Catch the Wave: Your Future in the Health Professions
It’s been years since doctors and nurses were the only (medical) show in town. Today, hundreds of specialized health careers let you showcase almost any talent you have, from art and dance to computers and inventing. The health fields are very much the wave of the future and might just offer a rewarding career for you. So, test the waters–then enjoy the ride.
Health-related careers: who, what, and why
If you hadn’t noticed, health-related careers–sometimes called ‘allied health’ professions–have changed. In the past, working in a health-related career required direct and close supervision by a doctor or nurse. With today’s strong academic programs and a greater need for people to get health care without delay, health-related professionals often work much more independently.
In some health-related careers, you’ll help people at different points in their wellness, illness, or rehabilitation. In others, you won’t work with patients directly–or even at all! In some careers, you’ll work in a hospital or clinical setting. In others you’ll work in a school, a private home, industry, or even in an office of your own. The options are wide open.
The need for health-related professionals will explode in the coming years, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Health services are ranked third in industries with the fastest growth in wages and salaries through the year 2010. Health-related careers also continue to move onto the list of fastest growing occupations through 2010. Currently these include: Medical Assistants, Physician’s Assistants, Medical Records Technicians and Transcriptionists, Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy Assistants, Audiologists, Speech and Language Pathologists, Dental Assistants, and Pharmacy Technicians.
Three things will feed the growing need for health professionals: * the population is aging * increasingly complicated medical technology is being created and used * the healthcare industry wants to hold down costs.
Your piece of the pie
So how do you decide which piece of the healthcare pie might fill you up? Your options can be divided into categories based on some general interests and skills.
- If you like direct, hands-on work with people–the kind of work where relationship-building and understanding come into play–you might choose one of the rehabilitative specialties like physical therapy, occupational therapy, or speech pathology and audiology. You’ll work closely with patients, families, and other medical professionals in a variety of settings such as hospitals, clinics, homes, and schools. Your most important work, however, will often be one-on-one with the patient. These careers are also considered ‘diagnostic specialities,’ so you have to enjoy detective work and problem-solving, too.
- If you prefer less direct patient contact but enjoy operating and handling different types of mechanical equipment, a technological or technician’s job may be right up your alley. Check out the fields of nuclear medicine or surgical, cardiac, or respiratory technology. Biomedical engineering, orthotics, or prosthetics can satisfy your inventing and design interests. You’ll work in hospital, lab, or research settings.
- If you’re organized and efficient–a more business-minded, behind-the-scenes person–health administration, health services management, or medical records could be for you. You’ll work in settings such as hospitals, outpatient facilities, and private medical offices.
- Artistic people would do well in art, music, or dance therapy, fields that need enthusiastic individuals who work well with people of all ages in large groups or one-on-one. Skills in observation, evaluation, and interpretation are as important as creativity and flexibility in dealing with people in a therapy setting.
- Lab workers are an important link in diagnosing and treating conditions, but they need to be self-motivated and able to work alone. You should consider clinical lab sciences, pharmacology, or toxicology.
- Computer skills come into play in documentation, systems analysis, billing, and record keeping. Software development for a particular healthcare provider is a need you might fill in your work as a computer specialist (working with professionals rather than with patients).
- Using your computer and communication skills–your flair for art, design, or words–could place you in the field of medical communications and illustration. Desktop publishing, writing, and even video and audio production could be in your future. You might develop pieces that can be used for medical education, policies and procedures, or patient education. If you can tell it (and show it) like it is in easy-to-understand ways, an exciting career awaits you.
Do you have what it takes?
Even though each health field puts its own specific demands on your interests, abilities, and education, you’ve got to be a certain kind of person to work well in health care: one who is cooperative, mature, responsible, and accurate.
Whether you’re with a single patient or assisting other health professionals, you’ll always be part of a team. It’s important to be able to express yourself and your opinions to others and to take their ideas into consideration–with the patient’s well-being as the most important goal. Cooperation is a must.
You’ve got to be mature and responsible in your actions–people depend on you. Whether it’s promising a movement workshop, reconfiguring hardware, or interpreting a mammogram, you’ll be affecting the well-being of another person; you’ll need to get things done on time, as promised, and documented accurately.
Educational choices
Once you decide health care is for you, you have to find the right educational program to meet your career needs and your dreams. You can work in a health-related field with as little as a two-year associate degree or go on to get your doctorate, which will take six or more years of college. The career and level of schooling you choose will affect your salary and your career flexibility. More education may allow you to work on a consulting basis or even to own your own business.
Some fields require minimum degree attainment before you’re hired and some require postgraduate certification or licensing, so check the requirements carefully. If your field of interest requires a four-year degree before applying to its formal, professional program, make sure the four-year program you are considering meets the admissions needs of the program you’ll apply to.
Here’s something you should know, too: the focus on cost containment seems to be favoring the career prospects of those who have been trained to work ‘across borders,’ that is, those–particularly in the various therapy and technology fields–with multiple training, experience, or certification. So keep your options open by keeping your eyes open to trends in the areas you’re interested in.
Finally, look closely at how trends in population growth and technological advances might change how your potential career is practiced. For example, some of the work of Ophthalmic Lab Technicians can be done by automated equipment now and Medical Equipment Preparers are doing more in private homes and nursing homes as people are moved out of hospitals faster to keep healthcare costs down.
Formal programs and accreditation
Formal health career programs can be accredited, which means they have met certain professional standards set by the American Medical Association or a state licensing board. Accredited programs teach you in ways that the governing boards feel best meet professional standards. They also prepare you for licensing or certification exams that happen after graduation but before you’re employed. Make sure the program you are applying to is accredited. If not, make sure the program will prepare you for certification and other exams as well as employment. In general, programs that give you hands-on experience–that is, clinical experience–and classroom work make it easier to use what you learn.
How to choose your field
Finding out which health-related career is right for you should be a process, not a snap decision. Start with those closest to you–friends, family, or professionals in your community in fields you’d like to explore. Quiz them about their training, advancement possibilities, day-to-day expectations, and their personal views on the highs and lows of their careers. Make sure you get the whole picture. This kind of research develops a network of advisors and specialists who can guide your decision making and open doors to hands-on experiences and references in the future.
Give yourself some space to work with by starting with a broad approach, such as ‘I like to solve problems,’ and focus in from there. Do you like to work with your hands or your head? With people or alone? Do you work well under stress or better in less urgent situations? Guidance counselors in your school and career counselors in your community can help you focus your interests. You’ll find career counselors listed in the phone book.
Other places to look for help are the Internet, the reference specialists at your local and school libraries, and professional organizations. These resources can help you hook up with professionals in your field of interest or help you find materials to review.
Try volunteering, too. It will get you right on the front line of the profession you’re interested in. Remember that no one place or person has all the answers, so it pays to search around.
Health care is such a wide-open field that there’s a place for virtually everyone. But to know if it’s really the career path for you, take your time, talk things out, and ‘try it on for size.’
Whatever course you choose, the health-related professions can offer almost anyone a challenging and satisfying career.
Article by, Anna Viadero, a freelance writer and a licensed physical therapist who lives and works in western Massachusetts, and courtesy of www.careersandcolleges.com
