The Beauty of a Medical Career

Many occupations are self-explanatory to some extent. Or credentials, for that matter. At least, I feel like that’s the predominant view. In reality, I feel like every job description, degree, and industry contains more nuance and breadth than I could ever imagine. I think I may just have a strong bias, combined with a lack of insight. Nevertheless, to speak about what I do know: medicine presents a near-limitless number of endpoints for your ultimate profession. In my opinion, that feels like a major reason as to why it is such an impactful field to work in, but also explains some of the increasingly competitive demands for positions in the first place.

I’d argue many medical students start blind. They may not have a clear image for how this study translates into their career, decades later, but they were given a coveted opportunity, and took it. The complexity involved in actually becoming a medical doctor, in the traditionally understood context—a consultant—is something I’ve had to grow to appreciate. Picturing the journey before you even graduate high school is immensely difficult. In my case, even with the privilege of knowing others who had been down that path before, I still could only really see a ladder leading upwards, then disappearing amongst clouds. It would be long, I knew that. But I understood very little about the minutiae of translating a medical degree into a profession—a topic for further exploration. I trusted that I would cross that bridge when I arrived.

The allure of a medical career for me arises from the scope of possible work, and the optionality you ultimately have. You can choose to work with the youngest members of our population, or the oldest. Or, both. Specialise in feet, or brains—or the big toe; or the specific electrical signals in one tiny segment of the brain. Dedicate your life to practise or research; or, both. Use your expertise to teach, or advise; or add value to an entirely different industry. Constantly learn, adapt, and refine your work. For a lifetime. Because for me, the beauty of medicine lies with the unknown. What society needs, and what you can bring to the table, are both constantly in a state of flux. You have the opportunity to discover something brand new, implement new ways of thinking about, and solving, problems, and also build an entirely irreplaceable skillset.

Once the fog clears, and you can clearly see the road ahead, I trust that you’ll find your niche. Chiefly, you’ll spend your life solving problems. That’s good news. You’ll encounter plenty of problems in your life, some of which you’ll feel passionate about, and most of which can fall under the medical umbrella, in some way. If you feel strongly about something, chances are you can carve out an impact in medicine. It might just take a while.