Yesterday, I shared the story of Terry Ramey, the auto worker studying to become a nurse from Encore.org, a resource for anyone thinking of making a change to a satisfying career that will allow them to help others. If Terry’s story inspired you to consider a career in healthcare, I am delighted to share extensive advice Andrea Santiago, about.com’s guide to health careers.
I asked Andrea to comment on what people should think about when considering a shift to a career in the health field. This is her very generous response!
Immerse yourself in the medical practice environment as much as you can – e.g. volunteer at a hospital, get a job answering phones at a local doctor’s office, anything you can do. This will help you to (a) learn about different roles before you invest in additional education etc (b) begin learning about the industry – picking up skills, “lingo” etc. and (c) begin meeting people in the industry who can help you network and/or serve as mentors, guiding you through the process of applying to schools or certification programs if needed, and/or applying for new roles etc, and (d) get on-the-job training etc. I know many people who start out answering phones at a doctor’s office, who then are trained on billing/coding, back office functions, OR who are given on the job training to work as medical assistants, etc. Most offices do not require certification for medical assistants especially if they know you have been trained etc.
Some of the more entry-level jobs to look for (in terms of not requiring a great deal of advanced education) are: medical assistant, medical receptionist, medical translator (usually Spanish is the most in-demand language needed – so obviously must be bilingual for that), phlebotomist (person who draws blood – can also get OJT for this but can take a short course to learn it if you feel more comfortable doing so), and home health aide (one of the top fastest growing segments of the healthcare industry is home health – expected to grow in # of jobs by over 50%! That is huge)
Also, LVN/LPNs (licensed vocational nurse/licensed practical nurses) are going to be one of the fastest growing careers of the decade, according to the BLS (more info on my site – stats, details etc) and this only requires a high-school diploma or equivalent and a relatively short course.
Most of the above jobs are examples of jobs you can get relatively easily, and/or work while you go back to school for something more advanced/more lucrative, if that’s what your goal is. Also, this is a great time to go back to school, especially if you don’t have your bachelor’s degree yet. There are many government programs right now for people to get assistance with tuition, and some of the programs are not even needs based, so definitely check those out – one program is for people who have been laid-off from a job, or have some other qualifying event.
Another tip – look for transferable skills and focus on obtaining additional education/experience to supplement/target for the health care industry – for example, if you are in IT, start studying/learning about healthcare IT (another rapidly growing segment of healthcare, due to EMR) and/or look for a way to get experience or knowledge that would make you marketable in healthcare IT – network from people in health care and find out what skills/certifications their facility is seeking etc. The same goes for accounting/finance, administrative professionals, salespeople, etc – look for ways to transfer your skills.
That being said, you can’t just jump into the new field (healthcare) without putting forth the effort to learn the ropes either through a few classes or via networking etc – for example, if you’re in sales, you can’t just start blindly applying for medical sales jobs and expect that to work in this market – you’ve got to have an edge, find some way to get medical experience or knowledge, even if it’s on a volunteer basis. Go on a ride-along with a medical sales rep, start networking with medical industry professionals, maybe even get a job working in a doctor’s office so you can show the interviewer that you understand the client because you worked in a doctor’s office for 6-12 mos, or whatever – also by working in a doctor’s office you’ll meet the reps who are coming through selling various drugs and equipment and you can start networking with them etc.
If you do want to go to school for an advanced degree to be a nurse or doctor, there are many great resources online – lots of nursing scholarships and other ways to pay for med school – I have a couple articles on my site about it:
http://healthcareers.about.com/od/financinghealthcareers/a/payforcollege.htm and http://healthcareers.about.com/od/financinghealthcareers/qt/SaveOnTuition.htm
But also you can check out the ANA (American Nurses’ Association) for additional resources on nursing and for med school info, one of my favorite resources is the AAMC (Association of American Medical Colleges).
And here are a few other general articles/resources on my site relative to breaking into the healthcare industry:
Other resources for allied heath careers:
ExploreHealthCareers.org – resources and information about ALL types of health careers as well as links to resources for funding.
American Medical Association – provides a directory and a list of accredited educational programs
Do I need a college degree for a health career? Terrific advice and resources from About.com’s Health Careers expert, Andrea Santiago
Allied health career profile, what to expect in allied health – more from Andrea at About.com.
- Is a Health Career Right for You?
- Top Medical Jobs
- Top 3 Nursing Careers
- 6 Steps to a Medical Job
- 8 Great Health Career Tips
photo by oedipusphinx