<ol>
<li><p>Check with 40+ practicing BSW's and MSW's to find out for sure, but my impression is that social work has a pretty high burn-out rate (very emotionally demanding). You may need a plan for what you'd do if you burned out after a few years.</p></li>
<li><p>Consider the "people aspects" of rural living. How important are friends to you? In a rural environment, there may be few people around your age, and almost no one with common interests (just luck of the draw there - fewer people in general). Suppose that you went for months without exchanging more than pleasantries with another person. Is that okay with you?</p></li>
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<p>My brother-in-law lived in Kodiak for 3 years while in the Coast Guard. He really liked it there.</p>
<p>Have you thought of PA school? Physicians' assistant? Like nurse practitioner, but they can have quite interesting, diverse practices. Primary care in an Alaska village, to working with cardiac surgery at major medical centers. And much in between. Some programs are quite hard to get into, but your love of the sciences would be a definite plus. The income potential might be higher than with social work. I know that MD and RN programs have some loan forgiveness if you work in underserved areas such as rural Alaska. Maybe DPM programs or PA as well? </p>
<p>An MSW can give you much diversity of practice opportunities. I hate to say it, but in an Alaskan village, you better be comfortable working with substance abuse. </p>
<p>The crux of the issue, I'd think, is do you want to work with social resource allocation, people's emotions and values, or the physical body? You're always dealing with people emotionally and mentally as you work on their feet or whatever, so is a package deal. </p>
<p>Envision yourself at age 50. What do you want your life to be or have been? </p>
<p>Alaska is wonderful for those of us who love the wild, even in the cities, so I wouldn't count them out. You can hike into wilderness from downtown Juneau, live 1/2 hour out of town in wonderful settings and there is easy access to all sorts of outdoor activities. Eons ago, in school, I worked as a nursing assistant at the hospital in Juneau, and would have loved to return there to live. The population is both outdoor oriented and educated, and is a relatively small town. But you better like grey skies and fog!</p>