Hi There,

Sad to know that you have not found the excitement you wished in this field.

But excitement is something that you can create on your own.

MBBS is a general practitioner course. So get into more of researcher and projects that can help you get better insights in to what you study.

At the same time, it will help you decide on the specialization you could opt for at the masters level.

As far as the skills are concerend, in general, when we visit a DR, we look out for:

• Compassion
• Empathy
• Farsightedness
• Communication skills
• Impromptu service

Apart from this I would also recommend, being frank with the patient if you feel you cannot handle the situation. At the same time recommend or call in for a second opinion is essential. These days Dr to not let go off their patients, do not recommend to other dr.

At the same time, keep attending various seminars and workshops conducted by experienced dr. It will give you an insight into your practice.

As far as masters is concerned, apart from pursuing a MD or MS, which is highly recommended, you can opt for an MBA in Hospitality management.

Hope this helps.

Wish you good luck....

Hello, thanks for writing to www.careerguide.com.

I find two aspects in your query. (1) you don't find excitement, and (2) skills set for professional development.

(1)
As far as excitement is concerned, I believe its unexpected environment, study pressure or peer group. If it is so then you can minimize expectations and focus on your study. You can start writing your experiences (as diary writing helped many medical students!), pursue hobbies like listening to music, paintings, cycling etc. Talking to a counselor or psychologist would help you a lot.

If you find MBBS not interested and confused about future scope to work well in the field, I would recommend you to take up ideal career test from www.careerguide.com. This will help you learn your strengths, weaknesses, interests and personality traits. As suggested by Meghna, you may think of pursuing management field MBA in Hospital Management or pursue public health courses (masters of Public Health). Both of these field has very good scope.

(2)
Skills set
To be a successful medical professionals, soft skills are important. I am sharing skills in addition to what Ms. Meghna has already shared:

Scientific Skills (diagnosis, prognosis and treatment): Medical professionals should have skills of
diagnosis, prognosis and treatment. Diagnosing a patient involves understanding the symptoms exhibited and understand possible root cause or causes and explaining it to patient in non-medical terminology.The doctor may then treat the patient. Treatment involves providing the correct recommendations to a patient, including medicine, referral to another doctor and surgery.

Communication skills: On a day-to-day basis, you will be communicating with patients, families, colleagues and others in the healthcare professionals. The communication will take place in a variety of forms including phone calls, meetings, progress notes, letters, emails and text messaging. You should be skillful to communicate clearly with different people. You don't only require knowledge of medical terminologies, but need a skill to translate that knowledge to patients and families. Communicating chronic conditions or diagnosis (such as HIV status, cancer etc.) requires skills.

Listening skills:Listening skills are very important. Studies show that poor listening skills could lead to adverse patient outcomes. Listening is hearing carefully what is said, understanding and appropriately responding to it. You can cultivate listening on your own or take help of counselor or psychologist.

Caring (balancing several roles): Medical professionals need to express care for their clients/patients. On a daily basis, your emotions will be taxed by caring for the sick, and injured. The patients and their families may be in frightened and emotionally heightened. They may express anger, frustrations to you. In order to express care, you will find yourself assuming several roles-counselor, caregiver, friend in addition to your role as a trained medical professional. It is a true balancing act. If you do not enjoy these various roles, it can lead to a miserable professional existence.

Learning attitude:Knowledge and skills are to be continuously honed. Everyday there is new technology, research and innovation in public health practices. As a medical professionals, you should cultivate learning attitude. You may learn from colleagues, patients, and others whom you interact with everyday. You can also enrol for sort-term courses, seminars and conferences to learn new knowledge. Keep yourself updated with latest knowledge in the field.

In the last, I would say, stay positive, enthusiastic and smiling. It always seems that the top performers have a relentlessly positive attitude towards the future and energetic. Such people's drive, determination, optimism and passion are contagious. Positivity and enthusiasm springs from a firm belief in what you are doing and a passion for moving it forward. Good leaders know how to cultivate a positive, energetic atmosphere and face frustrations, complications positively every single day.

Hope this is helpful.

Wish you an amazing health care career!
Apurva Kumar Pandya, PhD