Beyond Pre-Med

The ability to help others is a common reason for students to want to study pre-med in college. But you don’t have to go pre-med to pursue a career in the health sciences. Consider these health-related careers!

Pharmacist
Pharmacy careers are divided into four primary areas, says Dr. Curtis Black, assistant dean of academic affairs at the College of Pharmacy at Toldeo. Those areas are:
Medicinal chemistry (How drugs are constructed to do what they’re supposed to do.)
Pharmacology (Studying how drugs work in the body and the reactions they cause.)
Pharmaceutics (How to get medicine into a useful form. “If you can’t get (the medicine) into people, it doesn’t do any good,” Black says.)
Clinical studies (How to develop the process of giving medication to people, paying for it and working with the health care system.)

As a pharmacy student, plan to spend six years in college after high school. You’ll graduate with a doctorate in pharmacy (known as a Pharm.D. degree).

Most pharmacists work in community pharmacy areas, such as at drug and grocery stores, Black says. Community pharmacists spend their time filling prescriptions, clarifying orders with physicians, making sure the prescribed medication is accurate for the patient, working with insurance companies and getting recommendations for specific therapy. “They’re trying to make sure the patient’s therapy is right for the disease stage or the patient,” Black says.

Pharmacists also work in hospitals, neighborhood health centers and senior centers, on medical missions and in pharmaceutical sales. They test new drugs and manage prescription plans for HMOs.

After completing an accredited pharmacy program and passing a state licensing board exam, a pharmacist can expect to make an average salary of $70,000, reports the Bureau of Labor Statistics (www.bls.org).

Physical therapy
After completing classes in gross anatomy, kinesiology, orthopedics, neuroscience and epidemiology, Paige Farrell graduated with a master’s in physical therapy. Now a practicing physical therapist, Farrell evaluates and treats patients in Kirksville, Mo.

“Most treatments consist of some form of pain relieving treatment, from the use of ultrasound and electrical stimulation to massage and therapeutic exercise,” she says.

You’ll find physical therapists working for schools, homecare services, hospitals, nursing homes and specialty units, such as burn units or cancer centers.

Farrell appreciates the relationships she is able to build with clients. She also likes the healing aspect of her job. “Nothing feels better than to see a patient walk in to a clinic with a smile and report their pain is no longer,” she says.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the average salary for a physical therapist is approximately $55,000.

Holistic health care
Massage therapy, acupuncture and medical herbalism are all examples of alternatives to the prescription-heavy world of health care. As a massage therapist, you could work at a spa, gym, a hospital or office that specializes in holistic health care, in a private practice or with athletes recovering from injuries, for example.

Adrienne Anetrini received her massage therapy certification in October from the Onondaga School of Therapeutic Massage in Rochester, N.Y. The certification required classes in different massage strokes, addressing patient injuries, anatomy, physiology, diseases and more. After passing a licensing exam (www.amtamassage.org lists the states that regulate the practice), Anetrini plans to practice massage on a cruise ship. She will then study skin care in Hawaii in preparation for owning her own destination spa.

Anetrini’s massage therapy certificate program took six months of full-time work; it can take up to 18 months if you attend class part time. Students must practice their techniques on each other and the public. (“You get massages every day!” Anetrini says.) She had to complete 30 public massages to meet graduation requirements.

“It’s very rewarding to make people feel good,” Anetrini says. “People will love you; you’re always a favorite. The most difficult part is that the profession is very self-motivated. If you’re not willing to put time, effort and money into it, you’re not going to get anywhere.” If charging $40 to $75 an hour, notes Onondaga’s Web site, a massage therapist working full time (approximately 20 sessions a week) can make $40,000 to $70,000 a year.

Nursing
With the country experiencing a nursing shortage—New York state alone is short 16,000 nurses, says one Department of Education study—pursuing a nursing career these days can almost guarantee you a job offer upon graduation.

Anita Reed, a registered nurse who is coordinator of recruitment and admissions at the St. Elizabeth School of Nursing in Lafayette, Ind., says that the best nurses are “kind, committed, caring, considerate, responsible and accountable.”

Nurses, Reed says, are responsible for carrying out physician orders, acting as client advocates, passing out medications, starting IV’s, giving injections, providing wound care and dressings and performing all procedures as required. Registered nurses (RNs) have passed a licensing exam and completed a four-year bachelor’s degree. Licensed practical nurses (LPNs, known as LVNs in some states) must complete an accredited practical nursing program (which usually takes a year at a vocational school or community college) and also pass a licensing exam. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, however, a bachelor’s degree is required if you’re considering administration, graduate school, specialization or other advancements.

Schools, factories, hospitals, physician offices, wellness centers, community centers and hospice programs all employ nurses. You can work with children in a pediatrician’s office, with the elderly in a long-term care facility or with teens in a high school.

Reed says that the skill every nurse needs is the ability and desire to care for others. “You just don’t wake up one day and decide to be a nurse,” Reed says. “You have to have a very kind and caring demeanor and a true desire to help others.” Helping others, she says, is the best part of the job. Nursing challenges include long hours and multitasking.

New nurses can expect to make $18 an hour; nurses with a few years’ experience can expect to make $22 to $25 an hour, says Reed.

Dietician
Are you a believer in “you are what you eat”? Help people become healthier as a dietician or nutritionist. You can work in preventive medicine, such as helping clients maintain their weight, or guide people dealing with diabetes, high cholesterol and more. After completing a degree in dietetics or nutrition, you’ll have to take a registration exam to become a registered dietician, or RD. Dieticians work as researchers; as menu planners for schools, hospitals or senior centers; and as consultants for people with health concerns.

More health-related jobs!
Job: EMT (Emergency Medical Technician)
Duties: Perform pre-hospital medical procedures, transport sick or injured to medical facilities, work with police and fire departments.
Fact: Thirty-eight states require registration with the
National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians (NREMT). Other states administer their own certification examination. You must re-register every two years, which means you’re required to participate in continuing education.
Average salary: $22,460

Job: Chiropractor
Duties: Provide nonprescription solutions to patients with muscular, skeletal and nervous system health problems.
Fact: This job requires four years of study at an accredited chiropractic college, where you’ll earn a doctorate of chiropractic degree.
Average salary: $67,030

Job: Cardiovascular technologist or technician
Duties: Assist physicians in diagnosing and treating cardiac and peripheral vascular ailments. Seven out of 10 are employed in hospital cardiology departments.
Fact: This job requires two to four years of training as well as on-the-job-training for an additional eight to 16 weeks.
Average salary: $33,350

Job: Radiologic technologist or technician
Duties: Take X-rays and administer non-radioactive

materials into patients’ blood streams for diagnostic purposes.
Fact: One to four years of formal training leads to a certificate, associate’s or bachelor’s degree. A two-year associate’s degree is the most common.
Average salary: $36,000

Job: Respiratory therapist
Duties: Responsible for all respiratory-care treatments, such as helping premature infants, elderly patients with diseased lungs, emphysema patients, chronic asthmatics, stroke and shock patients.
Fact: Training is done in a medical school, college, university or trade school.
Average salary: $37,680

Source: United States Bureau of Labor Statistics. Average salaries are from 2000.

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