My 10th grade careers essay lol

I have been honored with the opportunity of finding my ideal career with the basis of learning from this course. I have learned many new things about myself, such as the type of learning style that best suits me, what character traits I have within myself, what careers would be ideal for those specific character traits that I have within myself, and the different types of interpersonal skills that I carry. Using this new information that I have learned about myself, and my own personal passions, I have come to a conclusion that I would be very interested in going into medicine and/or healthcare. I considered many other options such as law or biotechnology, however I do not see myself suitable to these careers/university majors. I really want a career in which I can lead as I predominately like to do things my own way, this is something I learned this year during this careers course. I also enjoy learning about the human anatomy as there is so much to learn about, and visually learning is one of my strong suits as well. I have also come to realize that I have some great interpersonal skills such as good writing and critical thinking skills. There are all skills that are required in the medical field.

The medical field is a broad field of careers and majors. I have narrowed it down to two majors/degrees: a nursing degree and a medical degree. I have always dreamt of becoming a doctor and helping to save lives along with experiencing that satisfaction of helping humanity. After much research, I have concluded there are several requirements to becoming a doctor, most of those requirements being difficult to achieve. However, it can all be done. In Canada, the requirements are graduating high school, attending university to complete a four-year undergraduate degree, gaining some research and volunteering experience, taking the MCAT (Medical College Admission Test), attending medical school for four-years, and then finally, attending residency for two-to-seven years to specialize in your preferred specialization. This all seems way too much, however it can all be done within ten years after high school.

In high school, students planning on entering the medical field pathway to becoming a doctor, are encouraged to take science-based and math courses at the academic level. Some of these subjects include, biology, anatomy, chemistry, physics, calculus, and/or any other math courses. I plan on completing these credits in high school in the coming years. After graduating high school and receiving your diploma, you are required to attend a university in Canada to complete your four-year undergraduate degree. An undergraduate degree is the first degree that you complete after high school. Medical schools do not require a specific major that you have to complete. You can choose any major that you would like for your undergraduate degree. However, there are some prerequisite university courses such as university level chemistry with lab, immunology, a humanities course, biology, anatomy, and other math courses that you might have to take on the side whilst completing your four-year undergrad degree. Many universities do not require these extra courses, for example, McMaster Medical School, Western Medical School, and Queen’s Medical school.

As for myself, my plan to pursue a nursing degree now comes in action. Getting accepted to medical school is extremely difficult if you do not have a high enough GPA or MCAT score. I would like to pursue a degree before medical school that would be useful to me if a situation arises in which I am not able to attend medical school. Since I am also passionate about medicine, I would like my four-year degree to reflect on my future career plans and I would like for it to give me a broader perspective on what exactly the medical field looks like. I truly believe that pursuing a fast-paced degree that focuses on medicine and the healthcare of others such as nursing, could not only open many doors of success for me, but I would also be able to gather experience working in a medical field and getting used to the thought of a hospitality like environment. In order to pursue an undergraduate nursing degree, you need a few mandatory high school courses such as, grade 12 biology, grade 12 chemistry, grade 12 English, and grade 11 or grade 12 mathematics. I plan on pursuing these credits next year and the year after.

Once I graduate high school with the required credits and required GPA (GPA should be around 3.0 to 4.0), the next step would be to attend a higher institution of education such as a university to pursue the undergrad nursing degree. I also plan on applying to several nursing scholarships in order to pay off my tuition. Some universities with very good and demanding nursing programs include, uOttawa’s faculty of nursing, McMaster’s nursing program, McGill’s faculty of nursing etc. I plan on attending uOttawa’s four-year nursing program or McGill’s nursing program as they are both closer to home and I have researched a lot about their location, professors, and curriculum. There are several all-day clinical rotations in these nursing programs which is something I am looking forward to. While in university, I want to gather some extra-curriculars that would help to impress medical schools in the long run. There are several certifications that I want to complete. These include, the certified nursing assistant certification, the pharmacy technician certification, the EMT certification etc. I would like to work as a nursing assistant (CNA) while pursuing my nursing degree and also as either a part-time medical scribe, or a pharmacy technician. These jobs require minimal training, which is why it would be easier to manage while completing a degree. These jobs would help gain experience and impress medical schools with my excessive number of hours that I would have completed. Along with pursuing my degree, I also want to find some time during the summer breaks to do some lab research and attend medical trips around the world in order to gain some extra curricular credit. In the final year of pursuing the nursing degree, I would have to spend several months studying for the MCAT which is a long medical school admission test that hold high importance when trying to apply to medical schools. This test includes questions from mathematics, biology, chemistry, critical reason etc. Some medical schools do not require the MCAT, those institutions include McGill, uOttawa, and McMaster. Getting accepted to medical school also has to do a lot with acing the medical school interview. If I were to get accepted, I would have to practice my critical reasoning skills in order to pass the interview.

Once I graduate from nursing school, if I get accepted to medical school, I will attend medical school for the next four years. Some universities with excellent medical programs include McMaster, University of Toronto, Queen’s University, and Western University. Medical school acceptance rates are extremely low, as thousands and thousands of students apply every year, however only a few hundred get accepted. A program I am really interested in is McMaster’s three-year medical program. This program has amazing medical professors, and their style of teaching is a bit more different from other universities. They encourage learning in groups. They put you in a group of other medical students, and you are to research about the certain topic and later present that topic to the entire class by the end of the week. This gives students a great opportunity to research and develop interpersonal skills such as good verbal communication and researching skills. Medical school consists of four years. In the first two years, we learn academic skills and about the human anatomy. They are intensive years in which all the students do is study. The next two years and the last two years consist of clinical rotations in which medical students visit hospitals and clinics and discover different speciality's that they may be interested in in the future. These are two very fast paced years, and they can be very exhausting as well, because the medical students spend their entire days working with professionals such as surgeons, licensed practitioners, and experienced medical professors.

Medical students also have to invest thousands of dollars in medical schools as they are not cheap at all. The average tuition for one year of medical school is about $27,000+ and along with that, you also have to get loans as you would not be able to work while pursuing medical school. Medical school requires eight to twelve hours of studying everyday besides school, so a part-time job would be extremely exhausting. Since you cannot work while in medical school, the loans you receive would have to cover your cost of living as well. This is why it is important to apply to as many scholarships as you possibly could.

After the completion and graduation of medical school, whether it was the three-year program at McMaster’s medical school or the general four-year programs at other medical schools, I would have to apply for residency, which is like a job where we work over 60 hours per week with minimum wage, and it can last between two to seven years depending on your preferred speciality. Since I am interested in family medicine or internal medicine as a speciality, the residency that I would apply for would last around two to three years. There are also fellowship programs in which you can specialize in a minor specialization such as surgery, gynecology, or any smaller speciality in which you can substitute when required for your assistance. I have not yet decided whether I would like to complete a fellowship program as they or one to five years long, however, it is a great opportunity to specialize as a minor in a demanding speciality so you could become a more demanding doctor. Resident doctors are overworked and underpaid for their service; however, they are considered doctors, and residency is very important as you learn more hands- on working skills rather than just academic skills.

The journey to become a licensed professional such as a doctor is hard work, and there are many people who doubt themselves as it is a long way, and it may take over ten years after high school to finally be able to make a liveable wage. After graduation of medical school and completion of a residency and/or fellowship program, you become an official licensed practitioner. Doctors make around $250,000 - $500,000 as their average income and surgeons make around $500,000-$800,000 as their average income. The doctors that open up their own clinic may make more as they would be owners of their own business. Many surgeons make millions as well because the salary increases with the more experience you have, and specialities such as neurosurgery pay you very much as they are very difficult specialities that hold high importance. It is also important to realize that every speciality makes a different wage as some are less competitive than others. Overall, medical school and residency graduates make tons of money as they’ve spent their twenties working extremely hard, and they are also drowned in loans which they have to spend most of their lives paying off. Student debt amongst medical schools range from $100,000 to $400,000.

In conclusion, my career plan consists of many twists and turns, and lots of time and devotion. However, I am determined and motivated to work hard to pursue what I truly dream to become, which is a licenced practitioner in general or internal medicine.