W-1-2: Planning for a Health Career

• Career


  An occupation or profession that requires special training
• Health careers

  Designed to familiarize students with the various careers in the medical profession and allied health services
• Skills learned in health careers


  • Working with others
  • Communication skills
  • Legal and ethical responsibilities
  • Cultural considerations in industry
  • Problem solving
  • Decision making
  • Accepting personal responsibility
  • Self-management
• Health career planning


  An individual's plan to make a career choice, grow in the chosen career or make a career shift

  
• Self-assessment


  Necessary to understand one's capabilities and drawbacks
• The various career options should be explored in detail to find a fit between one's abilities and the opportunities provided by a career option
• Health career planning involves continuous learning and improvement to build and grow in the chosen career path

  
• Reasons to pursue a health career

  • Make a difference in people's lives
  • Good salary
  • Job security
  • Do work that interests you
  • Find a health career that fits your educational plans
  • A clear path to advancement
  • Work with people (or not)

  
• Components and steps in making a health career plan

  1. Planning forward

  2. Self-assessment

  3. Self-development

  4. Career exploration

  5. Decision making

  6. Networking

  7. Plan of action

  
• Planning forward involves conceptualizing your plan and putting it into writing
• Self-assessment involves discovering your personal strengths through assessments of values, interests, personality, skills, etc.
• Self-development involves working on mistakes and filling in loopholes identified through self-evaluation
• Career exploration involves learning more and gaining experience through career fairs, online research, meetings, internships, alumni connections, and professional resources
• Decision making involves evaluating and narrowing down options by listing pros and cons, comparing personal strengths and interests, and deciding which career fulfills current and future goals
• Networking involves meeting people involved in the kind of work you would like to try to gain contacts and learn more information about your chosen career
• The plan of action involves setting achievable goals, developing strategies, organizing goals into smaller steps, identifying actions for each step, utilizing helpful people and resources, and regularly reviewing and adapting the plan