<p>Health administrators are in charge or
partly in charge of hospitals and this
appealed to me because I like medical
fields and business. I also like science so
that's why I am debating health
administration with medical physics which is a scientist career opposed to a business
related one. I am willing to go for a phD in
medical physics and I think health
administration only requires a master's
degree. I have been researching and found
that medical physics pays around $120,000 a year and health administrator about
$100,00 or so if you aquire a master's. I
think most of them are in demand but I'm
not sure if I'd want to be sitting in a lab all
day as a medical physicists but as health
administrator I wouldnt get as much of a satisfaction in helping like mankind on a
bigger scale I guess. So which would do
you think would be best for me or best in
the long run or whatever. List pros and
cons and try to help me with my decision!
Thank you!</p>
<p>Medical physics is typically a masters degree as offered through the physics department here. There is a related nuclear medicine degree over in Nuc E as well that is also a masters degree. Really, those degrees are completely different content wise from health administration (which to me sounds like a fluffy, no-skills degree). What is your undergraduate degree in?</p>
<p>No I’m actually in high school I’m just wondering what I want to do with my life and I’m also considering neuroscience. Is a career in the research field worth it? Like is it in demand and pays good? Is it competitive? And Is going into the business field of hospital health administration good?</p>
<p>Medical physics is a growing field with an excellent job outlook. Recent changes in the laws regulating radiation oncology facilities have increased demand for this specialty.</p>
<p>To be a medical physicist requires excellent math skills.</p>
<p>Medical & health physics requires a undergrad degree in physics, engineering (chemical or nuclear) or mathematics. In addition, some graduate programs will expect you to have undergrad coursework in biology and computer programming.</p>
<p>To work in this field requires at least a master’s degree. A PhD is preferable and required for many jobs. There are only 21 accredited graduate programs for medical physics in the US so the competition for admission to them is high. Admission to these programs requires both a strong GPA (3.0 or higher) and a good GRE score. Some programs will also require the physics GRE.</p>
<p>Most entry MS level jobs do not be pay $100,000/year. Most will pay in the $60,000-$75,000/year range. Most MS level job involve oversight of radiation facilities thru state or federal government regulatory agencies. Ph.D. level positions start in the $100,000+ range and more typically involve management responsibilities. Medical physics PHD programs require at least 1 year of medical residency at a hospital in addition to coursework.</p>
<p>Plan on spending at least 10 years preparing for this career: 4 undergrad, 5 grad, plus 1 year residency.</p>
<p>Here is a list of universities that offer medical physics degrees:</p>
<p>[CAMPEP</a> Accredited Graduate Programs in Medical Physics](<a href=“http://www.campep.org/campeplstgrad.asp]CAMPEP”>CAMPEP Accredited Graduate Programs in Medical Physics)</p>
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<p>Neuroscience as a career usually requires a PhD and most jobs are research-oriented. Many jobs are at universities and as such the salaries vary a great deal. You might make $60,000/year or you might make three times that. Most academic science jobs have salaries that are highly dependent upon the individual’s ability to get research funding thru grants.</p>
<p>A PhD in neuroscience will require 5-7 years of graduate work, followed by 2-5 more years of post-doctoral work. During this time you will be making comfortable money ($30,000/year or so), but not tons. There are more individuals with PhDs in neuroscience than there are jobs available. After your PhD and post doc, you may or may not be able to secure a tenured academic research position. A lot depends upon the individual, his perseverance, his research, his networking skill, his grant-writing skills, and some luck.</p>
<p>Because of the amount of time you’ll need to devote to gaining your academic credentials, I would not advise going into neuroscience simply for the potential salary you might earn. You should choose a research career because you like doing the work.</p>
<p>Plan to spend at least 10-15 years preparing for this job: 4 undergrad plus 5-7 grad plus 2-5 post doc.</p>
<p>I don’t know where you got the idea that hospital administrators make on average $100,000 a year. CEOS and other chief administrators may make that much, but you won’t make that much in the earlier years - in fact, you might never make that much if you never become a CEO or CFO or anything.</p>
<p>You don’t need to make all the decisions about what you want to do with your life at age 18, nor do you have to choose one or the other. You might decide to be a medical physicist for some years and then get a hospital administration degree later and become a hospital administrator. What you should do is take classes in physics, math, and neuroscience in college and see which one you like better. You can also assist a professor in research and see if you like it. Becoming a neuroscientist is a long road, and you need to be really sure before you begin a PhD in that field. But even if you major in neuroscience or physics (or math) as an undergrad, you can still go into hospital administration. Take it one step at a time.</p>