TIL: Career Research

TIL: Career Research

11/19/2014

The career I chose was pediatric surgery. I hope to one day spend the rest of my life in this career. Medicine is something I am very passionate about, and I love working with children. Surgery is hardcore, it requires the best precision and snap decision making. It will keep my on my toes every second. 

Pediatric surgeons do a lot of different things. They perform surgery on children, in many different ways. Pediatric surgeons care for children both during and after surgery. Children are a little different to work with, and, in a way, easier. They won't lie about their medical history, they will tell you when it hurts and where with no discretion. They know what is going on with them on an elementary level, and they will share. This is unlike adults because as we grow up we become ashamed of some of our life choices. So we hide them. Children don't do that. 

The schooling required for any type of surgeon includes an undergraduate degree of some kind, then medical school, then residency, then fellowship, and then they can practice on their own. Residency is spent working with surgeons in general, then toward the end of residency and through fellowship they begin to specialize. 

Since there is so much schooling involved, it gets pricey. All that tuition adds up. At Creighton University, for example, the cost of one year is about $46,000. 

The job outlook is good. People will always get sick and need surgery. Even with more machines helping out, there will always be a need for a human surgeon. Surgeons are paid in the top 1% of the population.