The medical sector is vast, encompassing many different roles, from doctors to dentists and nurses to therapists and even more skillsets.
This makes it not only a welcoming jobs sector for anyone wanting to transfer talents from other industries, but also a place where you can continually forge new careers in new areas and specialisms.
John Lee, for example, has taken a path from nursing into nursing education and is now Head of Undergraduate Studies in the School of Nursing & Health Sciences at the University of Dundee.
How did you move from nursing to shaping the future for nurses?
When I left school I didn’t know what I wanted to do until someone suggested nursing.
I hadn’t thought of it but once I’d done some work experience in care and enjoyed it, I decided it was for me.
I worked on hospital wards for a while but decided I enjoyed teaching other nurses more so went back to study for a degree and a Masters.
I started teaching in a ward but moved across to being a university lecturer. For a while I taught all sorts of nursing skills but also dabbled in using computers in teaching.
That led to another role, where I set up online learning for other teachers – that was 15 years ago when online learning was in its infancy.
Can you describe a day at work?
The planned part is about organising teaching, running meetings, and helping people develop their curriculum.
The unplanned part is about working with people.
For example, yesterday I met with a staff member who’d just returned to work after illness, then a student who’s been told they must leave unless their grades improve.
Today I’m off to a meeting with the government, planning what nursing in Scotland should look like in 2030. Then tomorrow I’m marking 50 first-year essays.
What’s the most stimulating part?
The problem solving. When someone comes to my door I don’t know what they’ll need – it often needs a lot of talking and planning to solve their problems.
The biggest surprise to me is I’ve been teaching for more than 20 years and running the programme for almost 10, but there are new challenges every day. I still don’t know all the answers.
Nursing and education are great for travel too. I’ve worked in Scotland and Australia. Our graduates from Dundee are now working in New Zealand, Canada, Australia, Europe and more.
Any advice for those moving into the Medical world?
Any career today can be your starting point. The job I do now is a million miles from caring for patients but it’s still about making sure that patients get the best possible care!
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