Chapter 1 : Have I made the correct decision ( 2 )

1.1              What sort of thingking is required to become a doctor?

Medical students should train themselves to be critical in their thinking. This is crucial as critical thiking is a skill that is required to become a good doctor.

Seeing things is a holistic perspective is one requirement of a doctor. A patient will come to you with a complaint about their health rather than a written diagnosis. The complaint may appear to come from a physicall illness but it may be a manisfestation of psychological problem. In this sense, it is also important to have strong analytical thinking as you need to analyse the symptoms to provide the accurate diagnosis.

So, if one is able to see a person as a whole rather than just focusing on a symptom, then one make a good detective  at finding the underlining cause of the symptoms.

In fact, a doctor is very much like a private investigator who is given a clue by the one symptom the patient complained of. It is his responsibility to look for the next clue to get to the diagnosis using his adequate knowledge of the basic science and correlating it with the clinical signs.

Note :

Attributes of a critical thinker :

- asks pertinent questions

- assesses statement and arguments

- is able to admit a lack of understanding or information

- has a sense of curiosity

- is interested in finding new solutions

- suspends judgment until all facts have been gathered and considered looks for evidence to support assumptions and beliefs

- is able to adjust opinion when new facts are found – looks for proof

- examines problems closely is able to reject information that is incorrect or irrelevant

- sees that critical thinking is a lifelong process of self-assessment and

- listens carefully to others and is able to give a feedback

                                                ( Ferrett S, 1997 )

1.2              What are the possible career options after graduation?

General practitioners

A general practitioner attends to patients with common ailments such as cough and cold. For more difficult cases, the patients will be referred to a specialist.

Specialists

There are a number of different  fields that you can choose from such as ophthalmology, cardiology, neurology and gynaecology, to name a few. Becoming a specialist requires a lot of hard work and minimum training of at least four years.

However, the advantage is that you will be able to treat the patient at a level higher than what you can do if you are general practitioner. You will be responsible for the patient’s progress right to the end.

As a specialist, you can also opt to work in the Ministry  of Health or join universities to become clinical lecturers.

Lecturers in pre-clinical departments

If you do not enjoy treating patients and you find clinical work too busy, you can join universities to become lecturers at pre-clinical departments such as anatomy and physiology.

Researchers

If you interested in research, you can branch into doing research in various reputable institutions in the country.

As you can see, there are many options to suit everyone’s interest and capability. The main thing is to become a doctor first. People’s interest may change with time according to the kind of exposure and working experience they obtain.

Of course, it is also determined by family circumstances. Most lady doctors to opt for the less busy schedule such as becoming lecturers in preclinical departments where they do not have to be on call.

(How to become a good & successful medical student; Muhaya Hj Mohamad)