So You Want to Do More in Healthcare? 3 Ideas
Your career is important to you, and it’s about more than just making money. You want to make a difference in the world. Healthcare offers you an opportunity to do that, so you’ve been focusing your time in this industry. From direct patient care to administrative positions crucial to keeping the healthcare system going, there are many career paths to take. You don’t have to be sure of your end destination right now, either. Many professionals begin with one experience and let that guide their next career move. Here are three ideas to expand your role in healthcare, including EMS training and volunteering.
1. Start with EMS Training
If real-world clinical experience is what you’re looking for, as well as directly helping people in urgent situations, EMS is a powerful place to start. EMS stands for Emergency Medical Services. Becoming a paramedic or Emergency Medical Technician builds medical know-how, teaches you how to assess and respond to emergencies, and helps you be more confident one-on-one with patients.
Those skills are ones you can apply across different healthcare positions in the future, if you decide EMS isn’t where you want to focus your entire career. For example, you could master the basics of BLS (Basic Life Support) before moving on to specialized skills training and working in clinical settings in EMS career bridge programs. You’ll gain mentors, connect with healthcare organizations, and can transition into nursing, fire department positions, healthcare leadership, or a related role.
2. Get a Clinical Credential
Going back to school doesn’t mean you need to devote four years to getting a degree. Shorter training programs can help you get a foot in the healthcare system and move up the career ladder. You attend a training program at a community college in Michigan that takes only weeks, or you commit to something a bit longer. Doing so, you’ll gain entry into clinical work and start to use what your training has provided you. From there, you can assess whether it’s right for you or if you’d like to go back to school to get trained in something else healthcare-related.
The program you choose depends on what interests you. Maybe that’s becoming a phlebotomy technician or a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA). That opens the doors to working in many different places, such as hospitals, long-term care facilities, and clinics. Perhaps you feel right at home in senior centers or gravitate toward clinics. You won’t know until you go to school to get the credentials to start working there and helping people, so why wait?
3. Start Volunteering
Giving your time to make a difference is admirable. The experience you gain from volunteering can take your career further, too. You’ll get an idea of what it’s like to work in different healthcare environments, too, helping narrow down what most suits your interests.
Perhaps you start volunteering in hospitals. Or maybe you choose to help out in a clinic instead. Every hour that you give is one that can strengthen your resume. Building that resume helps you move ahead to the next role in healthcare.
