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Getting In The Medical Field: Your Healthcare Career Guide

Did you know that there are 2.6 doctors per 1000 patients in the United States?

This means the healthcare industry needs you. Considering a healthcare career is the first step in finding the right path for you.

Getting In The Medical Field: Your Healthcare Career Guide

Read our healthcare career guide to figure out how to find the path that you will always love.

Is a Healthcare Career for You?

Before choosing a career in the medical field to tackle, you need to consider if healthcare is the right path for you.

You can start by asking yourself some questions like:

  • Do you want to help others?
  • Are you wanting a career with projected growth?
  • Do you want a wide variety of career options to choose from?

Answering yes to these three questions means healthcare could be a good fit.

After considering these things, you can research the different healthcare careers out there.

Start broad when doing this. Think about the direction you want to go in. What career path will fit your goals and needs best?

A few popular healthcare career fields include the following:

Allied Healthcare

Allied healthcare, like healthcare in general, has many career options. Some positions entail becoming a health care provider who directly takes care of patients.

Other jobs focus more on assisting health care providers or helping the office run efficiently.

Some examples of positions within the allied healthcare field include pharmacy technicians, medical assistants, dental hygienists, home aides, and emergency medicine locums.

Technology Healthcare

A healthcare career can also involve the use of technology.

Since the medical field now revolves around new technological advances, this field has a lot of opportunities.

A lot of people will move their way into the medical field by making improvements in the current technology being used.

However, some jobs focus on technology support and technology systems.

Some positions may even require you to work with records electronically. This important job means keeping patient information private and true.

Management

Strong leadership is necessary for the medical field. Medical practices want those who are organized, driven, and can communicate well.

Healthcare management can include creating processes, budgeting, communicating with teams, managing the staff, and more. Some examples of jobs in healthcare management are front desk supervisors, office managers, account specialists, and medical records clerks.

Which Is Right for You?

Now that you have had a simple overview of the types of jobs you see in the medical field, you still need to decide which is right for you.

The answer could depend on several factors like how long you want to attend school, the salary you will require, and the outlook of your future in the field.

Answering these questions can help you narrow down the possibilities.

To know how to become a doctor can take a long time, but could be worth the salary.

In contrast, learning how to become a nurse could also be suitable for your lifestyle.

It may also be in your best interest to consider, “how long does it take to become a nurse?” or “how long does it take to become a doctor?”

Depending on the type of nurse you want to be, it could take as long as four years of nursing school. Becoming a doctor can take eight years or more.

If you have an idea of what you want to do now, think again because you also need to consider the location.

Depending on where you live, there could be a demand for your job or no need at all. Do some research on your city or others you would be open to before making a serious commitment.

Still unsure about what is ahead for you? Keep reading to get an overview of some popular career choices in the medical field:

Medical Biller

Becoming a medical biller means helping providers collect payments in a certain amount of time. A biller often doubles as a coder. A coder will assign the payment amount to each procedure or diagnosis.

Patient records become coded and get sent to the patient via claim or through the insurance company. These individuals will work full-time in various locations like an office, hospital, clinic, etc.

Dental Assistant

A dental assistant works to make the entire office smoothly by completing a variety of tasks. Tasks include working with patients, scheduling appointments, keeping records, and more.

This job is usually done in a dentist’s office, but dental assistants will sometimes work in hospitals, nursing homes, or schools. To begin this career path, you will need to go through dental assistant training.

Phlebotomy

Are you wondering how to become a phlebotomist? Becoming a phlebotomist is not for the queasy. This line of work involves drawing blood from patients for medical research, blood transfusions, routine tests, or donations. You can find a phlebotomist working in laboratories, blood donor facilities, doctor’s offices, or hospitals.

Pharmacy Technician

Pharmacies need technicians to fill prescriptions for patients. This job is done in a pharmacy and often requires a full-time schedule. In some cases, you may have seen a pharmacy technician working in a grocery store or drug store, but they can also work in hospitals.

Nursing Assistant

If taking care of patients is what you want to do, becoming a nursing assistant may pique your interest. A nursing assistant helps patients by checking their vitals, giving them medicine, and even helping them eat.

Different establishments require their nursing assistants to do different tasks, so it is critical to understand what role you want to play. A nursing assistant can work in a hospital, nursing home, residential facility, etc. This is a demanding career choice as you will be working long hours.

Start Your Journey Today

No matter which healthcare career option is best for you, start your journey today! Many people need to be helped by an intelligent and capable individual. You can start changing lives now. For extra help with choosing a career and more, keep coming back for articles like this!

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