#diploma in counselling psychology uae

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Increased Salary with a Mеdiсаl Degree: Consider your Options

Medical Physicians are probably one of the highest paid professions in the world. These professionals make a lot of money and have the ability to set their own schedules to some extent, but it’s certainly not an easy job. Doctors provide diagnosis, treatment, medicines and counselling to people suffering from a variety of illnesses and diseases.

To be part of the medical profession it takes years and years of study and sometimes life just doesn’t allow you to take time off for your studies. This is where distance learning online courses in UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman and the rest of the Middle East come in handy.

Even with a promise of higher salaries, the medical world may not be something that is for you. However, these are various routes such as Psychology of Work (a course dedicated to people interested in the HR profession) or aMasters in Diabetes (a course designed to help practitioners understand how to combat diabetes through clinical research)

Nevertheless, this article discusses the requirements of someone interested in the medical field

Eight Years at the least!

Upon completing your undergraduate degree, you would have at the least another 8 yeas of full-time schooling before you can become a medical doctor. If you want to specialize you may be looking at close to 10-12 years of additional study time. The time commitment and financial commitment is enormous and this makes them the number one reasons why most people opt out of the medical world professions. So if you like working with people and want to become a ‘healer’ just be sure you are truly interested in the medicine world to dedicate the first few years of your young life. Your friends may already have started their careers in sales or marketing or finance, but your dedication will be your success!

Shadow a Doctor

This is an interesting suggestion, before you start with medical school, get in touch with your local physician and request to shadow/follow them around for a week! This could be clubbed with internship activities for your high school or IB diploma in the last couple of years and then you would get a true sense of what it means to help people. You could also go to the extent of shadowing several doctors in different departments and you would then be in an informed position before taking the plunge!

If shadowing is not possible, consider volunteering at a local hospital, a nursing home or any other health care related establishment. This way you will gain valuable exposure that will not only support your medical degree application but give you first hand experience of what is the scope and range of the industry.

How big are the Salaries?

Doctors can make anywhere between $80,000 a year to well over $200,000 a year depending on the specialties and their experience, the reputation of the facility and the doctor itself. We have heard numerous stories of doctors traveling from all over the world to consult on special surgical cases as well as month long waiting lists to meet a renowned specialist such as cardiac surgeons, brain surgeons and so on.

The salary points are influenced by all the above points but with all the years of hard work and dedication the difference in earnings from someone in a sales position is significant! Dentists tend to own their own practice and consult in larger hospitals, the potential earnings is huge if you provide proper facilities and services. We all know we check with family and friends (even on Facebook groups) prior to consulting with a doctor, dentist or paediatrist as we want the best for ourselves and our families.

The Downsides

Just as there are significant advantages to being in the medical world there are also a number of downsides to being a doctor.

·         If you are a surgeon or an obstetric or an anesthesiologist, you would be on call for at least half the month – day and night.

·         Sometimes you are not even allowed to take a break during holiday season, such as Christmas, Eid, Diwali and so on.

·         Your family life will be structured around your work schedules and may not always be fair to your spouse and children.

·         Malpractice Insurance for doctors is extremely expensive

But we all need doctors and surgeons and dentists and so on… don’t we? These are also major reasons who medical professionals are so highly paid, replacing them is not as easy as replacing an admin staff member.

Other options/possibilities:

So, as I mentioned at the start of this article, after reading through all the ups and down of the medical world and gaining some hands-on experience through internships, you decide this is not for you but you still want to ‘help’ people…then you may want to consider becoming a nurse or a physician’s assistant.

Nursing like doctors are as knowledgeable and as informed but unable to give out prescriptions. It is the nurses who actually take care of in-patients and make sure recovery is going as planned/expected. Doctors visit their patients once a day on their rounds and that’s it!

A physician’s assistants position also allows you to work with patients, pays fairly well and is less demanding in terms of time commitment, financial commitment and stress!

What other options are available via distance education in UAE? How about an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) to start with? It does not take long to complete this course (varies from country to country) and plays an extremely important role intervening in medical emergencies!

I would recommend you investigate the local/regional possibilities such as the University of Leicester distance learning masters’ programs in health & psychology.

Checklist Before signing up

Here is a simple checklist to review prior to investing in your medical degree:

        Can you commit to eight (8)years or more of studying after your undergraduate degree?

        Are you good at calculus?

        Are you capable of absorbing large volumes of information?

        Have you shadowed a doctor?

        Have you considered volunteer work while in school?

        Do you have an education and career roadmap?

        Can you handle the stress of the job?

        Have you addressed all the cons?

        Are you able to accept constructive criticism?

        Is research of more interest to you or is helping people?

        How much does it cost to start my own medical practice in the future?

When you have honestly answered, all the above questions, then I believe you will be in a position to decide whether or not the medical world is a right fit for you. Do not be daunted by this article or the scope of toil mentioned above, we need and want doctors, but doctors need to be sympathetic and genuinely concerned individuals…

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The author of this article recommends Stafford Global, which is engaged in offering distance learning courses and online education in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha, Qatar, Riyadh, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and the rest of the Middle East. Stafford works in collaboration with prestigious UK based Universities such as the University of Leicester that is QAA certified and internationally recognized.