Am I cut out for Health Field?

[jtron24]

Hey everyone, I am a 21 year old male college student about to go into my senior year. I haven't known what I want to do with my life since I started college. I took forever to decide on a major and have since been unhappy with my choice. I am a Psychology major with a minor in Bio.

I recently discovered that I do pretty well in science classes because of my good memory. After doing some research, I found that I would really like to go into the Healthcare field in some way. I like the sense of job security, the money, and I love the idea of being able to help people. I thought about pharmacy for awhile, then thought about becoming a PA. A girl I met told me she is an EMT, prepping to become a PA. She said it's not too hard to get the training for and the experience looks really good when applying to schools.

Here's my issue: I am on the shy side. I want to help people. And I feel like I could dedicate myself to the schooling and whatnot, but I am definitely more of an introvert. I have no idea if I could handle something like being an EMT, thrown into a situation where I have to save someone's life. I feel best when I'm confident I have all the tools I need for the situation at hand. Would I be better off not spending the time/money working towards these goals if my personality is ultimately going to hold me back in the end? Or will the training give me everything I need to thrive under intense circumstances and sort of break the walls of my shyness?

I guess a more broader way of asking my question is: How are you supposed to know if you will be any good at the job you're spending all this time/money/energy on?

Any advice would be great. Thank you!

[CleeIB]

Hi jtron24,

Try taking a Myers-Briggs personality test. There are a number of websites that offer it for free and suggest good career matches - just Google it. The test can be surprisingly accurate (I speak from personal experience) and can be a good starting point in helping you assess yourself.

Job security + money + wanting to help people sounds like a good recipe for working in healthcare. It is a rapidly growing field.

Your personality will hold you back only if you let it. If you become, say, a great EMT, you will have professional confidence, and you will be able to execute when necessary. If you put more time into something, you usually get better at it, and then you usually get more confident at it. That's how things work.

Go for it!

[TeJay]

Yes, definitely agree it takes a certain type of breed to an EMT. I too was skeptical at first but the EMT boot camp I attended gave all the appropriate training I needed to perform at best. When I experienced my first real call I was so nervous, I didn’t think I was going to make it and wanted to leave work and quit my job, but when the time came to perform, I knew just what to do and got the patient to the hospital just in time to save her life. It comes naturally and before you know it, you are saving a life. I can’t explain that feeling, but It was the best feeling ever and after that, all my uncertainties and doubts went away. Hands on training is what it’s all about, and the only way you will get a taste of what it’s like. Once you do your first ride along you will notice your mind is already working putting to work everything you were taught.

[Brent Jones]

I don't necessarily think you need to be an extrovert do well in healthcare.

You need to be passionate about helping others. You need to be polite. But most importantly, you need to be competent and responsible. You don't necessarily have to be the "life of the party" personality type to do well.

My parents were both PA's (or PSW's as they are called where I am) and neither of them were social butterflies. They were both nice people though and enjoyed making a difference. (It becomes easy to grow apathetic in that line of work)

[BeJoblessNoMore]

I think that's a disposition you can change quite easily if you consciously work at eliminating it and are really passionate about becoming what you want to be. Most things only freak you out from afar and most of our fears if not all are imagined. That being I said I think you already have all of the necessary or essential qualities required for the profession and it would be sad to see you give up simply because you think you can't do it.

Give it some more thought and if you are up for it you can take up the challenge but if not you can settle for something more comfortable.

[peanutbutter]

Talk to some people who are already doing the job. Ride along, do a bootcamp. Anything to get a feel for the real thing.
I think that if you're properly trained and know what to do, your personality won't necessarily hold you back. My own shyness only really comes into play when I'm in a new environment. Once I know the people around me and are comfortable with a job, my confidence and personality change and I believe this could happen to you too. The only way to know for sure is to try it out.

Don't let your fears hold you back!

[Shea]

If you really like this type of job you should overcome your shyness and fears.