Can we assume that the bloke in question is young enough to be in a position to make up his mind what he actually wants to be?
Here are some clues:-
1) An engineering technician working on medical equipment in hospitals.
2) A physicist ... "scientist", or some other such thing?
More clues:-
1) Engineering technicians do "hands-on" practical work which involves an understanding of engineering principles. It also involves being able to walk before you can run. That is, experience that can only be acquired over a period of time of actually doing the work!
2) Some things cannot best be learned in books, from seminars, classrooms
etc. but instead involve getting stuck in and having a go! In fact (come to think of it), years ago we used to have
Trade Tests whereby each new level of attainment was tested in a practical way. In other words, it was only once you had actually proved yourself that you could hope that benefits (such as increments in pay, or even promotion) might follow.
