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How do I learn more about which route I want to take in the medical field?

I am a high school senior, but a full time college student. I am working on getting into Florida State University. I know that I want to have a career somewhere in the medical field, but I am unsure where. Nothing crazy, like a brain surgeon, but something that is interesting and will be worth the schooling. I am interested in physical therapy, but I have not done enough research to know if that is something that I would enjoy as a career. #student

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Brenda’s Answer

You should do a career assessment. There are plenty of free online assessments. You will probably benefit more from researching various careers and specialties in the medical field. You will have to do a rotation when you are in medical school that will expose you to many specialties. This is when you will truly narrow down where you fit in.
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Yasemin’s Answer

Hi Kate! Well the medical field can entail a lot of things. If you think of medical school then in college you take prerequisites and your MCAT and then apply to medical school. In medical school you have different electives that give you a taste of each field and what's it like to be a physician in one; I think that when students begin medical school it is helpful to keep an open mind because you may end up liking an elective you may have never thought of before. Experience really matters to know what you would like to do, so it does take time. Physical therapy is also interesting, my brother was a personal trainer and he became interested in PT that made him become more interested in medicine. Usually in college advisers can also help guide the way in addition to career workshops; I am also attaching a link below that may help give more information. The main thing with the medical field is plenty of science classes you will be taking so studying hard and being disciplined is important!

Best of luck!

Yasemin recommends the following next steps:

https://careersinpsychology.org/physical-therapist-careers/
https://blog.collegevine.com/how-to-become-a-physical-therapist-steps-to-take-from-high-school/
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Emily’s Answer

The medical field is huge, and unfortunately, the results you receive on a standard career assessment
are typically very generic (unless you pay for one that is scored and specifically assessed by a
professional evaluator).

To start researching more about different occupations within the medical field, I would
recommend searching the O*NET Online (https://www.onetonline.org/find/industry?i=62&g=Go),
specifically under the Healthcare and Social Assistance industry.

The O*NET provides detailed information with job descriptions, typical physical demands,
and projected job growth (which is so important so you choose a career where the likelihood
of you actually getting employed is relatively high after graduation) for various occupations.
For example, Physical Therapist is O*NET code 29-1123.00. Not only will you be able to see
general tasks, technology skills, knowledge, skills, work activities, work context, educational
requirements, interests, work styles, work values, and wages/trends associated with the job,
but I would also recommend accessing the link on the bottom of the reports for the Occupational
Outlook Handbook, which can sometimes provide another layer of information about the career.
The Occupational Outlook Handbook is maintained by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Once you have a career interest in mind, maybe pull up some YouTube videos of the job that
people have posted. You may find some out there, and those may give you more a visual of
whether or not you would truly want to pursue that kind of work.
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