Career Essay

The first time I was in class learning about the many different jobs inside the broad field of

medicine, we started to get into the different positions inside Nuclear Medicine, as the more we

went on inside that topic the more it seemed to interest me as it seemed very interesting and also

there was a benefit to this field in particular, it was growing more and more everyday and it was

also a new form of medicine. After we got done with our lesson for the day and school was over

I decided to do my own research and I discovered this job in particular, a nuclear pharmacist. It

grew much interest to me on how they handled and created everything. It was described as a

specialty area of pharmacy involved in the preparation of radioactive materials to promote and

improve patients' health through the safe performance of radioactive drugs and also treat and

diagnose diseases. At first it seemed dangerous to be handling radioactive things and being

around such potent material on a day to day basis as a part of your job, but what job does not

raise potential hazards I thought to myself. It was also said that such a job as a nuclear

pharmacist one had to be strong in math and science but more particularly physics which is

actually a subject I am really strong in and so far junior year I have been having a steady A on, I

actually received a recommendation letter from my physics teacher. Also even better it was said

that the potential of employment here was great because not many people go into it. A big thing

that came with this position was being able to handle radiopharmaceuticals and also properly

store and package them if needed, something that I would have no problem doing as I handle

things very well and take very good care of my own personal belongings. This job is mostly lab

based which is a setting I would like to work in, I always thought working in a lab would be

interesting having many materials and machinery and also people to help you with and work

with all the time, but you can choose whether you want to be commercial or hospital based,
hospital based is where the preparations are made on site and in contrast a commercial based lab

is where the radiopharmaceuticals are prepared and shipped to the hospital. This job also requires

to be open 24/7 and working on weekends and having emergency calls whenever which I do not

mind, since it requires testing and preparation of these medicines the lab has to be opened early

in the mornings and is not very fit for someone who is not an early bird but in my favor, I am

actually a morning person, whether or not I sleep early or later the past night I always seem to

wake up at around 8 pretty energized to do my daily things, I like having an early start to my day

and hate waking up late because I always feel like half of my day has gone to waist and when I

wake up late, I also find myself being lazier and less productive than usual. So, as I stated all of

these characters and what a nuclear pharmacist mostly does, needs, and what characteristics are a

good quality to have as a nuclear pharmacist, the more I wanted to become it because it seemed

fitting for me to work in this field as it interested me so much and I thought I had what I needed

to become successful in this field. With this profession growing more and more everyday,

obviously the more workers this field needs and I would find it really humbling to be apart of a

growing new field and being able to experience the new technology in medicine and curing

patients, being a part of something and being there to watch it grow and get bigger and better

would be interesting. Today in this current moment, I am searching for colleges that offer good

programs for this field and to study in, also something that does not cost so much, in high school

I am taking a medical class like I just said before and also I am managing to keep A’s in both my

math and physics class which is also something a nuclear pharmacist has to be really good at

since those subjects are things they use every day in their techniques. Anything in the medical

field and medicine is not easy of coarse, many students go through many days of studying to get

good grades and pass their classes, medicine is also known for taking a long time to complete
and get their degree, but even if it takes a long time, students always seem to get through it with

hard work and determination, something I am willing to accept the challenge in to get the degree

I want. One thing I have not talked about yet on here is that nuclear pharmacy, just as it says in

the name nuclear, is a pretty dangerous field, having to work around radiopharmaceuticals 24/7

can bring risk factors to someone’s health which is something that kind of alarmed and worried

me since I did not want to be in a field that could raise risk to my own health and well being, but

the more I did research and learned about what they did to keep this area safe, I learned that this

field was actually a very highly regulated field, with many different technologies such as

machines that carry the products for you, and also wearing certain uniforms, it prevents the risk

of you getting exposed to radiation, which calmed me down and after knew that I could be safe

here but still there will always be risks everyday, but of course every job brings a risk, even the

easiest jobs with the easiest tasks can prove to life threatening. Overall this field would be

something I would love to be included in and be a part in.