Medicine Is Tough, So Why Do People Go Into It?

If you want a cushy career with plenty of benefits, you have a lot of options open to you. Insurance brokers, bankers, and legal professionals have relatively easy work once they get the hang of it, and they earn good money. 

Medicine, on the other hand, is always tough. It requires you to take on tremendous responsibility for the lives of other people – and that in and of itself can be exhausting. Then, when you pile all the paperwork, long hours, and other pressures on top of that, it’s a surprise anyone goes into it. 

So what’s the upside? Why are people going into medicine in increasingly high numbers? Let’s take a look at some of the reasons. 

It Provides A Sense Of Purpose

A lot of people want their lives to have a sense of purpose about them. But that can be hard to find in the modern world. With religion declining in importance, the search for meaning is being taken up a notch. People don’t know where to turn. 

Medicine seems like a way of dealing with this existential crisis. It’s a way for people to inject a little purpose into their lives and feel better about how they’re spending their time. If they can tell themselves that they’re making their patients’ lives better, then they are happy. 

Medicine is particularly appealing for people who don’t have families. Parents can always point to their children as the source of meaning in their lives. But for many singles or childless couples, careers are the main source of value. And for that reason, they’re essential. 

It’s Interesting

Not only does medicine provide a sense of purpose, but it is also incredibly interesting. The field never stays still for long. Researchers develop new methods for dealing with disease and combating sickness. There’s always more research and learning to be done. 

Medics researching their online options for career advancement always have opportunities to grow and develop. Learning doesn’t have to stop. You can always apply yourself to problems intellectually. Unlike many lines of work, it is a potentially bottomless pit of research, learning, and application. You can continue your training whenever you like and indulge your passion for helping others. 

You Can Work Anywhere In The World

Once you get a medical degree, you can work anywhere in the world. Having a certificate with a specific qualification on it opens you up to a world of opportunities. You don’t have to stay in your home country. You’re free to travel and work wherever and however you like. Nothing is keeping you chained to your home country. 

There is actually a shortage of medical professionals overseas. Emerging healthcare systems still don’t fully understand how to organize themselves efficiently. Often they need the help of people with overseas education to improve their practices. Thus, the value you can offer as a medic is tremendous. 

The Financial Rewards Are Huge

The financial rewards from working in the healthcare sector are considerable. Six-figure salaries are the norm and are sometimes accessible for people who don’t have professional medical qualifications. 

Surgeons, oncologists, and neurologists can all earn more than $200,000 per year. 

You Get Job Safety

There aren’t many careers that offer a high level of job security, but medicine is certainly one place where it is achievable. When doctors begin their professional training, they can expect to have a long career in front of them, without machines or outsourcing taking their work. 

Job safety actually pushes down wages in the medical sector. Many employees would prefer to have a slightly lower wage in return for security. But that’s often a price that people are willing to pay. It’s better to have slightly lower pay and more certainty than higher pay with greater uncertainty. 

You Are Able To Study Online

Medical school used to be something that took you away from the rest of your life, but not anymore. There is now a vast array of online training options that you can do flexibly, without having to abandon your day job or save up a vast sum of money.

The advantages of studying online are worth reiterating. Studying online, for instance, allows you to manage your schedule how you please. If you don’t want to get out of bed in the morning for medical classes, you don’t have to. You can just arrange to hold your classes in the evenings when you’ll be more awake and ready to learn.

If the weather is cold outside, you don’t have to walk down a freezing cold street to get to your lectures. And if you’re a mature student, you don’t have to take time out of work to attend classes. It all works around you and the needs of your employer. 

It Feels Like An Adventure

Ideally, you want your life to feel like an adventure – not something that’s on the rails. While you like to know where you’re going, you always want an element of the unexpected to keep things interesting. 

Here again, medicine can help. You never quite know what the next day will bring – and that helps to keep it interesting. 

You Can Find New Cures

Finding new cures is tough and not something that most people achieve in their careers. But it can happen. And when it does, the results last forever. People who go into medicine have the opportunity to save the lives of people living today as well as those in the future. 

It’s worth pointing out that humanity is still incredibly early in its quest for scientific discovery. In the 1960s, people still didn’t know that nutrition was critical for long-term health. That information only became apparent in the 1980s with the diet-heart trials: within living memory for most of us. 

We still don’t know how to beat aging and other diseases, but that could be about to change. And if you take a career in medicine, you could be a part of it. Now that’s an exciting prospect when you think about it.