PLANNING FOR A HEALTH CAREER

1. Disease Prevention and Control

People who specialize in this career path focus on communicable

and non-communicable diseases. Their work includes immunization,

screening of newborns, promotion of breastfeeding, infant diseases

prevention, adolescent healthcare, and life skills.

Sample Careers:

• Community Health Work

• Education and Research

2. Personal Healthcare

Professionals in this field perform healthcare related tasks in a

personal care level. These include monitoring patients; administering and

assisting in personal care and hygiene; performing housekeeping duties;

and advising clients on related healthcare issues like infant care, hygiene

and nutrition

3. Maternal and Child Care

These health workers deal with complex public health issues

that affect women, children and their families. These include providing

information on reproductive health, family planning, healthcare of pregnant

women and their children, and improvement of health delivery system

through advocacy, education and research.

Sample Careers:

• Midwifery

• Community Health Educator

• Outreach Specialist

4. Mental Healthcare

These medical professionals specialize in dealing with interpersonal

and intrapersonal relationships and life skills. These include cognitive and

psychosocial development, promotion of healthy self-esteem through

feelings and anger management and identifying warning signs or red flags

of learning disorders, such as ADHD, anxiety, mood disorders, stress, and

bullying.

Sample Careers:

• Social Work

• Clinical Psychology

• Psychiatry

• Guidance Counseling

5. Community Healthcare

Specialists in this area focus on the maintenance, protection, and

improvement of the health of all community members.

Sample Careers:

• Barangay/Community Health Work

• Rural Sanitary Inspection

6. Environmental Healthcare Management

These health workers try to establish the correlation between and

among the physical, chemical, biological, social, and psychosocial factors

in the surrounding environment. These include monitoring the quality of

environment and impact of human activities on ecosystems, and developing

strategies for restoring ecosystems.

Sample Careers:

• Air quality monitoring

• Soil science analysis

• Hazardous and solid waste management

• Environmental noise control

• Radiological assessment

7. Drug Prevention and Control

People whose careers revolve around this area seek to reduce

community and individual problems related to alcohol and drug abuse

through evidence-based programs and policy advocacy.

Sample Careers:

• Drug Enforcement

• Drug and Alcohol Rehabilitation

8. Nutrition

Specialists in this area find ways to balance individuals’ food and

nutrition and their impact on patients’ health. These include meal planning,

food preparation and economics.

Sample Careers:

• Clinical Dietetics

• Food and Nutrition Management

• Public Health Nutrition

• Education and Research

9. Health Education

Those who work in this field are tasked with promotion of healthcare and training of health workers on managing change in healthcare. Their work involves assessing individual and community needs, planning, implementing and evaluating health programs, promoting the understanding of various health-related behaviors plus coordinating health education services.

Sample Careers:

• Education and Research

• Community Health Work

10. Dental Health

Dental health workers deal with various oral conditions which include chronic mouth and facial pain, oral sores, periodontal (gum) disease,

tooth decay and tooth loss, other diseases and disorders that affect the oral cavity, and risk factors for oral diseases which include unhealthy diet, tobacco use, harmful alcohol use, and poor oral hygiene.

Sample Careers:

• Dental Hygiene

• Dental Nursing

• Dental health support

11. Occupational Safety

Careers in this path are related to the safety, health and welfare of people engaged in work or employment. These include protecting workers from sickness, disease, and injury arising from possible hazards of their employment and workplace.

Sample Careers:

• Occupational Health and Safety Technician

• Health Inspector

• Industrial Hygienist

12. Emergency Medical Services

People assigned in this work specialize in out-of-hospital medical care. Their skills include first-aid procedures, emergency medical treatment and transport of patients, rapid emergency medical response and immediate medical attention.

Sample Careers:

• Emergency Medical Aid

• Paramedic

Health Care Provider

- a person who helps identify, prevent, or treat an illness or disability

Health Care Practitioner/

Provider

- an independent healthcare provider who is licensed to practice on and provide general and/or specialized care to a specific area of the body

Allied Health Professionals

- a trained healthcare provider practicing under supervision of a physician or healthcare practitioner. They include pharmacists, dental hygienists, physical therapists and nurses.

Allied health professionals provide services and engage in activities which include:

a. prevention - keep illness or injury from happening

b. assessment/evaluation - appraisal of the condition based on the patient’s subjective report

c. identification/diagnosis - analysis based on signs, symptoms, and laboratory findings

d. treatment - management and care of a patient or the combating of disease or disorder

e. rehabilitation/habilitation - treatment designed to recover from injury, illness, or disease towards a normal condition as possible

f. advocacy - a method by which patients, their families, attorneys, health professionals, and citizens’ groups can work together to develop programs that ensure the availability of high-quality healthcare for a community

g. promotion of health and well-being - the process of enabling people to increase control over their health and its determinants, and thereby improving their health

h. education - the process of sharing and gaining knowledge

i. research - the diligent inquiry or examination of data, reports, and observations in a search for facts or principles

1. Audiologist – identifies and rehabilitates hearing impairments and related disorders

2. Chiropractor - diagnoses and treats neuromuscular disorders, with emphasis on treatment through manual adjustment and/or manipulation of the spine.

3. Clinical psychologist - assesses, diagnoses, treats and helps prevent mental disorders

4. Dietitian / Nutritionist - promotes good health through proper diet and treatment of diseases

5. Emergency Medical Technician – also known as ambulance technician; responds quickly to any emergency and life-threatening situation to immediately treat serious injuries, physical or mental trauma to increase a patient’s chances of survival

6. Guidance Counselor - assists students with personal, family, education, and career decisions and concerns; also helps them develop job-finding skills and other life skills needed to prevent and deal with problems

7. Health Educator - specializes in health education and promotes the development of health knowledge, life skills, and positive attitudes toward the health and well-being of students

8. Massage Therapist - performs the scientific manipulation of the soft tissues of the body for the purpose of normalizing those tissues; uses manual techniques that include applying fixed or movable pressure on affected parts of the body

9. Medical assistant – performs, under the direction of a physician, various routine administrative and nontechnical clinical tasks in hospitals, clinics, and other similar facilities

10. Medical technologist – performs a variety of tasks on body fluids, from simple blood tests to more complex tests to uncover abnormalities in the body, and underlying causes of illnesses, such as HIV/AIDS, diabetes, and cancer which are not easily detected through physical examination

11. Midwife - professionals with the expertise and skills in helping women maintain healthy pregnancies, assist in or perform childbirth delivery, and help in women’s recovery process through the postpartum period

12. Nurse - trained to provide care for people who are sick or injured; monitors patients’ health and records symptoms, assists physicians during examinations and treatment, and administers medications

13. Occupational therapist - uses purposeful activity and interventions to maximize the independence and health of any client who is limited by physical injury or illness, cognitive impairment, psychosocial dysfunction, mental illness, or learning disability

14. Orthotist/Prosthetist – makes and fits prosthetics or artificial parts for the human body

15. Paramedic - gives emergency medical treatment or assists medical professionals in emergency situations

16. Pharmacist - prepares and dispenses medication prescribed by licensed health professionals; also provides information to patients regarding drugs, and consults with healthcare professionals on advances in drugs or medicine

17. Radiologic Technologist/Radiographer - healthcare professionals who perform imaging procedures, such as x-ray examinations, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scans and Computed Tomography (CT) scans (health careers.org)

18. Physical Therapist - examines, evaluates, and treats physical impairments through use of special exercise, application of heat or cold, and other physical modalities

19. Speech Language Pathologist - diagnoses and treats patients with functional and organic speech defects and disorders

20. Phlebotomist - professionals with special training in phlebotomy or drawing blood from patients

21. Radiation therapist - administers radiation therapy services to patients and observes patients during treatment; other duties may include tumor localization, patient follow-up, patient education, and record keeping

22. Respiratory therapist - specializes in the promotion of optimum cardiopulmonary function and health; regularly deals with various chronic respiratory diseases, such as asthma and emphysema

23. Social Worker - investigates, treats, and gives aid to people with social problems and helps people with mental illness, serious health conditions, financial difficulties, substance abuse problems, domestic or child abuse, unwanted pregnancy and other social problems