There are many medical professions we are not familiar with by looking at the title. A lot more medical students are deciding to specialise and it is definitely needed. Understanding what the options are will allow more students to make decisions based on both passion and knowledge.
Trying to specialise can take a lot of time and energy, but it is worth the journey. When you write that personal statement for endocrine fellowship, you have almost made it to the finish line. We are going to explore the career prospects for someone graduating as an endocrinologist.
What does an Endocrinologist treat?
When the endocrine glands stop functioning as it should, there is an imbalance of hormones. If this happens, people are often diagnosed with diabetes, menopause, osteoporosis or certain types of cancers. It is a highly specialised field and there is a long study process that takes place. Endocrinologists have to be good leaders and communicators. This is true for any medical doctor, because of the sensitivity when communicating bad news. The salary prospects are good, with an earning potential of over $180000.
The path
Specialising in any medical field will first require you to obtain a Bachelor’s Degree. When choosing the degree, you want to focus on subjects in the science or biology field. This is not a requirement, but it will make the route ahead a little easier.
After you graduate with a Bachelor’s Degree, you now have to go to medical school. You have to qualify with an M.D. or D.O. degree. This is going to take you 4 years to complete, after which you would be required to get licenced. Taking the licensure exam is a crucial step in becoming a medical doctor, because it ensures that the student is now ready to practice as a doctor.
This is where your path to becoming an endocrinologist really begins. A 3 years residency will need to be completed under the supervision of a licenced physician. You will work with patients in a hospital under this supervision. At this time, you need to be already looking at the best endocrinology fellowships to be a step ahead. After completing your residency, you will write another licensure exam to test your competency in the field.
Once you are licenced in internal medicine, you will need to complete a fellowship program. Look at a few personal statement fellowship examples as you start preparing for the next phase. A fellowship program runs for about 3 years as well, but it’s one of the last hurdles you have to cross. When you complete the fellowship program, you need to write another board exam. This would be your last exam to being a licenced endocrinologist.
Career
Now that you are qualified, you can choose to go into research or clinical as a career choice. As a research endocrinologist, your work would mostly be based in a lab. This is where you would investigate causes and cures for hormone imbalanced diseases.
A clinical endocrinologist will allow you to be a bit more hands on. You would be able to work with patients in helping them either manage or cure their illnesses. AT the moment, more endocrinologists choose to go the clinical route, but it mostly depends on you as a person. Some people prefer to work with patients, while others enjoy the lab work.