A discussion of your career choice

Doctors, also called physicians, have an effect on everyone’s life. They treat people when they are sick or hurt. They give advice to patients to help keep them from getting sick. They bandage knees, prescribe medicine, sew up cuts, and operate on bones. They bring new babies into the world and comfort older people who are sick or dying.

People often know at a young age that they want to become doctors. Perhaps they are naturally good at math and science. Maybe they have a desire to help people and to make a difference in people’s lives. Or, they may just want a job that is full of challenges.
How doctors spend their time depends on what type of physician they are and where they work. Some doctors work in hospitals, some work in offices, and some work in laboratories. Many work very long hours, from the early morning until well after dark. Others keep regular daytime office hours. In fact, the only thing that all doctors have in common is that no two days are ever exactly the same.

Their Typical work activities include: running surgeries, listening to and questioning patients sensitively; referring patients to specialist services in hospitals; maintaining patient confidentiality and impartiality; planning and providing appropriate treatment; commissioning health care by liaising with medical professionals in the community and hospitals; promoting health education in conjunction with other health professionals; organising preventative medical programmes for individual patients; meeting targets set by the government for specific treatments, e.g. child immunizations; managing resources to service the targets as effectively as possible; providing advice on medical care, including immunisations for those traveling abroad; providing specialist clinics for specific conditions or for certain groups, e.g. diabetes or new babies; using IT skills - some practices have one partner who may specialise, in the use of IT within the practice, but all will be expected to have basic abilities for work such as maintaining patients' records; keeping up to date with medical developments, new drugs, treatments and medications, including complementary medicine (the internet is increasingly being used as a means of researching and gathering information on medical products);