Why Should You Be a Doctor?
Medicine is the science and practice of diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease. The word “medicine” derives from the Latin “aetio,” which means “treatment.” It has been a highly respected profession throughout history and continues to be in many countries, and it is considered to be one of the most noble career paths available to students with a passion for service.
Physicians work in a number of different specialty fields. Each field has its own unique characteristics, but all medical specialties share a core of common knowledge. These include the basic sciences – anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, microbiology and pharmacology – as well as the clinical fields of obstetrics and gynecology, internal medicine, endocrinology, gastroenterology, pulmonology and rheumatology. Other important fields include cytology, embryology, and epidemiology.
The most obvious and rewarding aspect of being a doctor is that it gives you the opportunity to positively impact the lives of your patients. When you help someone overcome a life-threatening illness and see them living life to the fullest again, it’s a truly humbling experience and one of the main reasons so many physicians continue to pursue this challenging path even after years of studying and hard work.
Another aspect of being a physician that is unique to medicine is the deep, emotional connection with your patients. Whether it’s talking to them about their personal life, family, or job, or helping them through some of the most difficult times of their lives, you develop a close relationship with your patients that is rarely found in other professions.
A final reason to be a physician is the intellectual challenge that it presents. As a result, the profession attracts incredibly intelligent and academically able people. Competition for medical school is very high, and the average GPA and MCAT score for successfully admitted students is in the top 1% of university graduates. Medical students also have to deal with enormous amounts of study and testing throughout their education. In addition, they need to be able to think outside the box when it comes to solving complex problems – for example, when confronted with an unusual case in the clinic, a good physician will not just copy what has been done before but will try to improve upon or disprove the previous theories. This is similar to how scientists like Copernicus and Vesalius improved on or rejected the prevailing ideas of their time in order to advance scientific understanding. This shift in thinking is known as the Scientific Method.
Medicine is the science and practice of diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease. The word “medicine” derives from the Latin “aetio,” which means “treatment.” It has been a highly respected profession throughout history and continues to be in many countries, and it is considered to be one of the most noble career paths available to students with a passion for service. Physicians work in a number of different specialty fields. Each field has its own unique characteristics, but all medical specialties share a core of common knowledge. These include the basic sciences – anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, microbiology and pharmacology – as well as the clinical fields of obstetrics and gynecology, internal medicine, endocrinology, gastroenterology, pulmonology and rheumatology. Other important fields include cytology, embryology, and epidemiology. The most obvious and rewarding aspect of being a doctor is that it gives you the opportunity to positively impact the lives of your patients. When you help someone overcome a life-threatening illness and see them living life to the fullest again, it’s a truly humbling experience and one of the main reasons so many physicians continue to pursue this challenging path even after years of studying and hard work. Another aspect of being a physician that is unique to medicine is the deep, emotional connection with your patients. Whether it’s talking to them about their personal life, family, or job, or helping them through some of the most difficult times of their lives, you develop a close relationship with your patients that is rarely found in other professions. A final reason to be a physician is the intellectual challenge that it presents. As a result, the profession attracts incredibly intelligent and academically able people. Competition for medical school is very high, and the average GPA and MCAT score for successfully admitted students is in the top 1% of university graduates. Medical students also have to deal with enormous amounts of study and testing throughout their education. In addition, they need to be able to think outside the box when it comes to solving complex problems – for example, when confronted with an unusual case in the clinic, a good physician will not just copy what has been done before but will try to improve upon or disprove the previous theories. This is similar to how scientists like Copernicus and Vesalius improved on or rejected the prevailing ideas of their time in order to advance scientific understanding. This shift in thinking is known as the Scientific Method.