Medical careers sometimes seem to start and end with doctors and nurses. While these careers are amazing and essential, those aren't your only options! Think outside the box a little bit with some of the following unique medical careers you could consider.
Healthcare is an amazing field that many want to get into in order to help people and use their skills & knowledge for the greater good.
However, the path to becoming a doctor is tough. With years of expensive schooling, a highly competitive environment that’s only getting more competitive, and the difficulty of succeeding in medical school makes that career path difficult for many.
The good news is there are so many more medical careers out there besides just “doctor.” Depending on your interests and passions, there are many medical careers to choose from; you just need to figure out what’s out there!
This article is a great place to start. We’re going over 4 medical careers that break out from the classic “doctor or nurse” dichotomy. Let’s get started!
Physical Therapist
Physical therapists, also referred to as PTs, are a critical part of the healthcare field. Physical therapy works to help patients improve their mobility as well as manage and relieve pain that’s caused by injury, medical conditions, illnesses, or surgery.
Many people opt to see physical therapists for back, knee, joint, and neck pain treatments in order to avoid surgery, invasive procedures, and pain medications. Many consider physical therapy to be more natural than traditional medicine, with many techniques and treatments requiring no injections or invasiveness whatsoever.
Now’s the time to go into physical therapy as well: the job opportunities are estimated to increase 28 percent, likely because of the aging older generations particularly Baby Boomers.
Speech Therapist
Speech therapists, also known as speech pathologists or speech-language pathologists, work with people dealing with speech, communication, and swallowing issues. They’re able to assess, diagnose, and treat these conditions in a wide variety of populations and patients.
Common issues these therapists deal with are strokes, developmental disorders, autism, and brain injuries.
Many speech pathologists work in schools with children experiencing communication problems or dealing with developmental disorders, autism, and more. Others work in hospitals and healthcare facilities most often working with those who have experienced traumatic brain injuries, strokes, etc.
These therapists do require a Master’s degree at minimum, but they don’t require you to attend medical school.
Pharmacist
Pharmacists have one of the highest salaries for non-doctor medical careers with a median salary of around $136,000.
Pharmacists, as you might be aware, mainly distribute prescribed medications and instruct the recipients on that medication. They can also give immunizations (like the flu shot, for example) and speak with patients about their lifestyle & medications.
This requires immense and widespread knowledge about various medications, chemistry, how medications affect the body, and how different medications interact with each other.
Pharmacists must hold a Bachelor’s degree before moving on to get a 4-year Doctor of Pharmacy degree (again, this isn’t medical school!) and then pass exams to be licensed.
Genetic Counselor
Genetic counselors are genetics & human biology experts that work with patients at risk of passing on or inheriting certain genetic diseases. Genetic counselors use their training to provide risk analysis, educational information, and professional medical advice to these at-risk populations.
They work closely with patients and also run & analyze genetic tests. Many genetic counselors have their own practices or they’ll be employed through a hospital or other healthcare facility.
