4 Essential Areas of Study for Beginning Medical Students

If you’re interested in starting medical school, there are some key areas of study that you should be aware of so that you’ll know what to expect. Mastering these academic areas will help you pass important examinations and prepare you to enter the health care field. Here are four essential areas of study for beginning medical students.

Patient Care

Learning how to give patients the proper care with the right amount of compassion will increase your chances of success while working in the medical field. It’s important to learn how to listen to each patient thoroughly so that you can implement personalized care plans that suit everyone’s needs. You’ll also need to learn how to treat each medical condition correctly and prescribe the appropriate medications. Even if you choose to become a nurse or medical assistant instead of a physician, you’ll still need a thorough understanding of patient care so that you can best assist doctors when treating patients.

Clinical Lab

Blood, urine and other bodily samples that are collected so that they can be tested to diagnose certain medical conditions will all be processed in a clinical lab, and understanding the proper protocol for these facilities will also be important for you. If you choose to work in a clinical laboratory, you’ll want to know how to analyze each sample correctly to avoid accidentally misdiagnosing patients. If you’re a medical assistant, it's important to know how to label each sample that's collected so that no one’s results get mixed up with someone else’s, and a medical assistant class at an accredited school can provide the necessary training to work with a clinical lab.

Front Office Procedures

The front office of a hospital, clinic or doctor’s office is an important component to any medical facility. Patient records, appointment scheduling and patient intakes are all handled at the front office. Regardless of the specific position that you have in the medical field, you’ll be working closely with the front office, and you’ll want to learn how to file patient paperwork correctly so that it can be retrieved easily whenever it needs to be reviewed.

Emergency Care

Patient emergencies can occur day and night, and learning how to provide the best care in high-pressure situations will be paramount to your success as a medical professional. Whether a person sustains an accident or experiences a heart attack, knowing how to provide treatment for a wide range of medical emergencies will be crucial. The actions that you take can make the difference in saving someone’s life, and receiving the proper training will allow you to give the necessary level of care.
You’ll have the chance to play an important role in patient care by obtaining knowledge in the important areas of study while in school. Focusing on these specific areas will help you become the well-rounded medical professional that you hope to be.