What is a hematologist and how to become one

Hematologists are doctors who specialize in diseases of the blood. They diagnose and treat conditions such as sickle cell anemia, hemophilia, leukemia, and other blood conditions. Hematologists are experts at analyzing blood and bone marrow samples and diagnosing patients. They prescribe treatments that help patients live with their conditions, from counseling anemic patients on necessary dietary changes to administering chemotherapy to patients battling leukemia. In addition to their expert scientific training, hematologists need to keep precise records in order to share information with the rest of the patient's care team. Great hematologists also have a soothing bedside manner and are a comfort to patients battling scary chronic conditions.

The average salary for a hematologist is a whopping $266,042 a year. However, before you start dreaming about striding through the halls of a hospital in a lab coat, you should know that becoming a hematologist is a lot of work.

Like any other doctor, hematologists have to complete a bachelor's degree and medical school. However, once they are licensed physicians, hematologists do an additional internal medicine residency and hematology fellowship before they can finally be licensed as hematologists.