10 carreiras divertidas em medicina

Você consegue adivinhar quem tem o melhor trabalho na área médica? Se você pensar imediatamente no salário, anestesiologistas e cirurgiões ganharam, em média, mais de US$ 230.000 em 2012 – tornando-os não apenas as carreiras médicas mais bem pagas, mas também as ocupações mais bem pagas nos EUA naquele ano [fonte: Kertzleben ]. No entanto, nenhuma dessas duas carreiras é considerada o melhor emprego na área da saúde, ou aquele que traz mais felicidade ou diversão. São os dentistas que dizem ter o melhor em geral [fontes: US News & World Report , Kim ].

Apesar de a odontologia ser considerada a melhor carreira geral na medicina, se é felicidade que você está procurando, os dentistas não são duplamente abençoados dessa maneira. Eles não relatam ter o trabalho mais feliz. (Os mais felizes, como se vê, são os engenheiros de garantia de qualidade de software, acima de todos os outros em todos os campos.) O que nos faz pensar, e os trabalhos divertidos? Se não for anestesista ou dentista , o que pode ser considerado uma carreira divertida para pessoas interessadas em medicina? Digamos, treinador atlético: trabalho divertido. Enfermeira de viagens: trabalho divertido. Engenheiro biomecânico: trabalho divertido. Espere, engenheiro biomecânico? Você sabe, as pessoas que projetam olhos biônicos, mãos robóticas, monitores de glicose não invasivos - você verá. Primeiro, porém, vamos tirar um momento para a expressão emocional com um musicoterapeuta.

1. Musicoterapeuta
2. Cientista Médico
3. Ilustrador Médico
4. Cientista forense
5. Dietista/Nutricionista
6. Terapeuta de dança
7. Bioestatístico
8. Engenheiro Biomédico
9. Arteterapeuta
10. Terapeuta de Animais

A musicoterapia é relativamente nova no cenário do tratamento. Começou depois que músicos tocaram para veteranos hospitalizados da Primeira e da Segunda Guerras Mundiais, e agora é uma forma estabelecida de terapia benéfica para nossa saúde emocional, cognitiva e física .

Os musicoterapeutas são formados em música e teoria do som, além de psicologia e medicina, e usam técnicas como cantar, ouvir música e criar música. Essas várias técnicas são formas de reabilitação e alívio do estresse e da ansiedade, e abrem as portas para a comunicação verbal.

Evidências sugerem que a música terapêutica intencional – não apenas ouvir músicas no seu iPad, embora isso também possa trazer benefícios de relaxamento – está associada a mudanças fisiológicas. Por exemplo, aumenta um anticorpo chamado imunoglobina A, que tem um papel na luta do corpo contra a infecção. Também parece eficaz para bebês atendidos em unidades de terapia intensiva neonatal (UTINs). Esses pequenos pacientes respondem à música ao vivo com taxas cardíacas e respiratórias mais altas, e experimentam melhor alimentação e ganho de peso do que aqueles sem o benefício terapêutico da música.

Estudos também descobriram que os pacientes que foram tratados com musicoterapia em vez de medicamentos para ansiedade antes da cirurgia eram, em geral, menos ansiosos do que aqueles que receberam apenas medicamentos. E na mesma linha, a música que cai dentro de 60 a 70 batimentos por minuto (aproximadamente o quão rápido a maioria dos corações bate) provoca a resposta de relaxamento do corpo (o oposto da resposta de fuga ou luta do corpo).

Por causa dos cientistas médicos, podemos um dia usar lâmpadas fluorescentes para retardar um problema que afeta cerca de 40 milhões de adultos nos EUA: miopia [fonte: UAB Web Communications ]. Cientistas médicos também estão investigando a ligação entre nossa dieta e diabetes tipo 2 , além de inúmeras outras áreas de estudo.

A ciência médica envolve pesquisar e desenvolver maneiras de melhorar nossa saúde, e os cientistas médicos podem se especializar em uma área específica, como estudo de prevenção e tratamento do câncer, toxicologia ou compreensão e retardamento do processo de envelhecimento . Eles estudam maneiras inovadoras de trabalhar e interpretar grandes quantidades de dados, executar e analisar ensaios clínicos, investigar os benefícios e riscos de novos tratamentos e desenvolver vacinas, medicamentos e instrumentos médicos que salvam vidas.

You know the book, "Atlas of Human Anatomy"? Its illustrator, Frank Netter, was an artist and surgeon considered one of the most gifted medical illustrators. During his day, the Saturday Evening Post went as far as calling him the "Michelangelo of Medicine."

Medical illustrators are a small group of artists — it's estimated there are no more than 1,200 working in North America — who specialize in combining their medical and scientific knowledge with art and design skills to visually translate and explain medical and scientific information in a way those in the medical field — and patients and students — can understand.

Medical illustrators aren't all about documenting our biology and surgical procedures , though. They also graphically represent medical information and create art for a range of purposes such as patient education programs, pharmaceutical company materials, legal proceedings, surgical training, science journals and textbooks. Additionally, medical illustrators sculpt training models and prosthetic devices, create animations and design computer-based training simulations.

Forensic scientists are scientists who translate crime scene observations and evidence to help criminal and civil investigations — you know, like Sherlock Holmes (who some consider a pioneer — albeit fictional — in the field) or on one of the many "CSI" TV shows (although we're about to learn the TV version of forensic science isn't quite accurate).

On TV, forensic scientists make arrests and question and interrogate suspects, but in reality, these scientists spend most of their time in the lab : They collect physical evidence (such as fingerprints, blood and weapons) in an effort to gather DNA and ballistic information from the crime scene and analyze that evidence in the lab. Forensic scientists also photograph, sketch and reconstruct crime scenes. Forensic scientists might also be called to testify as expert witnesses and will be expected to explain the evidence, the results of the analysis or test (such as pathology or toxicology findings) in addition to the relevance of this information to the case in question.

While Americans don't eat enough good fruits, vegetables and whole grains, they do eat about 100 pounds of sugar, 85 pounds of fats and 31 pounds of cheese every year [source: Aubrey]. And experts on food and nutrition want to change that.

Dieticians and nutritionists both specialize in designing and implementing nutrition programs to help us meet our weight or lifestyle goals; to help us heal, manage or prevent some diseases (such as type 2 diabetes); and to help us be smarter about our overall health. They also assist in meal planning for people with special dietary needs including food allergies or sensitivities (such as celiac disease or lactose intolerance), patients undergoing medical treatments (such as people with heart disease who might need a special low-sodium diet), those with nutritional deficits (such as post-gastric bypass patients), and those addressing eating disorders and obesity .

The idea of a mind-body connection is key to dance therapy, and therapists use techniques such as breathing exercises, games, improvisational dance and other movements to encourage personal expression. All of that movement is part of an effort to help patients nonverbally let go of anxiety, fear and stress. It can also boost body image, coping skills and self-esteem.

The basic idea behind dance therapy is that all movement is inherently therapeutic. Dance is physical activity, and being active improves your overall physical health and reduces chronic pain — but exercise also gets your endorphins flowing, and those are the brain's feel-good chemicals. Dancing makes you feel good, and some studies suggest the benefits of dance extend to your emotional and cognitive health too.

If you, too, were startled by the numbers illustrating the infection rate and death estimates of the 2014 West African Ebola outbreak — more than 20,000 cases by early November 2014, maybe more than 1.4 million by the beginning of 2015 — you can thank a biostatistician for that eye-opener [source: Grady].

Biostaticians don't just create and apply mathematical and statistical models to identify and analyze disease outbreaks, though. They're skilled in both math and medicine, and they use these skills to interpret enormous amounts of medical data. Then, they translate the lessons into usable information such as emerging public health trend reports; the risks and effectiveness of new medications , medical treatments and procedures; and analysis of clinical studies.

Surgeons, anesthesiologists and OB/GYNs might get paid the most for their medical skills, but the highest-paying careers aren't always the most fun ones. For instance, there's one group of experts who get to make artificial organs and body parts : biomedical engineers.

Just as some engineers design automotive solutions and others specialize in aeronautics or computer sciences, some engineers apply their technological skills and their medical and biological expertise to analyzing problems and opportunities, coming up with solutions for health care technology. When they aren't designing cancer-fighting artificial lymph nodes or researching how a memory prosthetic (silicon chips that can help the brain create long-term memories) might work for dementia patients, biomedical engineers also create computer models and develop diagnostic and therapeutic devices and software.

German researchers have discovered, in a small-scale study, that making art might help retirees delay age-related cognitive decline, and even to become more resilient [source: Bolwerk]. And it's not the only health benefit our artistic expressions provide for us. Expressing ourselves through the visual arts helps people heal their minds and our bodies.

Creating art changes your biochemistry. It encourages the brain to release feel-good endorphins (along with other neurotransmitters), and that gives your mental and physical health a boost — everything from lowering blood pressure and managing stress to improving your mood and increasing brain function. Art therapists are experts not only in the creative arts and process, but also in human development and psychotherapy. They guide patients and clients in tasks like drawing, painting or sculpting to help them nonverbally explore their grief or trauma (including post-traumatic stress), their depression and other psychological and emotional problems — including problems associated with developmental, physical and neurocognitive disorders.

More than two-thirds of U.S. households are home to at least one pet. But even though there are so many pet-friendly homes in the country, most people are probably unaware that their pet is much more than just a furry best friend. Pets also help reduce your stress (and lower your blood pressure and heart rate), just by virtue of living with you [source: Whiteman].

Florence Nightingale was the first to recognize the benefits of animal-assisted therapy (AAT), noting that pets help lower patients' anxiety levels. Therapists today use AAT to help patients not only reduce their anxiety, depression and stress levels, but also to provide emotional, physical and social benefits for people living with conditions such as autism , chronic pain and dementia.

Animal therapists use critters from dogs and horses to dolphins and llamas in therapeutic settings such as hospitals, mental health facilities and nursing homes. They also administer animal therapies in rehabilitative environments such as prisons. Spending just 12 minutes with a therapy dog helps to calm the sympathetic nervous system in patients with advanced heart disease, which results in reduced levels of anxiety, reduced levels of the flight-or-fight hormones epinephrine and norepinephrine, and better cardiopulmonary performance.

Author's Note: 10 Fun Careers in Medicine

Fun careers are often those that are a little unexpected from the 9-to-5 norm, doesn't it seem? And often that means they're fun because they don't feel like work, or because they connect you with a passion, are satisfying or bring out your creativity.

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