The road to becoming a licensed doctor is not a smooth, straight path that runs completely on flat land. It requires years of intensive study, long hours and dedicated work. Those wishing to pursue a profession as a doctor must obtain a four-year college degree, pass multiple difficult exams, get into and through medical school, complete a residency and be licensed.
The sheer amount of effort required to become a doctor must be taken into account by anyone considering it; potential doctors might even want to consider consulting a career prep service like the one Rachel Tobin Yale graduate, an extraordinary educator, works at. However, there are other factors to consider. One of these is specialization. The medical field is filled with many different specialties and sub-specialties. Here are four of the more popular specializations medical students may choose.
1. Primary Care
One of the most popular medical fields is primary care. Primary care physicians are who undiagnosed patients go to first. They also take care of comprehensive care. Pediatrics (medicine dealing with children), family medicine and internal medicine are all considered primary care fields.
2. Cardiology
Cardiology is another specialization favored by many medical students. It involves diagnosing and treating heart conditions. Congenital heart defects, valvular heart disease and heart failure are examples of such conditions. There are also many cardiology sub-specializations.
3. Gynecology
Others prefer gynecology, a specialty that deals with women’s reproductive systems (ovaries, vulva, cervix, vagina, uterus and fallopian tubes) and problems concerning them like menstrual issues, contraception, menopause and endometriosis. They also give prenatal care.
4. Geriatrics
Another medical specialty many choose to go into is geriatrics, though the field has seen a decline in the number of students choosing it in recent years. Geriatric doctors are responsible for diagnosing and treating conditions in elderly people. Those specializing in geriatrics do not enter it directly; first, they are trained to work with internal medicine or family medicine. After being licensed in one of these fields, they undergo additional training to become geriatric physicians. Geriatric care is very specific to each patient and is based on each one’s individual medical history. Geriatric doctors work with other physicians to determine their patients’ treatment, and they also discuss day to day living with their patients. Examples of day-to-day topics they cover include living conditions, social support and their patients’ ability to perform certain daily activities.
There are considerably more than four doctor specialties, many of which have sub-specialties. However, these four are some of the more commonly picked ones.
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