Getting started
When making the decision to pursue a career in healthcare, most students are unaware of the wide variety of career options to choose from. Quality patient care not only involves a physician (or M.D.), but valuable contributions from a variety of professionals in diverse specialties that work together as a team. Your first step as a pre-health student, is to explore the careers that are available to you, and find the one that is the best fit with your strengths, goals, and interests.
The biggest question you need to ask yourself is: “ Why do I want to pursue a career as a ___________”. You should be able to answer this question with concrete reasons. This is a very important step, because this is a question you’ll likely be asked in an admissions committee interview. Reflect on this question at length and with careful thought. It’s not enough to simply say, “I want to go into healthcare because I want to help people.” There are various professions within and outside healthcare that are considered ‘helping’ professions. It’s vital for you to demonstrate that you’ve explored your personal interests, your strengths, and various healthcare professions through your academic and your non-academic pursuits.
As you make your way through these areas you’ll want to keep track of your experiences in a journal. Knowing these answers will assist you in understanding your own growth, understanding the profession you’re pursuing, and help writing a personal statement, and prepare for admission interviews. It is strongly recommended that visiting each Health Profession page on this “Explore” site or even explorehealthcareers.org or the Occupational Outlook Handbook for a comprehensive list of healthcare career paths and important information to assist your research and exploration.
Not Sure What You Like To Do?
Do you need help figuring out which professions match your interests? You can take the ONET Interest Profiler to find out what your interests are and how they relate to the world of healthcare careers. Although this tool won’t give you a definitive answer as to the “one” specific profession you should pursue, it helps you to decide which careers you might want to explore further. After completing the assessment, you will see how you rank in each of the Career Interest Areas of the RIASEC scale (standing for Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, and Conventional). Once you’ve received your assessment, you can view the healthcare careers that are the best match for the RIASEC Interest area(s).
