3 answers
3 answers
Updated
Joe’s Answer
Hi Eduardo!
If you are exploring a career in healthcare and not sure just what area of care you are going to choose you have a couple of helpful options to consider.
1. Try to get a basic description about what clinicians do in different specialty areas. For example: what are the basic expectations of say a nurse versus a respiratory therapist or maybe a physical therapist. Try to think about what you feel might be a good occupation or area for you. Find someone you trust and that knows you and consider asking them how your personality, traits and approach would work for different areas. Example, I had a sister who always thought I would be a good nurse, it made it a little easier when someone I knew and trusted thought I would be a good fit for becoming a nurse.
2. If you are not sure if you would like helping and caring for people it is never a bad idea to try to work somewhere as a nursing assistant/patient care technician or nurse aid. By doing this you will likely find out if it is work you enjoy and if caring for and helping patients is what you thought it would be. It is difficult and tough work and generally the more you care about your patients makes it even a little tougher because you will work hard to do your best! Patients and people who are hurt or sick will always know when someone’s heart is in it.
3. There are many hospitals or healthcare facilities and/or organizations have programs that will provide tuition assistance for employees who want to go back to school. It will depend on whether or not a specialty has a shortage of qualified applicants or staff. Example, if a large hospital system has been experience a shortage of nurses, they may have a tuition assistance or sponsorship program for employees who want to get a degree in nursing. Pretty much any program like that will have a requirement that you work for the hospital or healthcare system a certain period of time once you graduate and go to work. Not many employers are willing to pay for tuition without an agreement to 1) either pay back the tuition received or 2) work a certain amount of time to help the employer get some benefit from providing the tuition assistance.
If you have made a decision or are in the process of making a decision about your occupation:
1. Check to see what courses of study are required to get into any program you’re interested in. Example: I was 42 years old when I decided I wanted to be a nurse. I was required to have taken and passed a high school level chemistry class and a biology class in order to be eligible to apply to get into the nursing program. I ended up taking the biology class at the college where I studied and I took a high school chemistry class at night that was offered at a local high school. Every program will have pre-requisites and it is good to know that up front so you will know if you need to take any additional classes before you begin in your program of study.
Good luck Eduardo, PS: going into the nursing program to become a nurse was one of the most challenging things I have every done, it was also one of best choices I have made!
If you are exploring a career in healthcare and not sure just what area of care you are going to choose you have a couple of helpful options to consider.
1. Try to get a basic description about what clinicians do in different specialty areas. For example: what are the basic expectations of say a nurse versus a respiratory therapist or maybe a physical therapist. Try to think about what you feel might be a good occupation or area for you. Find someone you trust and that knows you and consider asking them how your personality, traits and approach would work for different areas. Example, I had a sister who always thought I would be a good nurse, it made it a little easier when someone I knew and trusted thought I would be a good fit for becoming a nurse.
2. If you are not sure if you would like helping and caring for people it is never a bad idea to try to work somewhere as a nursing assistant/patient care technician or nurse aid. By doing this you will likely find out if it is work you enjoy and if caring for and helping patients is what you thought it would be. It is difficult and tough work and generally the more you care about your patients makes it even a little tougher because you will work hard to do your best! Patients and people who are hurt or sick will always know when someone’s heart is in it.
3. There are many hospitals or healthcare facilities and/or organizations have programs that will provide tuition assistance for employees who want to go back to school. It will depend on whether or not a specialty has a shortage of qualified applicants or staff. Example, if a large hospital system has been experience a shortage of nurses, they may have a tuition assistance or sponsorship program for employees who want to get a degree in nursing. Pretty much any program like that will have a requirement that you work for the hospital or healthcare system a certain period of time once you graduate and go to work. Not many employers are willing to pay for tuition without an agreement to 1) either pay back the tuition received or 2) work a certain amount of time to help the employer get some benefit from providing the tuition assistance.
If you have made a decision or are in the process of making a decision about your occupation:
1. Check to see what courses of study are required to get into any program you’re interested in. Example: I was 42 years old when I decided I wanted to be a nurse. I was required to have taken and passed a high school level chemistry class and a biology class in order to be eligible to apply to get into the nursing program. I ended up taking the biology class at the college where I studied and I took a high school chemistry class at night that was offered at a local high school. Every program will have pre-requisites and it is good to know that up front so you will know if you need to take any additional classes before you begin in your program of study.
Good luck Eduardo, PS: going into the nursing program to become a nurse was one of the most challenging things I have every done, it was also one of best choices I have made!
Updated
Weslee’s Answer
If you want to know what it's like to work in a Healthcare career you should go to a few different settings and see what they are like. Hospitals and outpatient clinics might let you sit in and watch what goes on. Or let you follow someone who has the job that you're interested in around for a few hours to see if it's interesting to you. Keep track of dates and times that you've been there observing and get signatures from the people that you follow because you will want to include that in your paperwork if you apply to a health care program in college.
Updated
Suzanne’s Answer
Hello Eduardo,
I recommend the following steps while in high school or community college:
1. Make sure you take the essential core science courses required for any degree in the heath field. Get good grades.
https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/health-science-major-overview
2. Find healthcare volunteer opportunities. Your local Red Cross might be a good place to look. Also, your local hospitals will have volunteering needs.
http://redcrossyouth.org/scholarships/be-a-volunteer/
3. Once you have decided on a career track, carefully research which university might be best for you. Investigate all scholarships available. Go into university with the goal of earning you Bachelors degree at minimum. When you get into college, treat school like a full time job! If a masters degree is required for your chosen profession, make sure to complete the terminal degree.
https://www.collegechoice.net/rankings/best-health-science-degrees/
Copy and paste the webpage links into your browser. I hope this information is helpful.
Read through the attached links for more complete information
I recommend the following steps while in high school or community college:
1. Make sure you take the essential core science courses required for any degree in the heath field. Get good grades.
https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/health-science-major-overview
2. Find healthcare volunteer opportunities. Your local Red Cross might be a good place to look. Also, your local hospitals will have volunteering needs.
http://redcrossyouth.org/scholarships/be-a-volunteer/
3. Once you have decided on a career track, carefully research which university might be best for you. Investigate all scholarships available. Go into university with the goal of earning you Bachelors degree at minimum. When you get into college, treat school like a full time job! If a masters degree is required for your chosen profession, make sure to complete the terminal degree.
https://www.collegechoice.net/rankings/best-health-science-degrees/
Copy and paste the webpage links into your browser. I hope this information is helpful.
Suzanne recommends the following next steps: