Medical Career Options

I’ve seen a funny tee shirt saying “Nursing: The Only Course in the Philippines”, which made me laugh because it seems so true. However, my belief is that there are more careers available in the health services industry than we know of.

But first of all, why are there so much demand for nurses? I think it’s because of the growing number of diseases nowadays, and the patients for diseases previously limited to middle aged people are getting younger.

If you see a doctor, the first person that will greet you at the office is a medical assistant. Their job is to make sure that the office is running smoothly. They will tell you to wait for awhile and then go in should the doctor be busy attending to another patient, take care of the paper work such as filing medical records and other duties that is handed down by the doctor.

But if there is an emergency and you need medical attention quickly, you have to dial 911 and wait until the paramedics arrive. Another name for them is EMT or emergency medical technician. Their job is to stabilize the patient until the ambulance reaches the hospital.

Once they get to the hospital, the patient is turned over to the doctor that will soon be assisted by other doctors and nurses. The nurse is there to monitor the patient’s condition when the physician is not around and administer medication when instructed to. Aside from working in a hospital, they may work in a residential home, in specialized units, schools and hospices.

When the nurse has to extract samples from a patient, the person who analyzes this is a laboratory technician. This individual uses machines that practically do all the testing and when the results come out, it is up to him or her to analyze the results and submit the findings to the doctor.

The doctor will decide what needs to be done to help the patient after reviewing the results. If the patient is bleeding internally, surgery may be required and a surgeon will have to be called in to remedy the situation. In cases where chemotherapy is needed, a technician who is trained in using the medical equipment will be the one to kill cancer cells on the patient’s body.

For patients that are injured and need time to recover, a physical therapist or an occupational therapist will be there to help the person learn to use their muscles once again. If the patient has suffered from a traumatic event, a specialist called a psychotherapist will try to help the patient. For those that have a hard time speaking, a speech pathologist or speech therapist may help so the words that come out can easily be understood by others.

Patients who are overweight may lose those extra pounds by exercising and working with a dietitian. This person will tell the patient what he or she should eat and those that should be avoided.

Back when I was looking for a job, the demand for nurses has been steadily rising, but the demand then wasn’t high enough to prevent the medical professionals from entering other alternative careers like being a medical representative, drug marketers, diet consultants, medicine promotions officer (those who talk to doctors about drugs, create hype about certain medicine brands; basically someone who can talk to you about quick trim review and your diet options).