Cardiologists, quite literally, tend to the matters of the heart. They are physicians who specialize in finding, treating, and preventing diseases that affect the heart, the arteries, and the veins. Most cardiologists have an office outside of the hospital but are connected contractually to a hospital nearby.
Their duties in this capacity include sitting with patients and going over their medical history, checking their current irregularities, and discussing possible symptoms. After that, they perform a series of tests such as EKG and x-rays. They then analyze the results and choose an appropriate course of action to treat the condition. Furthermore, in order to become a cardiologist, they have to go through more than ten years in education. They need a four-year bachelor's degree, plus an additional four years of medical school followed by a residency program which may take up to eight years.
Although the qualifications required to become a cardiologist may seem daunting, the reward at the end of it is much higher than other professions. The average hourly pay for this position is $121.75, which amounts to $253,240 annually. The career is expected to grow in the near future and create new job opportunities across the United States.
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a cardiologist. For example, did you know that they make an average of $121.75 an hour? That's $253,240 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 7% and produce 55,400 job opportunities across the U.S.
There are certain skills that many cardiologists have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed communication skills, compassion and detail oriented.
When it comes to the most important skills required to be a cardiologist, we found that a lot of resumes listed 30.3% of cardiologists included heart, while 24.3% of resumes included cardiology, and 8.2% of resumes included patient care. Hard skills like these are helpful to have when it comes to performing essential job responsibilities.
When it comes to searching for a job, many search for a key term or phrase. Instead, it might be more helpful to search by industry, as you might be missing jobs that you never thought about in industries that you didn't even think offered positions related to the cardiologist job title. But what industry to start with? Most cardiologists actually find jobs in the health care and professional industries.
If you're interested in becoming a cardiologist, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 21.9% of cardiologists have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 13.0% of cardiologists have master's degrees. Even though most cardiologists have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become a cardiologist. When we researched the most common majors for a cardiologist, we found that they most commonly earn bachelor's degree degrees or doctoral degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on cardiologist resumes include associate degree degrees or master's degree degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a cardiologist. In fact, many cardiologist jobs require experience in a role such as medical assistant. Meanwhile, many cardiologists also have previous career experience in roles such as fellow or internship.