To consider a career in healthcare, you are probably already a caring individual. After all, the main purpose of healthcare is to help others in their time of need and bring them back to good health. Once you start a career in healthcare, however, you will only become a better person. There will be experiences that shape you, humble you, and guide you towards becoming the best possible version of yourself. Here are all the reasons a career in the medical industry makes you a better person overall.
1: You will become more open-minded
While working in healthcare, you are likely to meet a vast range of people. From your fellow employees to the patients you are caring for, there will be individuals from all walks of life, and you will hear a vast array of tales from people from different cultures, countries, and beliefs. This will only serve to open your mind, as you will come to understand how many people live and appreciate the variety of humanity as a whole.
As well as this, you will come to see everyone equally, no matter what their background. In the end, no one is exempt from illness, and underneath everybody is a skeleton. As you will be up close with this reality, you will end up someone who deeply understands how everyone truly is equal.
2: You will learn selflessness
Learning how to be selfless is a life skill that can take years, even decades, to achieve. Working in healthcare will speed up this process exponentially. Each day, you will be tasked with caring for the sick, so you will adapt to putting their needs before your own. There will be times where you will get stressed and feel like the day is giving you too much, but you will always find time to help the patients who are relying on you. This selflessness is a rarity, and it will be something you carry with you always. It will be something you take home with you, so, if you have a partner who is suffering at the same time as you, you will learn to help them despite how you feel. While this is one of the most admirable traits, that doesn’t mean neglecting yourself, so make sure you take some time for self-care!
3: You will become more forgiving of failure
Healthcare is one of the most humbling careers in the world. The reason for this lies in the fact that you will most likely fail numerous times. Working in healthcare, you will be subject to criticism, patient complaints, and so much more. You learn to adapt around this and grow a thick skin, but that doesn’t take away the memory of how it feels. You will grow to understand that everybody makes mistakes, and everybody should be forgiven for that. If someone makes an error that causes you inconvenience, you will be more likely to take a calmer tone with them rather than shout at them, which may only alienate people more.
4: Your intelligence will soar
Of course, if you’re working in healthcare, you are most likely already extremely clever – many medical careers require a bachelor’s degree or at least a good amount of training. Some healthcare jobs also ask for education such as a master’s and professional degrees, such as surgeons and Nurse Practitioners. There are a variety of ways to get into a healthcare career, even sometimes from home with online nurse practitioner programs. All of this education will only make you smarter.
Education doesn’t end there, however, as in healthcare, you will never stop learning. The medical world is an ever-evolving field, and workers in each sector must be able to keep up with all of the latest medical developments. What that means for healthcare workers is that they are always in the know and constantly expanding their brains. The more you advance in the career, the more intelligent you will become.
5: You have excellent role models
The wonderful thing about healthcare is all of the brilliant people who work in it. If you enter a role in the medical world, you will more than likely be greeted by a vast number of intelligent, caring individuals who can teach you so much. Having a mentor increases that still, as you will be learning from the very best, meaning you will eventually become the best you can.
Many say who you are is who you spend most of your time with, and because you will be around skilled, brilliant healthcare workers, you, too, will become one.
6: Your communication skills will flourish
To work in healthcare, you must be a great communicator. It is absolutely vital – conversation and the written word are used to communicate facts about patient records, treatments, schedules, and much more. This means you will have to become a fantastic communicator, and with everybody else around guiding you, you are sure to become one. You will find that you no longer stumble over words or bore people with too much waffle, you will find succinct, interesting ways of talking to others. Your listening skills will also improve, as you will have to listen to other medical professionals throughout your day as well as patients, so you will be accustomed to hearing people out without interruption.
7: You will appreciate other’s hard work
Having such an intense, fatigue-inducing job, you will come to appreciate just how much effort other people put in. Understanding is the key to appreciation, so you will find yourself showing more gratitude to those in your life who work hard. The appreciation will only mean others reciprocate – choosing to shine a light on other people’s achievements makes both of you feel good.
8: Your patience will increase
No one understands patience as much as someone who has worked in healthcare. When you are spending each day looking after the sick, listening to people, and at times dealing with difficult patients, you learn to be patient. This will then seep into home life; when you find yourself facing a difficult situation that requires time, you will know how to deal with it due to your skills in the art of unwavering patience.
9: You learn how to care for the sick
Knowing how to care for the sick does not just come in handy when you’re at work. If you have children who are poorly, you will be able to care for them in the best way possible. You will know the correct words to say, the best food to give, and you may just have learned a few little tricks to speed up the recovery. Your family will surely appreciate how brilliant you are when someone falls ill.
10: You understand death
Nobody ever gets used to death, but working in healthcare, you come to a sort of understanding about it. You will grow to accept that death is an inevitability, and while it will always affect you, especially if you grow fond of the patients, you will find a new-found respect for the fragility of life. This can also help in your home life – when you and your loved ones experience death, you will be well trained in dealing with those who are grieving and have better control over your own emotions.
11: You learn how to deal with negativity
Unfortunately, healthcare workers have to deal with a lot of negativity throughout their day. That can be from criticizing colleagues to difficult patients, and it can be hard to put up with. Over time, however, healthcare workers grow thick skin, meaning they deal with negative comments and criticism much better. This is a brilliant skill to have, as not everybody in life is going to be kind, so not letting it get to you will come in handy.
12: You become a wiz at making friends
Many healthcare workers spend their days surrounded by people. This means they pick up people skills extremely quickly and form bonds with patients and co-workers in a matter of days (or even hours!). These great people skills transfer over to everyday life and you will find yourself making friends with anyone you chat with.
13: You witness the best of humanity – and become the best Because of it
You are present for some of the most devastating, important, and personal moments of other people’s lives, and you see humanity when it’s at its most fragile. You might see a couple’s last kiss, the first cry of a man in years, or the most heartful cheer when someone learns of their loved one’s recovery. All of this will fill you to the brim with sheer hope and joy, and you will want to become better because of it.
A healthcare career is extremely diverse, and you never know what the next day will bring. It takes a special kind of person to begin a medical career, and those that do end up becoming some of the most caring, passionate, and wonderful people in the world.