Why Do You Want To Work In Healthcare?

This is a serious question that deserves your time and consideration. What specifically about healthcare is appealing to you? Do you want to help sick children? Do you want to work on groundbreaking research? Perhaps, you are interested in working directly with medicine. It’s important to try and figure this out sooner rather than later. This way, you know what jobs to rule out.

For example, a healthcare career is attractive to you because you want to help develop new medicines. However, becoming a doctor or nurse would not be an ideal path. Instead, you would consider looking into jobs that work in labs, perform research, and conduct various tests.

Understanding What These Jobs Entail

As we covered above, there are a wide variety of healthcare jobs to choose from. Your first step was to understand if that job aligns with your goal. The second step is to gain a full understanding of what the job entails. This includes how much schooling is involved, what type of classes you need to take, what you will be doing every day, and how much your salary range will be.

Once you have an idea of the type of job you may want to pursue, it is important to connect with someone who currently holds this position. You can start by asking your family and friends if they know anyone in the field. Otherwise, you can search on LinkedIn and ask if they wouldn’t mind answering a few direct questions. The key is to get the answers to the questions listed above and gain a complete picture of what that position looks like.

Mapping Out Your Educational Path

Yes, it is vital to understand what a career in a specific section of healthcare will look like. However, it is equally important to understand how you are doing to get there. As we mentioned earlier, it is your job to understand what type of education is needed to obtain the various positions you are interested in. Once you figure that out, your next step is putting together your educational roadmap.

For starters, how many years are you willing to go to school? If you are looking to start your career after four years, that will greatly impact what careers you can pursue. Another important question to ask is around how much education you can afford. If your educational roadmap requires you to take out loans, you must understand how much you will be paying back per month after you graduate.

Give Yourself As Much Flexibility As Possible

While you may believe you have a strong grasp on what career you want to pursue now, that may change as you get deeper into your studies. For example, at some point, you will be required to participate in an internship or clinical fellowship depending on what you study. This type of hands-on experience may make you realize that you are not as interested in this career as you originally thought.

Therefore, when possible, choose a major that leads to multiple careers. When researching colleges, be sure to inquire about the various career paths associated with each major. Be sure to gain an understanding of the different types of jobs and what they entail. This way, if you want to change your mind, you do not have to start from the beginning.

Conclusion

Pursuing a career in healthcare is a noble and worthwhile endeavor. It is a career path that offers many different exciting yet complex options. You owe it to yourself and your future to take the time to research all types of opportunities properly. The key is to understand what you are looking for in a healthcare career and which pathway gives you the best chance to achieve it.