Career Decisions as a Medical Physicist - Essay Example

CAREER DECISIONS AS A MEDICAL PHYSICIST Date: The prospect of finishing and graduation successfully from university is a dream of many undergraduates when joining university. One thing that hitting in their minds is the thought of getting that dream job which one has always been thinking about. Getting the dream job means that one can now actualize his dreams and live life in the best way he has been admiring of. While some graduates will often find it hard getting to their dream job after graduating, some will do so easily. Sometimes, getting a dream job is a matter of chance in the modern times, rates of unemployment have gone up and affected many graduates who are usually finishing studies when on fire to exploit their talents There are cases where one becomes lucky and gets multiple job offers to choose from in his field of study. This is not luck but another hurdle to overcome, some people have found themselves in job environments that they never thought would be that way. This is just because they did not make proper decisions before considering the kind of offer that best suits them both in the short and long term. A good job is not just about having the best salary; there are several other things that guide job consideration in a case where one has landed multiple job offers. Proper decision making about job offers is an important process, which needs to be given due seriousness. Most graduates will simply want to close their eyes, line up the offers in front of them and pick on a particular job only to regret later (Ahmed, Hasnain and Venkatesan, 2012). Remember, when you make the decision to choose on a job and later realize that it is not the one you dreamt of, the ones that you had to foregone will not be waiting for your reverse decision. In this age where students graduating have surpassed job offers available means that the door is always opened for the next candidate once you decline an offer from one of your probable employers. As a graduate medical physicist, there may be more that one job offer that may come knocking. Making the right decision about the kind of job to take will be vital since it will be key to deciding your career path. A good career should give the job candidate a good chance for advancement (Mayrhofer, et al, 2005), this means that a lot of decisions have to be given due considerations before the final decision is arrived at. One of the important things to do before signing up any of those job offer forms is to make an assessment about the industry and specific company before joining it. A good assessment can always provide important information about remuneration patterns in the company and industry. It will reveal the companies that pay high and the added advantages which abound in that company. Remuneration is the main driver of decisions about job offers and career plans; it is obvious that students will always give preferences to working with organsations that have better pay than those which do not. However, it is also important to understand that a good job is not necessarily the one which offers better remunerations, there are many other things that one needs to carefully consider, some of them include; bonus benefits attached to the job, connections and networks that a particular job is bound to have as well as opportunities for career advancement. Being a graduate medical physicist is a good opportunity to advance in career and reach its peak, it is therefore important to choose a job offer that gives you an opportunity to advance your career and at the same time earn enough to sustain you and your family and other dependants. This means that before choosing on a job offer, one has to make goals and objectives and see whether the particular job has those which features which fulfill them. Working in the National Health Service can be a good option; it gives you the benefit of interacting with the government’s health department and providing your services to several people across the country. National Health Service has centres all over the country, working with these departments mean that one can traverse all parts of the country, in this way; one can have a wider scope in terms of job application. Keeping in mind that after graduating, one is needed to have a better field where he can practice his theoretical knowledge. Working with the government is however not a dream for some people, there are those who hold that the government does not provide quality services compared to the private sector. As a matter of fact, the private sector creates more opportunities for graduates, not only in the medical field but in other disciplines as well. One good reason for working in the government’s NHS is that there is good infrastructure which medical practitioners can rely on in the course of their working. On the same note, there is one other disadvantage, despite of having best infrastructure, the government is known to have long procedures in the purchase, and replacement of worn out equipment, something that slows service delivery in NHS centres. In addition, the process of decision making into important management and health practice matters takes long channels. These many channels mean that too much time is wasted in consultations and hierarchies that have to be followed before arriving at the final decision. This is one thing that discourages many candidates from opting to work for the government. Many feel comfortable in the private sector, where there is more flexibility into decision-making processes and patterns. An institution that has so many hierarchies is mostly characterized with rigid structures which slow down decision making and other important management aspects. One good thing about working with NHS is that it may give you an easier chance for registering as a clinical scientist, something that will give you job security, however, the choice of whether to work for NHS or not depends on an individual’s decision and motivation. Being a medical physicist can also provide an opportunity for one to work as a research assistant in a university and any other institution of higher learning. Working as a research assistant means that there are many different projects to be undertaken; the success of one project has the ability to contribute to many other projects. Accomplishing a project successfully is known to elicit a lot of intrinsic motivation, which lead to participation, and success of many others. There are those who will prefer to go for a research assistant job in a university, since there are higher chances of meeting and interacting with people who have been actively involved in the field and are resourceful in providing mentorship (Rindfuss, Cooksey, and Sutterlin, 1999). Such collaboration has higher chances of devising winning formulas for succeeding in the three-year project, something that will open avenues for other projects. In addition, working as a research assistant will make it easier for registration and pursuance of a PhD in the same institute. Research assistants have a lot of responsibilities in the university; they are supposed to take care of particular research projects of their faculty members. It is well known that research is an important and essential component of academic careers. They are therefore to supervise the research process and in some way mentor them to successful accomplishment. In this way, it is clear that the benefits that accompany research assistantship lie beyond tuition programs. The researcher gets the opportunity to conduct research first hand; the advantage with this opportunity is that it gives you the needed preparation and experience into starting and managing your own research project as an individual. In the course of working as a research assistant, one is exposed to organizations and agencies that are interested in certain types of research which can be vital in offering research opportunities after one is in a position to hand a complete and successful research project. Alternatively, a medical physicist can choose to work as a trainee scientist in a medical manufacturing company, here he will have to oversee the manufacturing processes in the company alongside other important responsibilities. This can be a good chance for knowing and understanding various aspects of industrial practice that concerns medical physicists. Working in a company may provide important information which can be helpful in the event one would wish to start a similar company or pursue a similar venture. However, there are many decisions that have to be considered before a person decides to join a certain company. It is obvious that management practice and organizational culture varies from one company to another. For this reason, one has to choose a company with which he can easily integrate into its organizational culture. In the same way, final decisions about joining a certain company will depend on other factors like terms and conditions as well as other benefits. Not all these factors are standard in all companies, one has to make several considerations before selecting on the one that looks viable and meeting the preferred characteristics. In all these three options, it is obvious that one of them will have mode advantages than the others. Working as a research assistant seems to be the choice that can be given more weight than the three other options. First, working as a research assistant in a university comes along with much prestige. Many graduates and other job candidates like working in a job that gives them prestige, a university is known to be the epicenter of knowledge and that people working in faculties are intelligent and knowledgeable, this is not just an assumption but a fact, something that inspires one to take a job offer other when it comes along. Similarly, one of the main considerations for this job is that is offers one a chance to earn while at the same time study and advance his career. Work study programs are usually available for research assistants and other people working at the university. This has been a common practice in most universities done in a bid to help people advance their careers after accomplishing their first degree. this is preceded with the understanding that graduates want to establish and make a living after graduating, offering them a chance to further their studies at the same time make extra income for other life’s activities in life is a wonderful opportunity. While working at the university, one is exposed to interactions with other renowned experts and people of high authority in the respective field. Continuous interactions enhance relationships which become good references when one wants to get a job in a different field. The advantage here is that many employing organizations and other companies will have tendency to give first priority to job candidates that have good, reliable and renowned referees. Having such reliable and renowned referees gives the interpretations that you have worked with them in one way or another and that your skills can be matched to them. For this reason, taking a research assistants job in the university is much better compared to working at the NHS or in a medical engineering company. Another important considerations for working at the university as a research assistant is the fact that one can easily get time offs when there are exams in session at the university, this is because, professors are usually involved in students examination invigilation and marking, something that gives research assistants time to engage in their leisure and other part time meaningful endeavors. Other job opportunities may not have such regular time offs besides leave which is only once in a year. Many employees desire having a job that gives them enough time to do their own part time activities (Saks, and Ashforth, 1999). Many job opportunities will always keep their employees engaged from morning till late in the day, leaving them with only a few minutes to reach home and interact with their families and friends. Being a research assistant is a good opportunity since particular job candidates can have enough time to interact with their beloved ones and at the same do their own activities with much convenience. In general, doing a job that matches and fits well into ones preferences is known to produce internal motivation, which leads to excellent performance (Wall, Covell, and Macintyre, 1999). Many of those people who do jobs that do not match their preferences experiences stress and depression and have low morale and output. People should always go for jobs which perfectly suits their preferences or makes them feel better off at the end of the day. This calls for better career develops while still doing undergraduate studies (Sewell, Hauser, and Wolf, 1980). Many universities will always hold career guidance forums to help their students make proper decision concerning their careers and related issues before graduating (Bardick et al, 2006). Excellent career decisions and preparations enable people to avoid frustrations when they fail to get their dream jobs for they are able to resort to their alternative careers. A good career enhances an individual’s self esteem and boosts his productivity, people who have high self esteem have higher confidence in what they do. Similarly, they are able to inspire other into similar output, raising the need for people to follow their hearts with respect to career choice References Ahmed, A., Hasnain, N., and Venkatesan, M. (2012). Decision making in relation to personality types and cognitive styles of business students. IUP Journal of Management Research, 11(2), 20-29. Bardick, A.D., Bernes, K.B., Magnusson, K.C., and Witko, K.D. (2006). Junior High School Students’ Career Plans for the Future: A Canadian Perspective. Journal of Career Development, 32(3), 250-271 Mayrhofer, W., Steyrer, J., Meyer, M., and Strunk, G. (2005). Graduates career aspirations and Individual characteristics. Human Resource Management Journal, 15(1), 38-56. Rindfuss, R.R., Cooksey, E.C., and Sutterlin, R.L. (1999). Young adult occupational achievement: Early expectations versus behavioral reality. Work and Occupations, 26(2), 220- 263. Saks, A. M., and Ashforth, B. E. (1999). Effects of individual differences and job search behaviors on the employment status of recent university graduates. Journal of vocational behavior, 54(1), 335-349. Sewell, W., Hauser, R. and Wolf, W. (1980). Sex, Schooling and Occupational Status. American Journal of Sociology, 86(3), 551-583. Wall, J., Covell, K., and Macintyre, P. D. (1999). Implications of Social Supports for Adolescents’ Education and Career Aspirations. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science, 31(2), 63-71. Read More