Bachelor Degree in Medicine
Who has never fantasized about being so smart and resolutive as Dr. House? Despite what this successful TV show might suggest, medicine is one of the most selfless occupations, though it has little to do with playing detectives or invading a patient’s home without permission. And of course not every unknown disease is suspicious of being lupus, either!
Vocation is essential to study Medicine, but there are many other qualities required. A doctor must be:
- very responsible, as he or she can’t indulge himself in a mistake. Unlike computer ones, fatal errors may be literally fatal in this job.
- extremely clean
- calm, because patients and relatives will often need to be calmed down. And what would happen if a surgeon lost his nerves while being in an operating room?
- patient, as a bachelor degree in Medicine takes an average of six years to complete, and its end is only the beginning of a long training process as a resident: three additional years for family doctors and up to five years for specialists.
Medicine’s program has been improved through centuries of practice. The first surgery treaties known are Egyptian and were written about 5.000 years ago. The Greeks Hypocrates and Galenus, the Persian Avicena and other famous doctors followed. The first dissections were performed during the XII century.
Medicine syllabus is an exhaustive exploration of human body and its functions. Among the traditional subjects are anatomy, epidemiology, physiology, genetics, immunology, microbiology, pharmacology, radiology, surgery, etc… But some emerging disciplines have been added lately, such as psychology and neuropsychology, women’s health, sport and labor medicine, drug abuse, submarine medicine, transplants or molecular therapy. Knowledge on languages, computers and information systems for health institutions are also strongly adviced.
Most doctors end doing what they are expected to do: healing people’s diseases. Most of them will work at hospitals, health centers or private health offices. But the variety of specialties is huge. From gynecology to urology, from nutrition to psychiatry, from cardiology to neurology… each pain or disorder has its proper specialist.
Some Medicine bachelors will choose more innovative paths, though. Some will have successful careers as aesthetic surgeons, labor doctors in big corporations, hospital administrators or insurance technicians.
Perfect for… those who enjoy caring for people, but don’t care about dealing with veins, bones, organs and strange corporal fluids.
Don’t choose it if… you pass out every time you see a blood stain or you can’t accept that some patients will die.
Match it with… nothing. Psychology might be a good match, specially for Psychiatrists, but most doctors spend so many years through college, specialties and residence that they probably won’t have energies left to study an additional degree. Symposiums and lectures are a must, though. A doctor’s training never ends!