career inc travel, health-service oriented, med? (1 Viewer)

[Tiffanys]

Hey so like I'm sort of in a pickle at the moment deciding on a goal to work towards for my HSC. I need one, trust me, I haven't done ANY work this term. I wanted to do Med but I don't want to spend more than 10 years of my life in Australia, not able to travel and just stuck here. Is it possible to do undergrad in Australia and postgrad overseas, or vice versa?
Suppose I do graduate from med, with some sort of specialisation, is there a job for me that would include travel (perhaps overseas as well) and seeing patients of a wide variety? Is it feasible to do this and will I be dirt poor if I decide one day to settle back down in Oz? ie. would it be easy for me to start a practice here or something that wold provide me with a stable life/income? Man do i sound angsty but I want to have an idea so I don't limit my life-choices with the university degree I choose.
I hear from a primary source ( a dentist) that dentistry apparently gives you a lot of freedom in your schedule, ie. you earn good money and get lots of holidays, this would allow for my need to travel a lot, right or not?
And wha of Physio, any chance as a travelling physio?

 

[velox]

I think you need to do more research. Of course you can do med here and do your training overseas. Remember there are placements within the med degree which most people go overseas for.

sosmedical take doctors for medical evacuations. As do the RAAF.

Every doctor sees patients of a wide variety. Generally doctors are well off no matter which country you are in.

Starting a practice can be hard or easy, its a stupid question.

Lol, dentists get lots of holidays? Generally if you own your own practice you choose your own hours. My sister works 3 days a week as a doctor - as I said you choose your own hours.

Money is good in both professions. What difference is there between $200k and $250k?

I think you need to go overseas for a gap year to get the travel bug out of your system, as wanting to travel should not dictate your choice of profession.

 

[partelephant]

A lot depends on what countries you want to travel to. If you are interested in travelling to countries in the developing world then I would think that there are quite a lot of opportunities through organisations such as MSF.

I'm pretty sure you can do specialist training overseas, but some countries such as the US (I think) may require you to pass a bar exam before you are allowed to practice in any form.

Dentistry has an advantage over medicine in that there is no post-graduation training i.e. no internships, etc which means you can set up a practice or start work as a fully fledged dentist as soon as you graduate.

There's plenty of opportunity to travel as a physio.....just become the Australian cricket team or Arsenal's team physio...=P (read: I think you have to be pretty damn top notch to be able to work as a travelling physio)

Finally, don't get offended by this question but, Do you want to become a health proessional because you believe that it will provide you with a great source of disposable income which you can use to travel or do you want to become one because you actually want to be one?
Your post makes you come across somewhat, to me in any case, as someone who is attempting to find the best career so they can get the most cash, fast with the lowest degree of difficulty in order to fund their dream lifestyle. If this is the case, the income obtained from becoming a doctor is grossly exaggerated relative to the kinds of hours you have to work to earn it and the strain that it places on your family, etc.

 

[L337]

I hear from a primary source ( a dentist) that dentistry apparently gives you a lot of freedom in your schedule, ie. you earn good money and get lots of holidays, this would allow for my need to travel a lot, right or not?

Correct.

What difference is there between $200k and $250k?

$50k

 

[Wooz]

I think you need to do more research. Of course you can do med here and do your training overseas. Remember there are placements within the med degree which most people go overseas for.

sosmedical take doctors for medical evacuations. As do the RAAF.

Every doctor sees patients of a wide variety. Generally doctors are well off no matter which country you are in.

Starting a practice can be hard or easy, its a stupid question.

Lol, dentists get lots of holidays? Generally if you own your own practice you choose your own hours. My sister works 3 days a week as a doctor - as I said you choose your own hours.

Money is good in both professions. What difference is there between $200k and $250k?

I think you need to go overseas for a gap year to get the travel bug out of your system, as wanting to travel should not dictate your choice of profession.

If your expecting medicine to get you jet setting around the world, dont keep your hopes up. RAAF Aeromed 3 Combat Hospital where i'll be in the future isn't about travel remember you can be sent to combat zones. Retrieval medicine such as the RFDS isn't really about travel and more about patient retrieval. Esp when clicnical nurses are sent on the ground to remote clinics.

MSF you must work in a region or country for a number for atleast 6 months depending on your specialization and yeah you have to fork out the bills for it.

It's a bit hard to land jobs in health professions with alot of 'travel' to different places within Australia and overseas.

 

[Tiffanys]

Harhar. Obviously I actually I want to medicine for reasons other than money. i i wanted money I would do banking or some stupid commerce/business shit, which never interested me. Partelephant, yes there are many people who do want to medicine for the money but most live hellish lives, change jobs or degrees as it's pretty fucking hard to get 5 hours of sleep a night and not love what you're doing.
And 'M OBVIOUSLY TRYING TO RESEARCH HERE? I guess I could always do Medecins sans Frontieres, get aids and die alone.

 

[lala2]

MSF yeah, you have to fork out your own bills, probably best to get some money behind you before you do that kind of thing. You could also work for charity organisations I suppose, Red Cross or World Vision or something, or even the UN, but dunno about the money there.
You could always be a doctor with the defence forces if it came to that. I'm not sure about medicine, but in pharmacy you can be a locum pharmacist so any chance of locum doctors?