Health careers refer to the different careers related to medical and other allied health professionals. The tasks of health care workers and professional are enormous yet rewarding because their works focus on wellness and prevention of illnesses.
A Health Career Plan is an individual action or initiative in making career choice, in growing in chosen career or in making a career shift which involves a very important discernment. Similarly, Career planning involves four important steps which include: Self-Assessment, Career Exploration, Decision Making, and Plan of Action.
Step 1. Self-Assessment. This is the first step in knowing the health career that suits you. This step requires an honest evaluation of yourself. It is necessary for you to know yourself. You need to understand your capabilities and shortcomings. The components of this step are your strengths, weaknesses, interests, hobbies, personal experiences, family income, skills, and competencies.
Step 2. Career Exploration. Exploring health career options through different ways or methods is an essential step to choosing a particular health career path to take. You can do this through reading articles, browsing the net, attending fora, and meetings. This stage is about knowing where to look and what to look for. It refers to searching different careers and work environments that suit you. This step includes listing down of health career options, conducting informational interview, job shadowing (on-the-job learning), job temping (short term job), attending internship, and volunteering.
Step 3. Decision Making. Once you have assessed yourself and explored the health career that you are interested to pursue, you are now ready to make decisions. In this step, you need to consider both current and future goals in life by narrowing down your choices. This step includes listing of pros and cons, comparing your personal strengths and interests, choosing a specific health career to pursue, considering suggestion of family, and finally deciding a health career to take.
Step 4. Plan of Action. Now that you have chosen a health career, you are now ready to make a career plan. At this point, you will design your action plan or identify and organize the necessary steps to achieve your desired goals. This step includes designing a plan to reach health career goals, identifying short-term and long-term goals, identifying education and training requirements, developing job search strategies, and creating road map considering possible problems that may arise along the way.
Step 1. Self-Assessment. Identify your vision, values, interests, skills, traits, and abilities. It will help you decide what you want from your next health career move. Key Questions: 1. What are my strengths and weaknesses? 2. What are my skills and abilities? 3. What are my hobbies and interests? 4. What are my characteristics and personality? 5. What are my significant life experiences?
Step 2. Career Exploration. Explore your options and gather information about them. Find out about the occupations that interest you. Try talking with people in those fields. Key Questions: 1. What health careers do I want to explore? 2. What are the ways to explore different health careers? 3. What are the different tasks of my chosen health career? 4. What characteristics and skills must I possess to work in this field? 5. What kind of education or experience is required to pursue this career?
Step 3. Decision Making. Evaluate your career options. Decide which ones are best for you at this stage. Look at the pros and cons of each option. Consider the challenges you may face and how you can handle them. Key Questions: 1. What health career will I choose based on my skills and interests? 2. What are the things to consider in pursuing my chosen health career? 3. What are the pros and cons in pursuing my chosen health career? 4. Can I engage myself in the typical working conditions of this health career? 5. How much money will I earn if I pursue this health career? 6. Am I still interested in pursuing this career? Why or why not?
Step 4. Plan of Action. Develop a plan to make your options a reality. Identify the short-term and long-term steps that you need to take. Create deadlines for the completion of each step. Identify things you can do to stay motivated. Then take the steps you've identified. Key Questions: 1. What will I do to realize my goals in health career? 2. What are my strategies to reach my goals? 3. What problems may arise in pursuing this health career? 4. What will I do to solve problems that may arise along the way?
Planning works because: 1. Picturing your goals can motivate you and keep you focused. 2. Planning how to reach your goals helps you set priorities and stay organized. 3. Sometimes you need to do things in a certain order, so it’s important to know where to start.
In preparing a meaningful personal health career, make it SMART. S pecific - the plan must be clear, concise and tangible. M easurable - the plan must be quantifiable by means of indicators. A ttainable - the plan must be achievable. R ealistic –the plan should not be simply a wish. T ime-Bound - the plan must have a clear schedule or time frame to do a task.
Career pathways are cluster of occupations that are grouped because of shared skills. All pathways include a variety of careers that require different levels of education, skill, and training. Selecting a career pathway provides you with an area of focus, along with flexibility and a variety of ideas to pursue for personal development. Learners who are interested in helping others, working in a team environment and being a part of a field with a lot of opportunities for growth are encouraged to pursue in the health career pathways. In this career path, students will acquire the skills to be valuable members of any healthcare team.
Moreover, sample career skills of learners are: Beginner: • Understand how healthcare teams communicate, interact and practice • Learn industry standard procedures for both patient safety and infection control Intermediate: • Demonstrate direct patient care skills, including patient grooming, rehabilitation and restorative care, vital signs and oxygen management • Understand human growth and development by visiting and observing early childhood programs Advanced: • Learn medical terminology and study human anatomy • Chart on real-life healthcare flow sheets to record patient data
Health career pathway is significant for it provides a guide on what to take in order to achieve your desired goals. It is a concrete representation of your personal health career plan. Understanding health career pathways is important because it makes it easier for you to identify health career professionals, assists you in choosing a health career, and helps you develop a plan on how to prepare for your chosen health career.
There are 12 various health career pathways which you can explore. These are:
There are 12 various health career pathways which you can explore. These are:
There are 12 various health career pathways which you can explore. These are:
There are 12 various health career pathways which you can explore. These are:
There are 12 various health career pathways which you can explore. These are:
There are 12 various health career pathways which you can explore. These are:
There are 12 various health career pathways which you can explore. These are:
There are 12 various health career pathways which you can explore. These are:
There are 12 various health career pathways which you can explore. These are:
There are 12 various health career pathways which you can explore. These are:
There are 12 various health career pathways which you can explore. These are:
There are 12 various health career pathways which you can explore. These are:
Now that you have already explored the 12 different career pathways, how will you select a particular health career pathway? These are the suggested ways.
In addition, other factors that may affect in selecting a particular health career pathway may include
Health career orientation program aims to provide meaningful, relevant, updated and valuable information regarding the health career that you want to pursue which directs and assists you in your chosen health career path. Health career orientation program helps you to evaluate and assess such factors as personal needs, interests and skills, provide an opportunity to identify and explore health careers, learn about the duties and responsibilities of health professionals, acquire an awareness for both academic and vocational fields, and pursue health career pathways for future education or training.
On February 14, 2019, President Rodrigo Roa Duterte signed into law Republic Act 11206 otherwise known as Secondary School Career Guidance and Counseling Act. This Act shall pursue the following objectives: a. Institutionalize a career guidance and counselling program for students in all public and private secondary schools nationwide in order to provide them proper direction in pursuing subsequent tertiary education; b. Equip secondary education students with the capability to make educated career decisions and expose them to relevant labor markets; and c. Ensure that graduates of tertiary education meet the requirements of the government, industry, and the economy.
The table below is provided to summarize the health career pathways and the different health careers that fall under each category to help you decide which career to take in the near future.
The table below is provided to summarize the health career pathways and the different health careers that fall under each category to help you decide which career to take in the near future.
The table below is provided to summarize the health career pathways and the different health careers that fall under each category to help you decide which career to take in the near future.
The table below is provided to summarize the health career pathways and the different health careers that fall under each category to help you decide which career to take in the near future.
The table below is provided to summarize the health career pathways and the different health careers that fall under each category to help you decide which career to take in the near future.
The table below is provided to summarize the health career pathways and the different health careers that fall under each category to help you decide which career to take in the near future.
The table below is provided to summarize the health career pathways and the different health careers that fall under each category to help you decide which career to take in the near future.
In deciding an appropriate health career path, it is necessary to: • compare health career options • narrow down health career options; • reflect on skills, abilities, interests, strengths, among others; • choose a specific health career to pursue; • list down pros and cons in pursuing chosen health career; • consider suggestion of family; and • think of the outcome of your chosen health career path.
To help you make decisions on appropriate health career path to pursue, you should conduct a SWOT Analysis on the health career path. The diagram below shows the things to consider in the SWOT Analysis.