Profession Profile #1 Career Overview Harrison STEM Capstone

Introduction

Making a decision about what type of work you want to pursue after your education can be difficult. You might be
feeling a lot of pressure to figure it all out before you graduate but may not have any clarity about the path you want to
pursue. You are not alone! Many students need help considering or discovering their career options but have never
completed a full exploration of their options.

Some things to consider:

 You do not need to have your career totally figured out before you graduate from Harrison. Most people change
jobs and careers many times over the course of their lives.
 Beware of choosing a career path because it’s easier or because of the pay. Long-term job satisfaction goes a
long way.
 Don’t be too hung up on being certain that all will go as planned. Life takes a lot of unexpected turns that are
impossible to predict, and your career may be impacted by external factors such as falling in love, having a
family, finances, health/illness, etc.

Procedure

Different: not the same as another or each other; unlike in nature, form, or quality
Be sure that your career overviews are “different”! What is your back up plan? What else have you considered?
What did your self-evaluation suggest?

֍ Career Explorers will complete this for TWO DIFFERENT CAREERS

 One of the careers must be directly from the results you generated in Reflective Exercise #4 using the
CareerOneStop site.

֍ Interns will complete this once but it once must be for a career DIRECTLY RELATED TO YOUR INTERNSHIP!

You will complete the form below while considering the following questions:

Possible jobs/occupations
• What are some specializations in the field or specific occupations (job titles)?
• What are the typical duties and responsibilities of each specific occupation?
• In which sectors do most of the job opportunities fall? For-profit, nonprofit, government?
Work Environment/Conditions
• What is the work environment like?
• How many hours of work or overtime per week are expected or required?
• What type of supervision or management is typical?
• What is the dress code?
• Is travel required?
Preferred or required skills and personality traits
• Which technical or “hard” skills are necessary or helpful? (e.g. foreign language, specific computer program,
writing, math, data analysis)
• Which interpersonal or “soft” skills are necessary or helpful? (e.g. communication, teamwork, leadership,
problem-solving)
• What skills would you be able to develop in the work?
• What personality traits are a good fit for this type of work? (e.g. takes risks, likes to work long hours
independently, prefers working in a team, likes fast-paced environments)
Profession Profile #1 Career Overview Harrison STEM Capstone
Information/Knowledge
• What topics or information would you be learning more about?
• What knowledge or interests make a person well-suited for the work?

Values
• What personal values are encouraged or reflected in the work? (e.g. a life without stress, creating close
relationships, making lots of money, creating beauty, constant challenges, autonomy)

Education & Training

• What college courses or majors are required or helpful for preparing for this work?
• What previous work or extracurricular experience is required or helpful?
• What credentials, licensing, or certifications are required?
• What advanced degrees are helpful for necessary? (Masters? Professional School? PhD?)
• What are the types of graduate programs are helpful or necessary in order to be qualified and/or
competitive?
Types of employers
• What types of organizations, companies, and agencies employ people from this field or with this certain
occupation?
• What are the names of some specific organizations, companies, or agencies?
Earnings and Benefits
• What are the beginning, average and top salaries in the field?
• What other benefits are typically offered as part of the total compensation package?
• How much money do you think you need to live the kind of life you would like? How will you find out?
Profession Profile #1 Career Overview
Career/Field/Occupation: Dermatologist
Possible job titles/occupations:
 Board-certified dermatologist
 General Dermatologist – treat
and diagnose almost all skin
conditions including plaque
psoriasis, rosacea, and acne
 Research Dermatologist –
focused on the new and
upcoming research in the
dermatology field to better
clinical, translational, and health
services
 Mohs Surgeon – focused on
treating and removing skin
cancers through Mohs
micrographic surgery
 Cosmetic Dermatologist – treat
skin issues that affect
appearance like hair loss, dark
spots, or wrinkles
Skills & Personality Traits:
 Good with oral and written
communication skills
 Empathize with patients
 Manual dexterity
 Critical and logical
 Problem solving skills
 strong leadership
 strong understanding of
medicine
 quick decision making
 skill in the dermatology field
(ability to perform chemical
peels, mohs surgery, cosmetic
injections, etc.)
Harrison STEM Capstone
Work Environment:
Depends on place of work but can
vary from a general hospital
environment to an emergency room
to a place of private practice. Almost
always a patient and a doctor in a
medical room.
40-50 hours a week but can be more
or less depending on the specific
jobs. Very professional, business
casual, or hospital attire, depends on
place of work. No other travel other
than commute to and from work is
required.
Information/Knowledge:
Most education is learned before
entering this job, but the ability to be
hands on will further the dermatology
knowledge. Must read current
literature, talk with colleagues, and
participate in conventions and
conferences to keep up to date with
developments in science.
Profession Profile #1 Career Overview
Values:
 Enjoy helping people
 Make a lot of money
 Work with people
 Want to help people
become prettier and more
confident
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Education & Training:
 4 years of college for a
bachelor’s degree
 Pass MCAT
 4-years of medical school
 Pass the USMLE for
medical license
 1-year internship
 3-year residency for 12,000
to 16,000 hours of hands on
dermatology experience
 Many seek out a board
certification

Types of Employers: Earnings & Benefits:

 Hospitals  Salary increases as experience
 Private practices increases
 Medical facilities
 Entry level
 $201,000 to $301,300 per year
 $100 to $144 per hour

 Average salary
 $350,800 per year
 $168 per hour

 Common Benefits – 401k, disability,

healthcare, pension, time off,
insurances (depending on place of
employment)
Profession Profile #1 Career Overview Harrison STEM Capstone
Employment & Advancement Outlook: Related Occupation/Fields:
 Job growth is positive at a 7%  Pharmacist
demand increase  Podiatrists
 Vacancies in the field have gone up  Health science
by 80.51% since 2004  Physician assistant
 There are currently ~372,400  Surgeon
dermatologists in the US  Family and general practitioners
 Job market is expected to grow by  Dermatoimmunology
11.4% between 2016 and 2026  Dermatopathology
 Photomedicine

Notes on field/occupation fit for you:

 I really like the idea of this job especially since it has so many routes you can take.
If I don’t like one part I can just specialize in another part and never have to bother
with that.
 The only thing that scares me is a lot of schooling is needed

Career Overview Analysis:

1. Are you still interested in this career now that you’ve completed your research? Why or why not?
• Yes, I like the content of the career and all of the day to day activities; however, the amount of
school really scares me because I’m already sick of school and dread the thought of 12 more years
of schooling. It’s also going to be a lot of money to reach the end goal but the end reward is going
to be very satisfying and life changing.

2. Did you discover anything about this career that surprised you?
• I didn’t realize how many years of school a dermatologist had to do. I knew they would have to go
to med school, but I didn’t know they had a residency and internship just like a surgeon. The salary
also shocked me

3. List five characteristics about this career that you like most.
Profession Profile #1 Career Overview Harrison STEM Capstone
• Amount of money
• Ability to fix peoples insecurities (acne, skin diseases, etc)
• Not many life-threatening decisions as compared say a surgeon
• When I start the job (end the residency) I will be a high level professional to begin with
• With the same education and prerequisites, I can become almost any type of dermatologist. For
example, if I don’t like being a cosmetic dermatologist I could easily switch to general dermatology

4. List any characteristics about this career that you do not like.
• Amount of school needed
• Very specific and picky but some people are gross and don’t take care of their skin which I would be
touching and attempting to fix. Not that big of a deal because this problem comes with almost
every medical field job.

5. What more do you need to learn about this career in order to know if you’d like to pursue it?
• I need to look more into what the internship and residency really mean. Are they paid? Will I need
to pay to do them? Will they just basically be a job but also learning from a professional? I also
need to learn more about the dermatology in general to know if I am truly interested.

6. What other resources could you use to learn more? (people, groups/associations, print/web, etc.)
• I could talk to real dermatologists about their career and interview them. I could ask almost
all of my questions to them because they have already been through it. There are also a lot
of organizations for dermatologists that have tons of information on their websites. I just
need to sit down and research about the field in general.

7. What barriers might you face in pursuing this career and how might you overcome them?

• Financial aspects for the years of schooling needed. I can try to obtain scholarships and
grants however it is very likely I will have to take a student loan for med school at least. I
will also have to get used to the fact that some people are gross but I still have to treat
them to make them un-gross. This will probably go away with time once I learn more about
medicine and the field and how it’s natural.

8. What could you do now to begin preparing for this career?

• I can simply start researching into dermatology and getting a good base understanding of
the information and pathway to becoming a dermatologist. I can also talk to family friends
that are dermatologists just to gain even more knowledge.

9. Are there other careers that you discovered in this process that you’d like to learn more about?

• I discovered the field of immunodermatology or dermatoimmunology which sounds very

interesting to me and I had no idea this type of research even existed.
Profession Profile #1 Career Overview Harrison STEM Capstone
STOP! If you are an intern, you do not need to proceed. If you are a Career Explorer you must continue and complete
the remainder of this assignment.

Career/Field/Occupation: Anesthesiologist
Possible job titles/occupations: Work Environment:
 Anesthesiologist – maintains  Works indoors in medical
the patient in a state of settings
controlled unconsciousness,  Hospital attire, gloves,
provides pain relief, and protective glasses,
monitors the patient's critical life  40+ hours a week
functions as they are affected  Travel not required but
throughout medical procedures depending on job you could
 Anesthesiologist assistant – be traveling between
helps to assist the different hospitals in the
anesthesiologist in his duties area
and responsibilities, not allowed  Works with a team of
to practice outside of medical professionals such
anesthesia field or without as doctors, surgeons, and
supervision of anesthesiologist, nurses
specific responsibilities differ by
state
 Anesthesia Technician -
responsible for managing the
anesthesia equipment and for
its proper maintenance and
sterilization

Skills & Personality Traits: Information/Knowledge:

 A huge understanding of  most knowledge is learned
sedation and anesthetics through the rigorous coursework
 Administer sedation and required to become an
anesthetics anesthesiologist
 Likes to work in a team
 a further understanding of
 Stay focused on tedious work
for long periods of time anesthetics and sedatives
 Detail oriented  learn further into and adapt the
 Calm in stressful situations skills used in practice
 Empathetic and sympathetic  learn more about how to create
Profession Profile #1 Career Overview
 Good with oral and written
communication skills
 Manual dexterity
 Critical and logical
 Problem solving skills
 strong leadership
 quick decision making
Values:
 help to create a pain free
surgical experience and
monitor the vitals of the patient
 make a lot of money
 commitment to health
 consider the doctor/patient
relationship important
 independent
 teamwork
Types of Employers:
 Hospitals
 Private practices
 Medical settings
 Surgical clinics
 Hospice settings
Employment & Advancement Outlook:
 Bureau of labor statistics says
between 2019-2029
anesthesiologists job market will grow  Pharmacist
by .5%
 Estimated 200 jobs will open up
Harrison STEM Capstone
anesthetic treatments
specifically for a patient
Education & Training:
 4 years of college for a
bachelor’s degree
 Pass the MCAT
 4 years medical school
 Pass the USMLE
 4-year residency
 Become state licensed
 Become board certified
(optional)
Earnings & Benefits:
 Earnings and salary will change with time
and experience
 Average salary
 $393,800
 Typical range
 $341,200 - $446,500
 Top 10% salary
 $494,481
 Common Benefits – 401k, disability,
healthcare, pension, time off, insurances
(depending on place of employment)
Related Occupation/Fields:
 Anesthesia technician
 Pediatric anesthesiologist
 Physician assistant
 Surgeons
Profession Profile #1 Career Overview Harrison STEM Capstone
between 2019-2029  Nurse
 The range of the profession is
growing rapidly though, they used to
be mainly used only in the operating
room; however, now they are used
for other procedures such as invasive
radiology, gastrointestinal endoscopy,
and electrophysiology
Notes on field/occupation fit for you:
I like the idea of this job especially the money aspect however the risk involved in this
felid is very scary. I would be terrified that if I made a mistake with the anesthetic the
patient could easily die or feel the surgery but be unconscious and unable to tell them.
There is a lot of risk that I would be solely in charge of.

Career Overview Analysis:

1. Are you still interested in this career now that you’ve completed your research? Why or why not?
• I am interested in this career because it is very similar to surgery; however, I would not be
performing the surgery, but I would still be a part of it. I love surgery but I don’t have the manual
dexterity to perform intensive procedures so this career would be a great middle ground.

2. Did you discover anything about this career that surprised you?
• I did not know that the anesthesiologists not only sedated the patient but also kept them breathing
and monitored their vitals and life equipment. I always thought they just administered the
anesthetic and then sat and watched to make sure it kept working, but they are constantly focusing
on something.

3. List five characteristics about this career that you like most.
• Salary
• Less risky than surgery but still apart of surgery
• Able to “experiment” with different treatments to see which is the most valuable and worth doing
• Very medical/hospital environment
Profession Profile #1 Career Overview Harrison STEM Capstone
• Flexible schedule

4. List any characteristics about this career that you do not like.
• A lot of risk involved
• A lot of time and education involved

5. What more do you need to learn about this career in order to know if you’d like to pursue it?
• I need to research into the field of anesthesiology because I have no prior knowledge on it so I
don’t know if I will even like it. I also need to look further into what residency really means in this
context.

6. What other resources could you use to learn more? (people, groups/associations, print/web, etc.)
• I can talk to family friends about their job and how they got there. I can also simply
research and look up information to answer the questions I have. There are also groups
and organizations dedicated to anesthesiologist and information related to them.

7. What barriers might you face in pursuing this career and how might you overcome them?

• The only barrier I can think of is the financial aspect of med school and residency but I
could easily work another job, apply for scholarships, or take out student loans. There is
also a knowledge barrier; however, after 12 years of experience I doubt this would be a
problem.

8. What could you do now to begin preparing for this career?

• I could start with furthering my base understanding of medicine and anesthetics and I
could also talk to family friends that are anesthesiologists or have connections to one
about how they went about preparing for this career.

9. Are there other careers that you discovered in this process that you’d like to learn more about?

• I discovered the career of Anesthesiologist technician which sounds very interesting to me

especially with how little pre-requisite education they need.