If you’re someone who is seriously considering entering into the medical field, without a doubt, that is admirable. Whether you’re a doctor, a technician or even someone who assists in a medical office, because industry is focused on the health and well-being of individuals, it’s not just a field that helps a person, but an entire community of people across the globe.

That said, there is a lot to think about before making an official commitment. We have enclosed some legitimate pros and cons for you so that, hopefully, will help to provide you with some clarity and peace of mind in making the best decision (for you):

Pros of Working in the Medical Field

One of the pros, we already mentioned and it’s that you will be able to help people and in many cases, save lives because some people in the medical field work in labs to cure diseases or perform procedures that can prevent an accident or ailment from ultimately costing an individual their life. Another plus is that there are a large variety of career paths to choose from; you don’t have to stick to just one or two (or even five or 10) choices. Another plus is that there are many medical field jobs that pay a really good salary, plus based on the line of work that you choose, you can either stay where you live and work a steady schedule, you can be on-call or you can even travel to different cities, schools, labs, hospitals and offices. And, at the end of the day, it is a job that is filled with integrity, it’s always out to teach you something new and it’s a career path that you can be proud of doing.

Cons of Working in the Medical Field

Perhaps one of the biggest cons of working in the medical field is that there are hardly any positions that will not require you at least having an associate’s degree. This means that whether you want to be a pediatrician, a nurse, a therapist or even a healthcare IT consultant, you have to prepare yourself for going to college and sometimes medical school in order to be licensed to work in the field. Another con is that paying for your education can be quite expensive; a large majority of people who work in the medical industry have debt that is directly contributed to paying for school. Another con that some people experience is that the hours can be long and pretty demanding. Due to the fact that health crisis are not instances that are “planned”, even if you have a job with set hours, it’s not rare occurrence that you’ll oftentimes be expected to work overtime. And if you are a doctor or nurse, you can find yourself going without sleep. Another thing to think about is that it can sometimes be hard to have a personal life due to the fact that your life is oftentimes centered around your work.

Yes, you definitely have a lot to think about. Our advice is to seriously reflect on how passionate you are about the medical field and then take the time out to think about what it will cost you, especially when it comes to your time and finances and balance that out with the rewards: a nice income, but more importantly, contributing to an industry that helps to improve the quality of life.