When
one mentions majoring in Health and Sciences, one main thought comes to kind
for most people; being a medical practitioner. The prevailing assumption is
that a health science major can only lead to practicing medicine after
graduation, maybe being a dentist or a surgeon if not just a general
practitioner. This is only partly true as the fields under the health and
sciences umbrella are not only numerous but also diverse. I know am not alone
in this myopic perception of the health major range, therefore, I’d love to try
disambiguating this wide field.
First, we need to ask ourselves, what is a
health science major? It is a program that seeks to introduce students to the basics
of health care and offer them a deeper understanding of the science to make
them ready for careers in health related professions. It prepares the students
for private and public service in activities such as nutritional wellbeing,
personal health as well as prevention and treatment of diseases among others.
Even this definition does not fully encompass all that a health science major
entails since it is just an overview of some of the fields within.
The
above description leaves a lot to be desired as pertains to the exact career
fields under the health sciences major. What are the professional paths that a
graduate of this major pursue after successfully completing their studies? The
career options available to such a student include; nursing, pharmacy, psychology,
alternative medicine, physiotherapy, sports science, nutrition and food
science, dental hygiene, counseling, forensic science, dental hygiene and
clinical laboratory science. The above list names just but a few of the options
which frankly, are endless.
Like
all other majors, there are academic qualifications required for one to
specialize in health sciences. For starters, one requires strong high school
grade point averages as well as near exemplary SAT scores if not outright
straight A’s. However, unlike in the other majors, personality traits may
factor into the qualifications in this case. It is because the high average
scores and good grades only help in the grasping of complicated medical
theories and their application in real-life problem solving. Therefore other
attributes are necessitated by the constant interaction with the people being
served.
What
are the other individual prerequisites for a health major? These are generally
referred to as people skills. One needs to have a patient temperament combined
with a great level of understanding to avoid flaring up when dealing with
emergency situations. An individual also requires a radiant personality with a
gentle bedside manner. It is because the people being served more often than
not are in distress and therefore, need to be handled delicately and with
finesse. It is also an added advantage if one has a volunteer mentality, that
is, involved in community service and charity activities.
In
the light of all these stringent requirements, it is obvious that one has to
forego some things and make certain sacrifices so as to make the cut as health
sciences major. What these entail, one may ask. For a student to attain the
straight grades required, extra effort has to be put into their studies to
ensure they achieve the good grades from the high school examinations as well
as the standardized exams such as the SATs. The extra effort unfortunately
includes a lot of sleepless nights spent up studying. Personality-wise, one has
to learn to ignore the impulse to strike back when wronged because angry
temperaments do not fit in with the job descriptions. Socially, one has to cut
back on the interaction time with friends and family especially towards the end
when the finals are approaching.
The
job opportunities for a health science major graduate are endless on the other
hand. They include; pharmacists, nurses, physicians’ assistants, general
practitioners, psychiatrists, physical therapists and dentists. The baseline in
salary for these jobs ranges between 40,000-50,000$ per annum, and that’s only
the starting point. This figure depends on the specific job carried out, the
area and extent of expertise as well as the general demand in the service
market for that particular skill set. This figures can go as high as 150,000$
per annum for dentists and physicians (study.com). Noteworthy as well is that
the health care industry is a continuously growing market albeit at different
rates for different careers. Thus, a shortage of employment opportunities or the
subsequent perks should not be a concern for a student majoring in health
sciences.
At
this point, this question often arises, is money the only thing that students
can hope for as compensation for the struggles and sacrifices. If so,
therefore, is it not wiser to simply invest all their college fees and try
their luck in the lottery? Studies and surveys have been carried out to
determine what drives medical workers, practitioners and health professionals
to work every day. The answer is actually quite simple; job satisfaction. If
your personality fits with the description above, there is no greater
contentment than that drawn from having helped save a life or allay the
suffering of an ailing person.
What
are the drawbacks of actually working in the health care sector? Unfortunately
the sacrifices do not stop the moment one graduates from college and gets
comfortably employed. Despite the surety of employment and relatively adequate
remuneration for the services rendered, there are other shortcomings of a career
in the health sciences. One of them is the excruciatingly long hours of work
that an individual has to put in especially in the public sector. Surgeons, for
example, can be called into work at any time of the day or night during
emergencies. There is also a huge disparity in wage differentiation between
those in the private and public sector that may be demoralizing. The working
conditions also vary greatly between the two sectors within the industry. Some
of the experiences encountered on the job may also prove traumatic or
depressing to the practitioners.
Having
factored all the above pros and cons, it would appear that a career in the
health sciences is a viable option for someone deciding on what to major in
college. Actually, as long as the academic and personality qualifications are
met, I would highly recommend it to anyone who is sitting on the fence about
the direction of their future. However, at the end of the day, the decision
ultimately rests with the individuals because only they understand themselves
best. This will save them from having a lot of regrets in the future regarding
their career choices.
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