Need help picking a career

[pssowers34]

Hi everyone,

I am a freshman undergrad pursuing a Liberal Studies degree with a focus in Pre-Health Sciences. I have thought for awhile that I wanted to be a pediatrician or at least work in the field of medicine with kids in some way. I love working with people (especially kids), but I also find science and math absolutely fascinating, and I've always assumed being a pediatrician would satisfy both of those aspects of a career I would love. However, I've started to wonder how much complex science and math pediatricians (or other physicians for that matter) actually use in their day-to-day jobs. Do physicians (or other medical careers) get to implement these in their daily practice?

Thanks so much for your help!

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[r2med]

Hi everyone,

I am a freshman undergrad pursuing a Liberal Studies degree with a focus in Pre-Health Sciences. I have thought for awhile that I wanted to be a pediatrician or at least work in the field of medicine with kids in some way. I love working with people (especially kids), but I also find science and math absolutely fascinating, and I've always assumed being a pediatrician would satisfy both of those aspects of a career I would love. However, I've started to wonder how much complex science and math pediatricians (or other physicians for that matter) actually use in their day-to-day jobs. Do physicians (or other medical careers) get to implement these in their daily practice?

Thanks so much for your help!

Suggest shadowing to find out. Clinicians use medical science a lot - obviously. Researchers may use other science. Complex? Not sure.

 

[mvsrocks]

Pediatrician in academic medicine/research may interest you the most. I don't know about what kind of complex math you're thinking of, but researchers use statistics

 

[SunBakedTrash]

Complex math? No. Basic fractions and 2nd grade math for drug dosing on the fly? Yeah, definitely.

If complex math is your thing, medicine isn’t really going to satisfy that and I would look toward a PhD or actuary work etc. The closest thing in medicine would probably be radiation oncology which requires understanding and application of physics although physicists do much of the technical work while you focus on clinical encounters.

if you like cramming random facts and then dumbing those down for the general public, then you will love medicine. Like the other person said, shadow and see what you think.

 

[allantois]

If you like math, why not major in it? Have you taken Calculus in HS?

 

[pssowers34]

Thanks everyone! I definitely agree, I feel like shadowing would help a lot, although it seems difficult to do right now. I'm going to contact some people in different medical occupations and ask these sorts of questions as well. Becoming a clinical geneticist sounds very interesting in regards to science/math (seems like geneticists use some statistics, which I find fascinating), and it can involve working with kids if you specialize in pediatrics.

 

[pssowers34]

If you like math, why not major in it? Have you taken Calculus in HS?

I took Calculus I and really enjoyed it. However, my issue is not with my major, but rather with the 30+ years I will work. I couldn't see myself as a mathematician because I really love working with people, and that career doesn't seem to lend itself to that too much. But if I am wrong about that, I would be happy to look into it more! Thanks for your reply

 

[pssowers34]

Suggest shadowing to find out. Clinicians use medical science a lot - obviously. Researchers may use other science. Complex? Not sure.

I am planning doing shadowing as much as possible to help me decide (and it looks good on an application!). Hopefully that will give me more clarity. Thanks for answering!

 

[pssowers34]

Pediatrician in academic medicine/research may interest you the most. I don't know about what kind of complex math you're thinking of, but researchers use statistics

I've considered pursuing clinical genetics as a specialist in pediatrics... that seems to involve both interaction with kids and nerdy science and statistics, along with groundbreaking genetics, which I have always loved. Thanks for your response!

 

[pssowers34]

Complex math? No. Basic fractions and 2nd grade math for drug dosing on the fly? Yeah, definitely.

If complex math is your thing, medicine isn’t really going to satisfy that and I would look toward a PhD or actuary work etc. The closest thing in medicine would probably be radiation oncology which requires understanding and application of physics although physicists do much of the technical work while you focus on clinical encounters.

if you like cramming random facts and then dumbing those down for the general public, then you will love medicine. Like the other person said, shadow and see what you think.

Thanks for answering! I will definitely be contacting physicians/PAs/geneticists/etc and asking what they think.

 

[SunBakedTrash]

Look into computer science and actuarial science. Those are consistently ranked as the best careers out there and both are heavy in math and science, much more than a clinician would ever use. These paths are also going to be a fraction of the time commitment/ cost of a medical education and pay exceedingly well without the responsibility, call, and associated burnout of healthcare. If you still crave pain after looking into those careers, we would be glad to have you and you can sleep well at night knowing you explored all the options.