Are you thinking about choosing a career in medicine? Then you might want to check out the opportunities available after pursuing an MBBS. It might help you understand the various options you’ll have and help you decide what you want to opt for. If you are confused about what to choose or whether or not you want to pursue a career in medicine, this blog is here to help you decide.
Although MD and MS might be among the top preferable options after MBBS, they aren’t the only options out there. There’s a lot more in store, from an MBA to becoming a medical writer. Society might judge you for such offbeat career choices, but well, remember what Frost said? “I took the [road] less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.” And rebels with a cause are the ones that bring change to the world.
Anyway, unlike the roads in Frost‘s poem, which diverged into two, the road after MBBS diverges into more than two roads. Let’s take a look.
1. MD or MS
Doctor of Medicine (MD) and Master of Surgery (MS) are post-graduation courses to gain advanced knowledge in the field of medicine. These are lucrative titles and broaden the scope with better job opportunities. And it’s no secret that there’s always a need for more surgeons and physicians.
Master of Surgery involves studying surgical treatments in medicine and later, working as a surgeon. To pursue an MS, a medical undergraduate degree is a prerequisite. Though this course is considered among the most difficult ones, there are perks to it.
If surgical operations don’t seem like something you’d want to do, then there’s a Doctor of Medicine who deals with non-surgical treatments and diagnosing patients.
2. MBA
If you want to work in the corporate world with a medical background, it’s possible. There are colleges offering MBA courses, some of which are in Hospital Management, Healthcare Management, Hospital Administration, Bioinformatics and Medical Administration. The job opportunities after this involve working with top pharmaceutical companies, managing operations at multi-speciality hospitals and health insurance organisations.
So, if you feel that working in an administrative or managerial position in the healthcare industry is something that you find exciting, then this might be the option for you. The demand for doctors with MBA degrees is increasing at pharmaceutical giants and big hospitals. This has led to many management institutes offering these MBA courses for doctors.
3. Researcher
If you are passionate about research in the medical field, then this is one of the under-explored career options for medical students in India. Devoting time to studying medicine and to finding innovative solutions is a field that will remain vastly open. Job opportunities here involve working with Indian institutes like AIIMS and ICMR and, more internationally, WHO. Various institutes apart from these, even in the private sector, have their own research centres. It involves conducting experiments and analysing the results to understand the human body better by creating new medicinal drugs.
4. Private Clinic
If you want to go for an independent career option and have enough capital on hand, then starting your own private clinic could be your go-to option. It requires an initial understanding of the location and analysis of the prevalent medical condition where you wish to set up the clinic.
5. Primary Health Centres
Choosing to work with primary health centres gives you broader on-field experience as a doctor and also a chance to serve the community. It involves working in rural areas and providing healthcare services to the people. Along with that, you get a chance to create awareness amongst these people by educating them about the importance of healthcare.
This option might not be as lucrative in terms of money as compared to the others, but it has a far bigger goal of providing medical services to the underprivileged. You can choose to work with the government as well as private institutes that hire fresh MBBS graduates.
6. Medical Professor
If passing on your medical knowledge and expertise to younger minds excites you, then this is a good call. Beginning as a junior lecturer and climbing up the ladder to become a medical professor.
The benefit of being in the education field is that while you teach, you also get to learn a lot from the younger generation. You are bound to keep up with the latest advancements in the field of healthcare and your knowledge never goes stale. So, this option is an amalgamation of teaching and medicine.
7. Scientist
With technology changing the world every day, there are new advancements in the field of medicine as well. If working to make innovations and contributing your bit to revolutionizing the medical world is something on your bucket list, then becoming a scientist is what you should be considering. For this, you’d be required to do a postgraduate course in MD or MS to be able to pursue a PhD. It is an exciting field and working to change the face of medicine is an enthralling goal to have in life.
8. Medical Writer
If chasing a career in writing and medicine parallelly is something you wish to do, then becoming a medical writer is another great path to be chosen. The scope of work as a medical writer is on the rise. Any work involving the medical sphere requires blogs and articles for their digital content to stay relevant in this increasingly digitized world. The demand for expert medical writers to convey accurate information about the field is advancing.
You can work in academia, the medical industry, write for well-known medical journals, and do medical journalism. The options for medical writers are vast for you to pick from.
There are a lot of factors to consider while choosing a career path, so ponder over each option wisely before deciding on something. The opportunities here are endless if you have the knack for it.
All in all, there are a lot of conventional as well as contemporary options available to choose from in the medical field after an MBBS. But do not shy away from the road less traveled by if you feel like it. It might make all the difference!
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