back on expenses, etc. Also make sure that you both know that this decision will hopefully be the best long-term. Who knows where you will be in three years, so setup the strongest foundations that you can while today is called today. Hopefully she will be supportive. Again - put effort into figuring out if you want a career in research or clinical practice and then decide what level of education you need for your career.

Lastly, if you get into medical school, you will have the option to pursue either clinical medicine or research later in your career (and you would have a mostly stable job/income). Research can be more finicky.

 

[BioGeek83]

These two careers - studying disease and treating diseases - are very different. I suggest getting involved in bench research or whatever research you find interesting, spend a year or longer there, and see if you want to do it the rest of your life. As for being a medical practitioner, get involved in health care and see if you like that more or less than research. Are you interested in pursuing a PhD or MD, or are you looking for a quicker professional degree?

Thanks for the quick reply! Ultimately I will get either PhD or MD. I'm taking it day by day right now. It looks as if I'll be going the PhD route right now as the med school issue seems tough to overcome. Problem is from what I've been reading, to really devote your work to diseases having an MD is much more beneficial then the PhD.

First, do not count on being accepted to a particular medical school. Once you know what you want to pursue, talk with her and make sure you know the requirements that professional training will mean for each of you. This may mean selling the house and moving elsewhere, cutting back on expenses, etc. Also make sure that you both know that this decision will hopefully be the best long-term. Who knows where you will be in three years, so setup the strongest foundations that you can while today is called today. Hopefully she will be supportive. Again - put effort into figuring out if you want a career in research or clinical practice and then decide what level of education you need for your career.

Clincal vs Research. I'll be honest I'll be thrilled with either. From what I've been seeing clinical practice without an MD isn't exactly what I'd want. So I'm leaning more towards the research. If I had to explain my 'perfect' career without becoming an MD. I'd be working in a hospital, running tests and diagnosing tough cases. Or working in a lab studying diseases and treatments, only thing i'm hesitant about is the job security of that. If your study loses it's grant, you lose your job.



Thanks again!