What Kinds of Medical Careers are there Besides Doctors and Nurses?
If you’ve always had a fascination with the medical field but can’t imagine attending school for years and years to become a doctor or a nurse, don’t worry. Your dream to become a healthcare professional is still possible. There are many other roles in the healthcare industry—besides doctors and nurses—that are critically important.
Medical Assistant
For direct patient care opportunities, you might want to become a Medical Assistant. As a Medical Assistant, you’d be one of the first healthcare professionals a patient sees when they come to an appointment. You might take their vitals, record their medical history, and hear from them about the reason for their visit. Additional clinical responsibilities you might have could be to:
- Administer medications and vaccines as directed by physician
- Take blood and collect other lab specimens
- Maintain patient records
- Prepare exam areas
- Assist the doctor with exams
If you prefer the office side of a doctor’s office, there’s plenty to do there, as well. You might schedule appointments and tests. And deal with insurance companies to make sure patients get the coverage they’re entitled to. You’d also greet those patients, answer questions, and communicate on the phone and through email. And pitch in wherever you can to help the healthcare team—because you’re an important part of that team!
Medical Office Administrative Assistant
As a medical office assistant, you’d spend most of your day at the front of a medical practice. And even though you wouldn’t help out during an exam, you’d still know a lot about medical terms and procedures. Some of your responsibilities would be to:
- Greet patients and their family members
- Schedule appointments
- Collect patient information
- Compile and input data
- Refer patients to appropriate physicians and staff
- Handle payment transactions
- Maintain account and medical records
- Answer phones and emails
- Take inventory and order supplies and equipment
As a Medical Office Administrative Assistant, you might work at a physician’s office, hospital, clinic, nursing home, or medical insurance company.
Pharmacy Technician
As a pharmacy technician, you would work under a licensed pharmacist. You would accept and fill prescriptions under the pharmacist’s supervision, stock shelves and maintain supplies, and answer phones and assist customers. Places you could work include hospitals, a pharmacy lab in a store, nursing facilities, outpatient clinics and pharmaceutical companies.
Healthcare Administrator
If you want to have a hand in management, you should consider healthcare administration. You could be involved with decisions that affect how facilities are run. You could help hire, schedule and supervise staff; work with budgets; and assist with new programs, policies and procedures. A variety of organizations need healthcare administration professionals, including doctor’s offices, hospitals, rehabilitation centers, nursing homes, and even insurance companies.
If you think that any of these careers are the best way for you to get involved in the medical field, contact Charter College today to get started on your ideal career path. We have a variety of healthcare certificate and degree programs that might be right for you.