Have you always loved the idea of working in the medical field or healthcare? Do you get excited talking about and studying health and well-being? Well, you don’t have to spend eight years in college to get your foot in the door.
Finding a Career With Meaning
There are many careers that are meaningful and valuable to society, but few provide as much joy and positive change as a position in the medical field. When you work in the medical field, you get the opportunity to help people meet their health care goals, which can be a defining moment in a customer or patient’s life.
When you work in healthcare, you get the chance to interact with people who need your skills – not just people who want your skills. This provides you a sense of job satisfaction found in few other occupations.
Careers in the medical field offer numerous opportunities for new and exciting experiences. Because healthcare is a universal need, people in this industry often get opportunities to travel the world and work in exciting locations.
If you have a little wanderlust, few career paths will offer you as many opportunities as the medical field.
3 Medical Careers You Can Pursue With a Bachelor’s Degree
You don’t need a masters or doctorate degree in order to start working in the medical field. There are actually plenty of careers you can pursue if you have a bachelor’s degree. Take a look:
• Medical Laboratory Scientist. Did you know that you only need a BS degree to pursue a career as a medical laboratory scientist? Not only does the job pay pretty well - $50,930 median pay last year – but it’s growing at a rate that’s much faster than the rest of the job marketplace (16%). Specializations in the field include blood bank technologists, cytotechnologists, and immunology technologists.
• Medical Perfusionist. If you’ve ever seen a medical show like Grey’s Anatomy, then you’ve probably noticed that patients have to be put on a bypass machine when undergoing surgery. The person who controls that equipment is known as a medical perfusionist. Not only is the pay extremely good, but you get the opportunity to spend your days in real operating rooms.
• Transplant coordinator. Do you have a knack for dealing with people and making them feel cared for during tough situations? As a transplant coordinator, you get the opportunity to oversee the process of transplants – from pre-transplant all the way through post-surgical care and follow up – and ensure everything goes as smoothly as possible.
It’s Never Too Late to Pivot
In previous generations, you chose a career path and then stuck with it no matter what. If you were a salesperson, then sales was what you were destined to do until you retired. If you were an accountant, then you’d be crunching numbers for the rest of your life. If you were a mechanic, then cars were your calling. In 2017, this is no longer the case. People frequently shift gears and change career paths, even in their 40s, 50s, and 60s.
If you’ve thought about what it would be like to have a career in the medical field but have waited to make this positive change in your life, now is as good a time as any to give it some serious consideration. Get your new career started today and put that ambition to work in the medical field. You’ll be glad you did!