Many medical students graduate from medical school with a lot more than a medical degree – graduates often finish their medical education with an average of $130,000 or more in student loan debt, according to the New England Journal of Medicine's online career center.

This enormous financial burden can take many years to pay off. In my role as a physician recruiter, I'm contacted regularly by stressed-out doctors who are forced to leave thriving academic or research careers for more lucrative private practices. Academic and research roles typically do not pay enough to cover both student loans and other current costs of living. Hopefully, relief is on the horizon for some future physicians, as several medical education institutions have started to offer significant tuition discounts, and in some cases, even free tuition.

Fixed, or capped, tuition: University of Minnesota, Washington University in St. Louis, and University of Kentucky in Lexington have created policies that prevent any tuition increases during one's tenure as a medical student, allowing students to budget more effectively.

Tuition discounts: Some schools are offering discounted tuition for qualifying families, in addition to academic scholarships and other grants which are already awarded. According to a May 12 article in the AMA's American Medical News, Harvard Medical school is offering a discount of $12,500 per year for students from families with a household income of under $120,000. Therefore, obtaining a prestigious Harvard medical degree could cost $50,000 less for some medical students.

Free tuition: It has been said that there is no such thing as a free lunch, but apparently there is a such thing as a free medical degree! This may be the best deal around, if you can get it. As reported by a May 15 article on Cleveland.com, Cleveland Clinic is paying 100% of the medical education of the 32 students entering the medical school program. Additionally, the University of Central Florida in Orlando plans to offer full scholarships to its inaugural class of 40 students for the 2009-10 academic year.

More information on college tuition:

• 5 Ways to Save Thousands on College Tuition Costs
• 5 Ways to Pay for College Tuition

Doctors and nurses often sacrifice a great deal of their time, money, and personal lives for their work caring for patients. Sadly, three medical professionals made the ultimate sacrifice in a fatal accident late Saturday night May 10. A flight surgeon, a nurse, and their pilot died when their helicopter crashed during a routine medical flight to a hospital.

According to the New York Times / AP report, the helicopter went down just three miles from its destination, the University of Wisconsin Hospital in Madison. Other helicopter flights were grounded by the company while the cause of the crash is investigated. My heart goes out to the victims’ families, who may hopefully find some comfort in the positive impact their loved ones certainly made through their lifesaving work as part of a medical flight team.

How do you become a pharmacist, and how much money do pharmacists earn? If you're considering a career in pharmacy, you probably have a lot of questions such as these. Pharmacists are expected to experience more job growth over the next several years, so job prospects are good, but a career as a pharmacist is not for everyone. Over the past few years, the PharmD (Doctorate of Pharmacy) degree has replaced the R.Ph degree as the required education for a career as a pharmacist. Learn more about degree programs and job duties in the pharmacist career profile. If you're already on the path to a degree in pharmacy and a pharmacist career, you may want to learn more about the various pharmacist career paths available to you after you obtain your PharmD and your license to practice.

National Nurses Week kicks off Tuesday May 6, which is also known as National Nurses Day. According to the ANA (American Nurse Association), there are over 2.9 million registered nurses nationwide, and 2.4 million of those are actively practicing. Furthermore, the Bureau of Labor Statistics puts Registered Nurses (RNs) at the top of the career growth list for the ten year period ending in 2012.

How are you going to celebrate Nurses Week? Why not explore some challenging, exciting careers in nursing? Nurses certainly deserve more than one week's worth of appreciation and gratitude, due to the demanding work they endure regularly. According to the ANA, over 70% of nurses experience chronic or acute effects of stress and overwork, and over two thirds of nurses report that they work some type of unplanned overtime each month. If you are passionate about health care, and you have a lot of stamina, a nursing career may be for you.

More on Nursing:

• Top Nursing Careers
• Nurse Anesthetist Career Profile
• Nurse Career Overview
• Legal Nurse Consultant Career

For those who are currently working towards your Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing (BSN), it’s not too late to apply for the Clinique Nursing Scholar Program – as long as you can postmark your application by the deadline Monday May 5th! If college tuition costs present an obstacle to your future nursing career, the Clinique nursing scholarship could help to enable your dream career become a reality, as it did for one of last year’s scholarship winners, Amanda Erwin.

Ms. Erwin recently shared her enthusiasm for her future nursing career, which was facilitated by Clinque’s scholar program: “After spending almost 5 years working in financial services in NYC, I decided to become a nurse in order to pursue a vision of helping and impacting others directly. In addition…I plan to live in the developing world at some point…and I am excited to work as a nurse… tackling some of our world's major global health care problems.”

If you're unable to get the required documentation together to submit in time for this week's deadline, there's always next year!

The American Medical Association (AMA) covered two interesting stories recently. On one hand, the physician shortage was described as a "time bomb". According to an article in the AMA news, as baby boomers age, the nation will experience a critical physician shortage. The AMA article went on to say that 78 million baby boomers will begin to cross the 65 year threshold into their geriatric years, beginning in the year 2011. This will cause a demand of 36,000 Geriatrician physicians by the year 2030, but the projected realistic number of geriatricians practicing in 2030 will only be about 8,000 (there are currently 7,000).

Geriatricians are internists who complete additional fellowship training in caring for elderly patients, who often have complex combinations of multiple chronic and acute medical conditions. Ironically, although geriatricians have additional training, they typically earn less than internists, because geriatric patients are often on Medicare health insurance, which provides lower financial reimbursements than many private insurers. Therefore, there is not much incentive for physicians to specialize in geriatrics, which is intensifying the shortage.

On the other hand, another AMA top story covers the latest developments on the nursing front. Advanced practice nurses are seeking to expand their scope of practice in at least 24 states. New legislature would legally allow nurses more freedom and authority to prescribe narcotics, and also to lead a patient care team, in states where doctors are now legally required to take the lead and supervise the team. Several states already allow prescribing and practice authority to advanced practice nurses.

I found it interesting that one doctor quoted in the article cites that giving nurses the additional freedom and independence they seek could “put patients’ safety at risk”. I’m confused! Maybe I’m oversimplifying the situation, but from a patient’s point of view: wouldn’t a complete lack of caregivers be a much greater risk to patients than being treated by a qualified, highly trained, and experienced advanced practice nurse? Then again, analysts are also predicting that the nation is also poised for a severe nursing shortage as well! (More on that later!) What is a patient to do?

What are your thoughts? Will expanding the scope of advanced practice nurses help to alleviate the physician shortage? Feel free to comment here, or in the health careers forum! We look forward to hearing from you. . .

A reader (we’ll call her “Kay,” since she’s job searching and needs to remain confidential) recently emailed me with an interesting question regarding the interview process at hospitals. At the time Kay contacted me, she was in the process of interviewing for a management role in a hospital. After three seemingly successful interviews, Kay had still not received an offer. Instead, she was asked to return to the hospital to interview yet again, a fourth time!

Even for an experienced person like Kay, who recognizes that most hospitals are not known for their highly efficient hiring practices, this request for a fourth interview was confusing. Kay was unsure what to think, and understandably so! She wondered: “Is this normal? Is a fourth interview a good thing? Does this mean there is interest in me as a candidate or not?” My reply and thoughts on this common interviewing scenario were as follows:

• Yes, the hospital is probably interested in hiring you at this time, or they wouldn’t continue to invest all this time in four interviews. However, you don’t have an offer yet, so nothing is certain.
• That being said, keep in mind that an interview process tells you a lot about a potential employer. This hospital management team is either (a) disorganized or (b) indecisive. Can you handle working in that type of unpredictable environment?
• Before you attend the next interview, ask the recruiter what is the purpose of the visit, who you will meet, and what their roles are.
• In my professional opinion, anything over three interviews is excessive for most jobs, unless there are extenuating circumstances.

Additionally, although it was too late for Kay to do so, I recommend candidates always inquire up front for details about the interview process. If the recruiter or manager is unable to tell you how many visits are involved, or how many people you’ll need to meet before a decision is made, that is a sign that the potential employer may not know what they want, or they may be, again, disorganized. It turns out, the reader was interviewing for a newly created position, and there was some disagreement amongst the managers about the role and what type of qualifications a person would need to do the job. I’m still waiting to hear back as to the end result; I’ll keep you posted! But meanwhile, I thought this information could be helpful to those of you who are, or who are about to me, in the interview process.

What are your thoughts and interview experiences? Have you ever found yourself in a similar situation or interviewing predicament? Feel free to email me with questions, or comment here on the Health Careers site! Learn More:

• 7 Deadly Sins of Interviewing - How NOT to Get the Job
• Health Career Job Searching Tips

If you are currently studying to be a health professional, now is the time of year to apply for scholarships, and deadlines are rapidly approaching. Many corporations and brands offer scholarships that are awarded to applicants based on a variety of factors. Often, students and future healthcare professionals may not be aware of many scholarships and grants which are offered by major corporations.

Clinique brand of cosmetics, which was created by dermatologists, is doing its part to contribute to the future of healthcare, as the nation braces for a severe nursing shortage. For their second annual Clinique Nursing Scholarship Program, the trusted cosmetics brand offers tuition support to future nurses in the amount of $5,000 - $6,000. The deadline to apply is May 5, 2008, so do not delay!

This Clinique scholarship is offered to students or prospective students who are working toward a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree at any nursing school accredited by the National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission (NLNAC). To obtain the scholarship, nursing students must also qualify for financial aid, and have at least a 3.0 GPA (on a 4.0 scale). For a complete list of qualifications, application instructions, and an application form, refer to the Clinique Scholar website. This is the 2nd annual scholarship for Clinique.

Additionally, Tylenol ® brand offers up to $350,000 in scholarships this year, according to the company’s website. Applicants are judged based on academic performance and leadership qualities, and awards are in the amount of $1,000 or $5,000. Up to 170 prospective healthcare professionals including future doctors, nurses, or allied professionals will receive scholarships. The deadline for applications is May 15th 2008; visit the Tylenol website for more information.

Related News from your Guide to Health Careers:

• Top Nursing Careers
• Top Medical Careers
• 5 Ways to Decrease Tuition Costs
• 5 Ways to Pay for Tuition

The healthcare industry is hot - medical careers have made "Best of" lists in numerous career sites and publications. The Bureau of Labor Statistics has also found the healthcare industry to be at the top of the list for job growth. But which jobs are the best of the best in healthcare? I've put together a list of top medical jobs, based on current statistics, combined with my experience with some of these careers as a medical recruiter and career advisor.

Some jobs have made the list due to income, others due to job growth and demand, and other jobs made the list due to quality of life and work flexibility. Some made the list due to a combination of these factors.

What are your thoughts and ideas about the best medical careers? Many "top jobs" lists are based solely on yearly earnings, or only on BLS statistics; my aim was to provide a list that adds some "real life" perspective from hundreds of medical professionals I speak with each month. Hopefully this list of best health careers will help you with some initial key career decisions, and set you on the right path to great success with your health career.

Job search can be an overwhelming process! There is so much to learn and do before you can work in healthcare. Many medical jobs require extensive educational, training, licensure and certifications before working with patients in a medical capacity. To help simplify the process, I've put together a few medical job search tips to assist you in navigating this arduous search process from beginning to end. Before you know it, you'll be enjoying an exciting new medical career! I will continue to add to the guide, so please refer back to it throughout your medical job search process.