7 answers
Katherine
Student
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Questions
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Should I go into the beauty industry or medical field?
Ever since I was a kid i dreamed on becoming a doctor or a pediatrician. I like helping people and being around kids. Lately I've been really interested on becoming a cosmetologist/ esthetician and have my own business giving beauty treatment, doing lashes, all that kind of stuff but i don't know yet.
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7 answers
Garrett Cuppels, MD
Orthopaedic Surgery
25
Answers
Miami, Florida
Updated
Garrett’s Answer
That's a personal decision because the training, education and debt as well as the expected income are different between the two. My advice is to get exposure to both fields by shadowing doctors and beauticians then follow whatever you are most passionate about doing,
Torrie Arnold
Tech Recruiter
1
Answer
Seattle, Washington
Updated
Torrie’s Answer
I typically tell others to do what they are most passionate about, but you also need consider the satisfaction you will receive from doing the work you do, and the risks associated with each as well. As a pediatrician, you will always have reliable work, and you will be able to measure the impact of what you do on a daily basis, in a way that will truly change lives. The other thing to consider is that while you could switch gears after becoming a pediatrician and go into cosmetology, it would be very difficult to take the opposite route.
Briana Pelle, MS, CCC-SLP
Speech language pathology
149
Answers
Nashville, Tennessee
Updated
Briana’s Answer
Hi, Katherine.
This is a difficult question because these are two wildly different career tracks in terms of what the training and education requirements look like. One, becoming a doctor, takes upwards of 12 years to complete by the time all the required college and clinical training is done. The other, becoming a certified cosmetologist, can take less than a year in many places. Owning your own business is often helped along by taking college classes or obtaining certifications in business, accounting, or entrepreneurial programs, but these are not required to begin your own bussiness.
My advice to you would be to sit down and form a more solid idea of what your values and priorities for a career are. Do you want to spend that long in school, or would you prefer to get into the workforce more quickly? Do you want more guidance or more independence as a worker? Do you want a structured schedule or a flexible schedule? Etc.
It would also be a great idea to create a list of pros and cons of each potential career to weigh the differences. For example, medical training is much more expensive than cosmetology training, but health care workers on average make much larger paychecks than cosmetologists once they begin working.
And keep in mind that being a doctor who attended medical school is not the only way to work in health care. Here are a few other options that don't require medical school:
-technician certifications: lab tech, sonogram tech, xray tech, nurse aid, vet aid, etc.
-physical therapy
-occupational therapy
-speech language therapy
-medical social work
-counseling
-genetic counselor
This is a difficult question because these are two wildly different career tracks in terms of what the training and education requirements look like. One, becoming a doctor, takes upwards of 12 years to complete by the time all the required college and clinical training is done. The other, becoming a certified cosmetologist, can take less than a year in many places. Owning your own business is often helped along by taking college classes or obtaining certifications in business, accounting, or entrepreneurial programs, but these are not required to begin your own bussiness.
My advice to you would be to sit down and form a more solid idea of what your values and priorities for a career are. Do you want to spend that long in school, or would you prefer to get into the workforce more quickly? Do you want more guidance or more independence as a worker? Do you want a structured schedule or a flexible schedule? Etc.
It would also be a great idea to create a list of pros and cons of each potential career to weigh the differences. For example, medical training is much more expensive than cosmetology training, but health care workers on average make much larger paychecks than cosmetologists once they begin working.
And keep in mind that being a doctor who attended medical school is not the only way to work in health care. Here are a few other options that don't require medical school:
-technician certifications: lab tech, sonogram tech, xray tech, nurse aid, vet aid, etc.
-physical therapy
-occupational therapy
-speech language therapy
-medical social work
-counseling
-genetic counselor
david kirk
Retired Computing Manager
480
Answers
Syracuse, New York
Updated
david’s Answer
Hi, Katherine,
These can be rewarding careers, and I suggest doing a few tasks to assist you in assessing this.
- first, consider the commitment on you to start each career and your personal tolerance (and funding) to achieve each. A medical profession will require more training, depending on your area of interest. Nursing is 2 to 3 years for initial entry into the profession, with surgeons up to 12-15, including residency. In the beauty industry, you need the beauty skills and business skills, so roughly 2 to 3 years.
- second, consider the day-to-day work of each. In the beauty industry, your work is upbeat and friendly, yet part of your work is attracting new customers and, eventually, managing the financial, rental, and other aspects of a business. That provides a rich variety of experiences, and many find it challenging and rewarding. The medical career isn't as concerned on finding patients, and the hours are often long, yet personally rewarding, but sometimes stressful—and it conceivably enjoys a higher income.
As an aside, I have frequently heard (and believe) that the nursing profession focuses on the patient, while doctors focus on the illness. That may be a compromise for your desire to help people, yet also be in the medical profession. Nursing would allow you to focus on the individuals, making their day better, has an education commitment that is similar to, slightly longer, than the one for a beauty career. That may not be your interest, but it would serve both interests, at least somewhat. Your question is challenging. Fortunately, I see there are several excellent responses and I wish you the very best.
These can be rewarding careers, and I suggest doing a few tasks to assist you in assessing this.
- first, consider the commitment on you to start each career and your personal tolerance (and funding) to achieve each. A medical profession will require more training, depending on your area of interest. Nursing is 2 to 3 years for initial entry into the profession, with surgeons up to 12-15, including residency. In the beauty industry, you need the beauty skills and business skills, so roughly 2 to 3 years.
- second, consider the day-to-day work of each. In the beauty industry, your work is upbeat and friendly, yet part of your work is attracting new customers and, eventually, managing the financial, rental, and other aspects of a business. That provides a rich variety of experiences, and many find it challenging and rewarding. The medical career isn't as concerned on finding patients, and the hours are often long, yet personally rewarding, but sometimes stressful—and it conceivably enjoys a higher income.
As an aside, I have frequently heard (and believe) that the nursing profession focuses on the patient, while doctors focus on the illness. That may be a compromise for your desire to help people, yet also be in the medical profession. Nursing would allow you to focus on the individuals, making their day better, has an education commitment that is similar to, slightly longer, than the one for a beauty career. That may not be your interest, but it would serve both interests, at least somewhat. Your question is challenging. Fortunately, I see there are several excellent responses and I wish you the very best.
Tom Foster
Freelance Writer with a lot of life experience
56
Answers
Forest Grove, Oregon
Updated
Tom’s Answer
Normally I might pass on by this question, but since my mother was a beautician for around four decades I think I can at least throw a bit of advice in here. One thing to note is that in both fields you'll need to know more than passing knowledge that most of us gain in high school. The medical field, depending on what you want to specialize in, will take several years in college and advanced learning that will require even more schooling. Not only that, but it's a huge responsibility to take on when caring for others.
On the other side, becoming someone who works with people's hair, nails, etc., is also something that will require a working knowledge of chemistry and how certain substances will affect a human being. From dyeing a person's hair to applying anything to their nails you'll need to have at least enough knowledge to understand how a chemical will react with skin, nails, hair, and so on.
You have a couple of interesting paths to consider at this time, but keep in mind that when working directly with people, you'll need to know what kind of reactions to look for and how to handle them no matter which path you pick.
On the other side, becoming someone who works with people's hair, nails, etc., is also something that will require a working knowledge of chemistry and how certain substances will affect a human being. From dyeing a person's hair to applying anything to their nails you'll need to have at least enough knowledge to understand how a chemical will react with skin, nails, hair, and so on.
You have a couple of interesting paths to consider at this time, but keep in mind that when working directly with people, you'll need to know what kind of reactions to look for and how to handle them no matter which path you pick.
Karen Reece
RN Case Manager
4
Answers
Chattanooga, Tennessee
Updated
Karen’s Answer
Hello, my name is Karen Reece RN, BSN for 32 years for ICU to home health and hospice experience. I currently work in home health as a case manager. I can answer your question this way, how much money do u cap out for learning as an esthetician, but as an RN, I'm so glad I switched my major from biology to nursing. You will have lows and highs in both business.
You can sit down with a patient in the home or hospital and when you have truly connected with them, and they tell you that you explain things better than a doctor would and they understand procedures and medications better and not truly is changed their life is nothing that money could ever put on that value and a lot of times you also come out with a friend. I still have some of my old patients texting me saying how am I doing what's going on with you. I would go with nursing you have the option to be an LPN in about 2 years or less, RN associate's degree it's 3 years, RN to MSN bridge program would automatically have a master's degree and you don't have to take the baccalure degrees they cut that part out and you just graduate with a master's I wish it was around when I went to school but it wasn't so I'm going back to school have Maryville University for adult gerontology primary care nurse practitioner, however I had to put it on hold because of covid and then I had back surgery and a knee operation I look forward to going back very soon. And I can answer questions about school. Get a school that provides preceptorship, a lot of classes are 100% online but you also need local doctors or nurse practitioners you can use as preceptors for your lab courses. If you become a nurse practitioner you can have your own office you can do so many things depending on what state you're in you can also have a remote job where you work from home there's a lot of nurse practitioner jobs but you work remotely from home. You also can make as much money as you want most nurse practitioner start out at 150-180,000 a year depending on what state you're in. So Google there's practitioners in the state that you're in and look up their salaries. Some states don't require nurse practitioners to have a supervising doctor, but Most states do require it. That means a doctor would look over a certain percentage of your work mostly with orders on pain medication nerve medicine anxiety medicine you would submit those to the doctor and he would review them and a lot of times they don't make any changes because they trust that you're you know a good nurse practitioner. The state laws need to change for nurse practitioners can't call themselves doctors because there are doctorates in nurse practitioner, you can't call yourself a doctor if you have a doctorate in nurse practitioner because it can be misunderstood by patients that you're a medical doctor and not a doctorate in nurse practitioner. But masters degrees are the only ones that nurses can obtain a master's degree program and prescribe medications visit patients homes work in the hospital it's acute care nurse and if you're interested you can also look into nurse anesthesis they make at start around 250-280 thousand a year maybe more in CA. Good luck I wish u well, let me know what profession you choose, if u choose nursing I can answer a lot of questions for you. You are the first person on this format I have responded to.
Good luck against Karen Reece RN BSN
You can sit down with a patient in the home or hospital and when you have truly connected with them, and they tell you that you explain things better than a doctor would and they understand procedures and medications better and not truly is changed their life is nothing that money could ever put on that value and a lot of times you also come out with a friend. I still have some of my old patients texting me saying how am I doing what's going on with you. I would go with nursing you have the option to be an LPN in about 2 years or less, RN associate's degree it's 3 years, RN to MSN bridge program would automatically have a master's degree and you don't have to take the baccalure degrees they cut that part out and you just graduate with a master's I wish it was around when I went to school but it wasn't so I'm going back to school have Maryville University for adult gerontology primary care nurse practitioner, however I had to put it on hold because of covid and then I had back surgery and a knee operation I look forward to going back very soon. And I can answer questions about school. Get a school that provides preceptorship, a lot of classes are 100% online but you also need local doctors or nurse practitioners you can use as preceptors for your lab courses. If you become a nurse practitioner you can have your own office you can do so many things depending on what state you're in you can also have a remote job where you work from home there's a lot of nurse practitioner jobs but you work remotely from home. You also can make as much money as you want most nurse practitioner start out at 150-180,000 a year depending on what state you're in. So Google there's practitioners in the state that you're in and look up their salaries. Some states don't require nurse practitioners to have a supervising doctor, but Most states do require it. That means a doctor would look over a certain percentage of your work mostly with orders on pain medication nerve medicine anxiety medicine you would submit those to the doctor and he would review them and a lot of times they don't make any changes because they trust that you're you know a good nurse practitioner. The state laws need to change for nurse practitioners can't call themselves doctors because there are doctorates in nurse practitioner, you can't call yourself a doctor if you have a doctorate in nurse practitioner because it can be misunderstood by patients that you're a medical doctor and not a doctorate in nurse practitioner. But masters degrees are the only ones that nurses can obtain a master's degree program and prescribe medications visit patients homes work in the hospital it's acute care nurse and if you're interested you can also look into nurse anesthesis they make at start around 250-280 thousand a year maybe more in CA. Good luck I wish u well, let me know what profession you choose, if u choose nursing I can answer a lot of questions for you. You are the first person on this format I have responded to.
Good luck against Karen Reece RN BSN
Ann Kuhns
Licensed Practical Nurse
3
Answers
Sterling, Colorado
Updated
Ann’s Answer
Katherine, I also agree with Briana's answer. She covered all of the ways to decide what you want to do as far as careers go. Remember something though It is never too late to change your mind. It's never too late to go back to school if you change your mind. Good luck!! The important thing is that you make a decision that makes you happy.