Not all of us have the time nor the money to become doctors, no matter how much we want to be. Luckily, there’s still a way for you to enter the healthcare industry and help people recover from their illnesses and conditions. Here are some healthcare specialties that you should consider:
Occupation Therapist Assistant
Occupational therapy refers to the practice of helping people regain ‘normal’ functions through the use of everyday movements and activities. But occupational therapists don’t do it alone: more often than not, they work closely with a number of occupational therapist assistants, or OTAs, to assist them in providing quality healthcare for their patients.
Some education institutions even offer Associate’s Degree programs for occupational therapy assistants with a diploma that you can earn in two years. In no time at all, you can already be rendering healthcare to people who require a gentle touch.
Healthcare Management
In general, healthcare management refers to the management of healthcare facilities and healthcare staff. Basically, healthcare management specialists work on the business side of healthcare without having to deal directly with patients.
They’re the ones responsible for ensuring that healthcare professionals get paid their fair share, that patients are charged fairly and economically, and are also responsible for coming up with budgets for hospitals and clinics so that these facilities can maintain a high standard of care.
Healthcare management can be taken as an undergraduate field of study, although a graduate degree is preferred. Still, it’s an alternative for people who want to work in healthcare, but may not have the time nor the funds to study medicine.
Medical Administrative Specialist
A Medical Administrative Specialist has a similar job description as a healthcare management professional, except that a Medical Administrative Specialist works more closely with both healthcare professionals and patients. Basically, if a Healthcare Manager takes care of the big picture, the Medical Administrative Specialist takes care of the minute details that keep the operation running.
Whether it’s scheduling appointments between patients and doctors, handling shift schedules of the various professionals in their charge, assist patients with their paperwork, and work with patients in dealing with their questions.
Fitness Trainer
Becoming a fitness trainer means that you’re making patients healthy via workout routines, nutritional guides, and lifestyle changes. The best part? You have to do the workouts, the nutritional diets, and the lifestyle changes with your clients, meaning you ensure that you yourself stay healthy in the process!
To become a licensed fitness trainer, you’ll need to take classes that teach you proper fitness forms and techniques that are designed to maximize their health benefits while minimizing the risk of injury, as well as basic first aid and client management.
Nurse
One of the noblest professions you can take, becoming a nurse requires taking an undergraduate degree and maybe a graduate diploma as well. Nurses are not assistants to doctors. Rather, nurses are healthcare professionals in and of themselves. Yes, they support doctors in their duties, but nurses are also at the frontlines of patient assessment, treatment evaluation and scheduling (not to mention treatment suggestion), ensuring after-treatment patient care, and many, many others.
Becoming a nurse is a vocation, a calling, and a profession that is both personally satisfying and lifesaving to patients.
