Medical students remain optimistic despite decreased opportunities

By David Mitchell

An apple a day will keep the doctor away. Apparently it will take more than a struggling economy and tough job market to do the same.

Despite reports that indicate less health care job opportunities in Georgia in 2009 than in past years, students at the University seem to remain optimistic about their career choice.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported earlier this year that although the health care sector had gained jobs over the past year, it was still the lowest increase since 2001.

Alan Langford, director of pre-medical studies and a clinical professor at the University, said that he has not seen a decrease in the number of students pursuing an education in medical studies.

“I really haven’t seen much of a drop so far,” Langford said. “I think on the whole students are just as interested in pursuing a career in medicine now as they were.”

The reason for this, Langford said, is that despite the fact there are fewer jobs available now, the medical field still has a much better job outlook than most professions.

“Things are tough in every job market right now,” Langford said. “In medicine, at least, it is still growing, even if it’s not as much as it has in the past.”

Dell Whitehead, an advisor for exercise and sport science majors, has seen similar results in his department, as well.

“I think as long as there are people that need medical attention in whatever capacity, which is always,” Whitehead said, “the outlook for the profession will be fine.”

Whitehead attributed the field’s ability to be somewhat recession-proof to the wide-ranging opportunities that it offers.

“There are so many different facets of the medical profession,” Whitehead said. “You have medical students but you also have exercise and sport science majors who are looking into being athletic trainers or something.

“There are endless opportunities within this field.”

Jared Shafer, a former pre-physician’s assistant major and student athletic trainer at the University, has remained optimistic about his career choice.

Now a student and graduate assistant at the Medical College of Georgia, Shafer said that he is as busy as ever.

“We saw about 150 patients in the clinic just last week,” Shafer said in a phone interview. “I’m
pretty confident that the demand for medical aid is not going to go down anytime soon.”

Geoffrey Young, the associate dean of admissions at the Medical College of Georgia supports Shafer’s statement.

“Not much as changed,” Young said. “I know there are less jobs available now than in the past, but that’s simply a product of the economy. Every job sees losses during a poor economy. The great thing about the medical profession is that these losses are far less serious.

“As a result, you really never lose the interest students have.”

Langford said that he expects the trend to continue at the University and even improve as the economy rebounds from its recession.

“Right now there is less of an increase in jobs and there is just as much interest in studying medicine in school,” Langford said. “It’s still an incredibly high-demand major and I expect this will continue when job opportunities begin to increase again.”