What's your favorite medical profession?

Hi Victoria!

Why do you not want to be a physician? Why do you want to stay behind the scenes?

The profession that has always appealed to me is radiology, and everything from doing CT scans to MRIs. There is also Cath lab, where they do diagnostic testing of the heart, insert stents, etc. And GI lab where they do scopes of the upper and lower GI tract, or contrast diagnostics. All of these would appeal to me, if I was in the medical field, because you just spend a short time with each patient, you don't really get to know them or worry about getting attached to them. At the same time, you are conducting very important tests. But, you don't have to discuss results with the patient, you simply give them to the doctor.

I remember one test in particular, because I had never heard of it. I had to eat a small bowl of "radioactive" oatmeal (very low dose of radiation) so they could track how long it took to leave my stomach. Using this test, they were able to determine that I have gastroparesis - my stomach does not empty properly. I thought it was really cool because nothing got stuck down my throat or in me in any other way.

I also like physical therapy. The people there work with patients to help them recover from surgery or injuries. It is difficult to become a physical therapist, but they also have assistants.

I think you should figure out what aspects of medicine appeal to you, and then determine what will help you to fulfill that role.

Let me know if I can be of further help!

~Kim~

Hi Victoria,

As you can probably tell, my favorite medical profession would be PA, or medicine and I couldn't be happier to be training to become one. What did you mean by behind the scenes, and what made your perspective change? If you meant administration or management, there are many opportunities for frontline clinicians to assume these roles. Let me know if you have any other questions.

Good luck!

Hwal