I recently withdrew from a top competitive, highly ranked Nursing school due to personal reasons as well as discovering I did not like the profession in general. Although very notable profession, I could not see myself providing in-depth patient care such as sponge bathing, etc. My true passion lies in the medical laboratory science and I could see myself becoming a Medical Laboratory Technologist. However, the pay is not bad but not great either. It is in high demand. I have a choice between MLS and Sonography. Sonography pays A LOT better and I do like it, but I have this yearning passion for Medical Laboratory Science. I feel as though I would be happier pursuing Medical Laboratory Science; however, the pay is discouraging. If I was to pursue Sonography I would be happy but I would not be as happy if I were not to pursue MLS. Thoughts? I could see myself doing Vascular Sonography, but I am wondering if I am making the correct decision for myself.
@Spikey201 I say follow your dreams. When you have a passion for something the money will follow. Your life’s work should be something you don’t mind doing every day. I think it’s a mistake to follow the money. Happiness is what will bring you the most success. It doesn’t always mean you will be rich monetarily but rich in other ways. I think that you have made a very mature decision realizing that the nursing as a career was not for you. Quite brave to change paths mid swing. Good luck to you!
@pkchamp89 Thank you for your kind and supportive words. I have taken heat to an extent due to my career change; however, this is my decision not theirs. Thank you.
@Spikey201 I choose pay because we grew up with not much. It was a field I liked but wasn’t my first love. I was happier being able to have a more secure future and then of course we can afford to do fun things and provide good opportunities for our kids. But this has to be your choice.
I’m a teacher. I’ve been one since 1980. And there’s not a profession in the world that would make me happier.
When you say “However, the pay is not bad but not great either.”-- that’s probably how most people would describe teacher’s pay. While I would love to have more money, for me it would never be worth the trade off to switch from something I love so much.
You’re going to be working for 40+ years. Make sure you’re prepared for a job/career/profession that you can enjoy for 4 decades or more. This is NOT a time to settle for second best.
@Sybylla Nursing students perform most of those activities; however, I did not want to deal with in-depth patient care. and provide individualized, holistic care based on the patient’s customs, culture, and beliefs. My primary interest was medical science and due to the pay of Nurses, I falsely believed that having a passion for medical science would balance well with a career in Nursing. I mostly entered the Nursing profession due to the diverse and versatile career advancement that is provided along with the exemplary pay. I was wrong. Although I did find the curriculum interesting, as we moved further along the semester I realized I did not want to be a Nurse. I did not necessarily want to educate patients or insert catheters, etc. I thought the Nursing curriculum would be more focused on the disease process and treatment of the disease but Nurses mostly deal with the response of the disease (the illness).
You should definitely look into PA.
However in the health care field, dealing with patients and communicating well will be crucial.
If you cannot deal with lots of different people, most of whom will be distraught and needing your confidence and explanations, then medical laboratory work may be better.
Medical and clinical laboratory technologists don’t make that much less than nurses. Medical and clinical laboratory technologists average about $61,000 a year; registered nurses average about $68,000 a year. (Technicians make a lot less, more around $40K. But technicians are usually associate-degree educated folks, whereas technologists are the ones with a bachelor’s degree in the area).
Sonography doesn’t pay “a lot better”; sonographers average about $64,000 a year - not much more than technologists.
If this is the case, then I would not advise you to look into PA or anything else that requires direct patient care. PAs do less of the sponge bathing and inserting catheters kind of stuff, but they absolutely do educate patients and good PAs provide care that’s tailored to their patients culture and customs (else they risk having patients who simply ignore their orders and don’t get better).
