MedEd Connect Blog: Exploring Medicine Based Careers

 Cardiothoracics Haneen Hajra  Cardiothoracic health is often viewed through the lens of advanced surgical techniques, cutting edge technology and major hospital systems. But for millions of people around the world, especially children, cardiac disease begins long before they even touch an operating room. I learned this earlier than most. I developed rheumatic carditis, an inflammatory heart condition that quietly reshaped my life long before I even understood what “cardiothoracic” meant.  What stuck with me wasn’t the diagnosis itself but how easily it could have been missed. In many countries, it is missed. Rheumatic heart diseases, caused by untreated strep infections, remains one of the world’s most preventable cardiovascular killers. But, it still affects more than 40 million people globally and claims hundreds of thousands of lives every year. Most are young. Most live in places where basic antibiotics and early diagnosis are not guaranteed and are considered a rare...

  Obstetrics and Gynecology (OB/GYN) By: Lipikaanjana Addagada Obstetrics and gynecology is a very demanding job. Not a lot of people want to have to run to the hospital in the middle of the night because one of their patients is having a baby. You have to wake up in the middle of the night to run to the hospital. Sometimes you don’t even get home till the next day. You can have emergency surgeries at any time and you have to be prepared. And for these reasons, not a lot of people choose to be an OB/GYN.  There’s a shortage of doctors in the OB/GYN department. It takes months for a patient to schedule an appointment because the gynecologists are so busy. Gynecologists see over 40 patients a day, that’s 4.25 patients per hour. And by the time they get home, another patient is having an emergency and they have to get to the hospital again. Many believe the work life balance is horrible and that’s why they don’t want to be an OB/GYN. But there’s so much more to being an OB/GYN ...

     Every day, a patient in a clinic waits for a nurse and oftentimes they find none. Across the globe, nursing is at its breaking point, and yet it remains key to a functioning healthcare system. According to the World Health Organization, there are 29.8 million nurses worldwide yet there is a shortage of 5.8 million, specifically in lower and middle-income countries.       The consequence of understaffing extended far beyond delayed care. It has affected nurses personally. Nurse burnout, fuelled by high workloads, and systemic neglect, is pervasive. In a meta-analysis of 85 studies including nearly 298,000 nurses, burnout was associated significantly with lower patient safety, medical errors, and lower patient satisfaction. This burnout undermines nurse retention, mental health, and their performance in the field. Performance that is necessary for patients' well-being.   How can this be resolved? To begin with, health systems must invest i...

    When Bodies Become Battlegrounds: By: Mahdya Shirzad Many ponder on how to truly live their limited lives, whether looking through a long bucket list, or daydreaming about what they think is the “perfect life”. However, in the midst of their thoughts, most fail to realize the seriousness of chronic disease that is the very cause of their limited time.  Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are the epitome of human mortality and morbidity, contributing to 75% of deaths that occur prematurely (before age 70), the majority happening in underdeveloped countries. Chronic illnesses such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, respiratory disease, and diabetes are the most dominant NCDs, making every human being susceptible. Many of these diseases stem from aspects like behavioral, environmental, and metabolic inadequacies. Behavioral issues include a sedentary lifestyle, smoking, unhealthy diet, and excessive consumption of alcohol. Environmental issues involve air pollution, lack of...

Orthopedic Surgery Zayd Shariff  Orthopedic surgery focuses on the musculoskeletal system which includes your bones, joints, and ligaments among other things. It is a key part of medicine that helps individuals stay fit, mobile, and active leading people to live a healthy lifestyle. It encompasses conditions such as arthritis, sports injuries, and spinal problems. Despite its importance throughout the world, access to the speciality remains unequal across the globe. In affluent countries such as the United States orthopedic surgery continues to rapidly improve. Innovations include techniques that utilize robotic assistance, procedures that are minimally invasive, and patient personalized medicine. As a result patients recover in shorter times and stay healthier for longer periods of time. While these improvements are obviously beneficial, in less developed countries the most basic forms of orthopedic surgery are out of reach. For example, a fractured femur can be treated within hou...

Neurogenetics Alishba Abbasi Neurogenetic disorders are genetic and chromosomal alterations that affect the nervous system, affecting brain development, nerve function, and overall neurological well-being. Early intervention is crucial for a child's ability to acquire essential skills and independence.  Along with lifelong healthcare management, which can only be achieved via a collaborative approach involving a multidisciplinary team of clinicians, scientists, psychologists, social workers and administrative staff in order to meet the specific needs of the individual and their family. The establishment of an integrated service that includes clinical assessment and diagnosis, molecular genetic testing and follow-up consultations would all need to be in place.  Yet for many, this is unavailable. Either due to the expenses required, the ethical issues related to it, or due to the pace at which this field is advancing, which proves hard to keep up. Despite increased funding, the...