Is a Career in Healthcare Right for You?
While the healthcare industry has proven to be a reliable source of income to many around the world, a specific mindset and certain natural characteristics are often required in order to truly thrive within the career. There are many questions you should truthfully ask yourself before you make the commitment to a career in healthcare, but the most important one is this: Do you have a need to help other people?
Five Questions to Ask Yourself Before Enrolling in a Medical Training Program
Making the decision to go into healthcare is not just a career choice; it’s a life decision.
In addition to the five general questions below, take the time to ask yourself personal questions that apply solely to your life. After all, the only one that can make this decision is you.
718.364.6700
- Do You Like Helping People? – While it may seem a callous question to ask, it’s an important one to answer honestly. Deep down, do you like talking to people and dealing with their problems? Most healthcare jobs will require you to interact with patients regularly, so having a natural urge to help people will help you tremendously when the stress and exhaustion of the job kick in.
- Are You Comfortable Working in a Healthcare Setting? – While healthcare is primarily about helping people, death is a constant presence in hospitals. This means that doctors, nurses, and medical assistants often have an advanced understanding of death, and they try to avoid clinging to familiar emotions concerning the subject.
- Do You Find Healthcare Fascinating? – Often it’s up to the individual practitioner to keep themselves up-to-date on the latest developments in their field. If you’ve just finished one of the many medical training programs in NYC and have already been placed at a hospital, it will be up to you from here on out to further your own education. While you will definitely have superiors to guide you through a training period, a fascination with the future of healthcare will carry you through your entire career.
- Do You Work Well in a Team? – Anyone within the industry will tell you that healthcare requires teamwork. Especially these days, a patient’s recovery will largely depend on collaboration. Healthcare workers with superior communication skills often do well in the job, as those that instinctively keep information to themselves could risk endangering the patient’s well-being.
- Can You Handle the Healthcare Lifestyle? – If your ultimate career goal is to find a simple, 9-5 day job that offers a decent check, then working in a hospital might not be for you. Many nurses and other medical professionals find themselves in life-or-death situations on a daily basis, and the long hours only add to the levels of stress reported at most healthcare facilities. If you imagine yourself in a lifestyle with plenty of downtime and a peaceful working environment, then you should consider another sector of healthcare.
Paths for Those Who Want to Work in Healthcare
For those that answered all of the above with a resounding “yes,” there are hundreds of medical training schools in NYC, LA, San Francisco, and other major cities that offer real-world training for potential medical assistants, home health aides, and CNAs as well as Hospice Care. Millions of people have made the decision to get into healthcare because they “just want to help people,” or because it “just felt right.” If it feels like a good fit for you, then go for it. You may end up saving a life.