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Why you should do an internship before studying. The profession of "doctor" has been one of the most prestigious professions to learn since the 3rd century BC. Accordingly, training to become a doctor is naturally also popular: studying medicine. Unfortunately, the aforementioned "reputation" and "prestige" that doctors still enjoy today is often one of the main reasons why school leavers decide to study medicine. However, this approach can backfire as soon as you start your career as a doctor.
We explain how you can avoid this mistake in this article:
That's why you could be unhappy as a doctor:
The professional and Choice of training is one of the most important decisions in your life. Every aspect, with its advantages and disadvantages, should be considered carefully. The following expectations of a career as a doctor rarely correspond to reality and could be the reason why you are unhappy later on:
- You want to become a doctor because you Rich want to become: As Doctor earnings You certainly won't make bad money, but only a small percentage of doctors really get rich. If you want to earn a lot of money, which is a legitimate desire, there are other professions that will get you there faster.
- You want Prestige and reputation: This is still partly the case nowadays, but not to the same extent as it was in your grandparents' generation. People imagine the degree programme and the profession to be "more special" than it actually is. You realise this quite quickly during your first internship.
- You decide to study medicine because you good grades have: Unfortunately, this is often the case. High school graduates decide to study medicine because they want to use their extremely good grades - after all, the top A-levels were not for nothing. They therefore opt for a degree programme with extremely high NC. As a result, there is actually no great interest in the subject of medicine, only in the service to be provided. Unfortunately, that doesn't make for good and happy doctors.
Why you should do an internship before studying:
The reasons mentioned above: Salary, reputation and your NC, may certainly have an influence on your decision. The important thing is that these are not the only deciding factors. There is only one way to familiarise yourself with all aspects of the medical profession. And that is by experiencing the work of a doctor first hand.
Now there are many people whose parents are doctors themselves and therefore this career choice is quite obvious. But be careful here too: you won't get to know the real profession of a doctor at home! If you really want to be sure that you are making the right choice by studying medicine, then you should spend some time working in the healthcare sector.
We would proceed as follows:
Insight into the healthcare system
You've finished your A-levels and finally have time to pursue your interests. You already know that you are interested in studying medicine and you are thinking about how you can get a place.
At this point, you should think carefully about how you can best gain an insight into working as a doctor and the healthcare system without wasting too much time. The best way is usually to Nursing internship in hospitalas you will need this for your studies anyway.
Training as a paramedic (3 months) is certainly a very good decision. You probably won't get a more intensive insight into medicine in a shorter period of time.
Also a FSJ in hospital or the emergency services can make perfect sense. However, you should bear in mind that this will take a year. To find out whether you are interested in becoming a doctor, it certainly doesn't take longer than 1-2 months.
Even an internship with a doctor in private practice is better than going to university without any insight! You can certainly spare 4 weeks after your A-levels.
Get to know the profession before you decide you want to do it later! This is the reason why you should do an internship before studying
The smartest way to improve your chances of getting a place at university and gain an insight into the medical profession at the same time
Getting a place to study human medicine is a study in itself! From our own experience, we know that much more time is spent on finding the best and quickest way to study medicine than on whether it is the right way at all.
You can save yourself this time. We have already picked out the best route for your Numerus Clausus.
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