Health Sciences

The Health Science career cluster orients students to careers that promote health, wellness, and diagnosis as well as treating injuries and diseases.

This career cluster is divided into five pathways:

• Therapeutic Services

• Diagnostic Services

• Biotechnology Research & Development

• Health Informatics

• Support Services

Therapeutic Services

Careers in this pathway are focused primarily on changing the health status of the patient over time. Health professionals in this pathway work directly with patients. They may provide care, treatment, counseling and health education information.

Sample occupations include:

• Athletic Trainer

• Certified Nurse Assistant

• Dental Hygienist

• Paramedic

• Pharmacist

• Physical Therapist

• Physician

• Registered Nurse

• Respiratory Therapist

• Surgical Technician

Diagnostic Services

Careers in this pathway use tests and evaluations that aid in the detection, diagnosis and treatment of diseases, injuries or other physical conditions.

Sample occupations include:

• Geneticist

• Medical Lab Technologist

• Nuclear Medicine Technologist

• Pathologist

• Phlebotomist

• Radiologic Technologist

Biotechnology Research & Development

Careers in the Biotechnology Research and Development pathway involve bioscience research and development as it applies to human health. These scientists may study diseases to discover new treatments or invent medical devices used to directly assist patients or to improve the accuracy of diagnostic tests.

Sample occupations include:

• Biochemist

• Cell Biologist

• Certified Registered Central Service Technician (CRCST)

• Medical, Clinical Laboratory Technician

• Research Assistant

Health Informatics

Careers in the Health Informatics pathway include includes health care administrators who manage health care agencies as well as those individuals who are responsible for managing all of the patient data and information, financial information, and computer applications related to health care processes and procedures.

Sample occupations include:

• Admitting Clerk

• Bioinformatics Technician

• Clinical Ethicist

• Computer Programmer

• Dental Laboratory Technician

• Epidemiologist

• Financial Manager

• Health Educator

• Medical Assistant

• Medical Biller, Patient Financial Services

• Medical Information Technologist

• Medical, Health Services Manager

Support Services

Careers in the Support Services pathway provide a therapeutic environment for the delivery of health care. Support Services offers a full range of career opportunities from entry level to management, including technical and professional careers.

Sample occupations include:

• Administrative Assistant

• Communications Equipment Operator

• Data Entry Specialist

• Environmental Sampling and Analysis Technician

• Food Service Worker

• Front Office Assistant

• Materials Manager

• Medical Transcriptionist

• Medical, Clinical Laboratory Technologist

• Mortician

• Records Processing Assistant

In order to make a plan for your future career goals, you need to know how to get there and make sure it is a good fit for you. There are several tools that can be used for career research. These tools can give you a description of the career, skills needed, tasks involved, wage range, and education/training needed.

Here are a few career research tools:

• Xello

• Onet-Use the "Occupation Search" features

• My Next Move

• CareerOneStop-Use "Occupation Search" or "List of Occupations"

• ASVAB-Career Exploration Program

• Explore Health Careers