Other healthcare careers
Hi all,
I'm looking for direction. What 'other' healthcare careers are you all pursuing (other than nursing - adult nursing)? Could you tell me a bit about your courses/careers, I'm having trouble deciding exactly where I want to be.
I'm looking for direction. What 'other' healthcare careers are you all pursuing (other than nursing - adult nursing)? Could you tell me a bit about your courses/careers, I'm having trouble deciding exactly where I want to be.
Hi Schmee, I'm training to be a dietitian and I really enjoy it. Dietitians work either in clinical or community settings, and manage the nutrition-side of a patient's treatment. For example, they could work with cancer patients, renal, or on ICU or HDU, or could work in the community, teaching to large groups, visiting schools.
The degree includes modules in pyhsiology, nutrition and metabolism, some clinical medicine, public health, biology of disease, and diet therapy and nutrition support. The placement amount is probably half of what nurses do as it is a more theory based degree, so we spend about three years at uni, and the last academic year on placement (that's how it works on my UG degree).
If you are unsure of what you want to do, have you tried online career/personality tests? I found them useful when I knew I wanted to get out of graphic design and wanted to work in healthcare, but I wasn't sure which profession either.
Good luck x
The degree includes modules in pyhsiology, nutrition and metabolism, some clinical medicine, public health, biology of disease, and diet therapy and nutrition support. The placement amount is probably half of what nurses do as it is a more theory based degree, so we spend about three years at uni, and the last academic year on placement (that's how it works on my UG degree).
If you are unsure of what you want to do, have you tried online career/personality tests? I found them useful when I knew I wanted to get out of graphic design and wanted to work in healthcare, but I wasn't sure which profession either.
Good luck x
(edited 12 years ago)
Ning!
I've not actually started yet but will be in a few weeks. Last year I was sent on studying postgraduate medicine. The application process (through a friend who did apply) and learning more about the study and job itself really put me off.
Another friend on my course (I've just finished a biology degree) mentioned looking into radiography.. its got allot of the elements I liked without some that I didn't.
Its got allot of placement time involved so by the time you've finished the degree you are more than equipped to do the job, so no more training required!
Critically the employment rate after graduation is extremely high (I got back to uni after being a surveyor, which there was no work for.. and before that doing all sorts of other crappy dead end jobs). Check out the employment rate for postgraduates from each university whatever course you choose. Not all health care professions have such an ample supply of jobs out there (if in doubt phone the university and ask the course leaders how many students are working in the profession within a year of finishing)
Anyways .. Its worth having a look here
http://www.radiographycareers.co.uk/whyshouldrad.html
and here if you haven't already
http://www.nhscareers.nhs.uk/
Best of luck!
(Schmee = JV fan?)
I've not actually started yet but will be in a few weeks. Last year I was sent on studying postgraduate medicine. The application process (through a friend who did apply) and learning more about the study and job itself really put me off.
Another friend on my course (I've just finished a biology degree) mentioned looking into radiography.. its got allot of the elements I liked without some that I didn't.
Its got allot of placement time involved so by the time you've finished the degree you are more than equipped to do the job, so no more training required!
Critically the employment rate after graduation is extremely high (I got back to uni after being a surveyor, which there was no work for.. and before that doing all sorts of other crappy dead end jobs). Check out the employment rate for postgraduates from each university whatever course you choose. Not all health care professions have such an ample supply of jobs out there (if in doubt phone the university and ask the course leaders how many students are working in the profession within a year of finishing)
Anyways .. Its worth having a look here
http://www.radiographycareers.co.uk/whyshouldrad.html
and here if you haven't already
http://www.nhscareers.nhs.uk/
Best of luck!
(Schmee = JV fan?)
Original post by misterzed
Ning!
I've not actually started yet but will be in a few weeks. Last year I was sent on studying postgraduate medicine. The application process (through a friend who did apply) and learning more about the study and job itself really put me off.
Another friend on my course (I've just finished a biology degree) mentioned looking into radiography.. its got allot of the elements I liked without some that I didn't.
Its got allot of placement time involved so by the time you've finished the degree you are more than equipped to do the job, so no more training required!
Critically the employment rate after graduation is extremely high (I got back to uni after being a surveyor, which there was no work for.. and before that doing all sorts of other crappy dead end jobs). Check out the employment rate for postgraduates from each university whatever course you choose. Not all health care professions have such an ample supply of jobs out there (if in doubt phone the university and ask the course leaders how many students are working in the profession within a year of finishing)
Anyways .. Its worth having a look here
http://www.radiographycareers.co.uk/whyshouldrad.html
and here if you haven't already
http://www.nhscareers.nhs.uk/
Best of luck!
(Schmee = JV fan?)
I've not actually started yet but will be in a few weeks. Last year I was sent on studying postgraduate medicine. The application process (through a friend who did apply) and learning more about the study and job itself really put me off.
Another friend on my course (I've just finished a biology degree) mentioned looking into radiography.. its got allot of the elements I liked without some that I didn't.
Its got allot of placement time involved so by the time you've finished the degree you are more than equipped to do the job, so no more training required!
Critically the employment rate after graduation is extremely high (I got back to uni after being a surveyor, which there was no work for.. and before that doing all sorts of other crappy dead end jobs). Check out the employment rate for postgraduates from each university whatever course you choose. Not all health care professions have such an ample supply of jobs out there (if in doubt phone the university and ask the course leaders how many students are working in the profession within a year of finishing)
Anyways .. Its worth having a look here
http://www.radiographycareers.co.uk/whyshouldrad.html
and here if you haven't already
http://www.nhscareers.nhs.uk/
Best of luck!
(Schmee = JV fan?)
Misterzed if you are looking at radiography,you might want to take a closer look at radiotherapy. Radiotherapy radiographers are more involved in treatment than diagnostic ,invluding running clinics and prescribing. Your background in biology might be very useful in therapy. Just a thought.
Original post by schmee
Hi all,
I'm looking for direction. What 'other' healthcare careers are you all pursuing (other than nursing - adult nursing)? Could you tell me a bit about your courses/careers, I'm having trouble deciding exactly where I want to be.
I'm looking for direction. What 'other' healthcare careers are you all pursuing (other than nursing - adult nursing)? Could you tell me a bit about your courses/careers, I'm having trouble deciding exactly where I want to be.
I study Speech and Language Therapy, and it's perfect for me!
We study modules in speech disorders, swallowing disorders, psychology, bioscience, linguistics, phonetics, professional knowledge, evidence based practice, child development, people in context, and many others.
We do a mixture a of clinical and community placements, getting more clinically-focused as you go through the course. These can be anywhere, from hospitals, schools and specialist groups to at a client's home.
A SLT can get a job most easily in the NHS, although they can start up their own prviate practices or join established private companies such as BUPA. SLTs can also work as part of a charity, including Macmillan Cancer Care, or the Stroke Association being just a few. When a SLT gets a job, it's either focused on Adult, Paediatric or Learning Difficulties specialism.
You can even study a specialism you find particularly interesting to postgraduate level if you wish.
I'm about the start a Paramedic degree which is something I love as I adore first aid and doing that initial part of the treatment. I also love being out and about all the time. It hasn't got the best career progression yet as its only very new but I can't wait to help it progress.
Original post by Peace'n'loveman
Misterzed if you are looking at radiography,you might want to take a closer look at radiotherapy. Radiotherapy radiographers are more involved in treatment than diagnostic ,invluding running clinics and prescribing. Your background in biology might be very useful in therapy. Just a thought.
Thanks for that
I did very briefly look into it.. ultimately it came down to finances, can't afford to live/travel far away from derby so it really narrowed down my options.. (tbh if money/time were no object I might have been doing medicine like I'd first planned on doing 
)I did go down that human biology/genetics/oncology route as well so it would have fit nicely, not sure how I'd have coped with the days to day of treating seriously ill patients (Though I'm sure its all part of the training).. From what I gather its actually very rewarding, giving hope for people who may otherwise be out of options, also seems to be allot of very interesting research work going on at well at the moment.
Original post by rozca
this might be slightly off-topic.. but do you guys know if a health care support worker is the same as an healthcare assistant? thanks!
Yes it usually is.
Have you maybe looked at Operating Department Practice?
It's what I studied initially, and it's basically a two year course that gets you to Band 5 on the NHS payscale just like a newly qualified nurse. As a profession, you essentially work as the name implies, in an Operating Department and learn how to scrub, circulate and anaesthetise patients. There's a lot of scope to the job, with the possibilities of working in A&E, HEMS, Pain service etc so you're not strictly confined to a theatre setting. I love it, and I can't recommend it enough, as it seems to be one of the unsung healthcare professions!
You could look into becoming a Physician's Assistant either? It's more widely known in the USA, but in the UK now there's a few places cropping up. It's a bit like a cross between a junior doctor and a nurse practitioner. You do need a first degree in life sciences though, and then the course takes 2 years, I believe. You can even get it as a salaried course, I think Birmingham were advertising on the NHS jobs site a few weeks back.
It's what I studied initially, and it's basically a two year course that gets you to Band 5 on the NHS payscale just like a newly qualified nurse. As a profession, you essentially work as the name implies, in an Operating Department and learn how to scrub, circulate and anaesthetise patients. There's a lot of scope to the job, with the possibilities of working in A&E, HEMS, Pain service etc so you're not strictly confined to a theatre setting. I love it, and I can't recommend it enough, as it seems to be one of the unsung healthcare professions!
You could look into becoming a Physician's Assistant either? It's more widely known in the USA, but in the UK now there's a few places cropping up. It's a bit like a cross between a junior doctor and a nurse practitioner. You do need a first degree in life sciences though, and then the course takes 2 years, I believe. You can even get it as a salaried course, I think Birmingham were advertising on the NHS jobs site a few weeks back.
Hello,
Wonder if you'd considered becoming a physiologist? Lots of opportunities - cardiac, respiratory, sleep, gastro or audiology. After healthcare science degree would start at band 5, but opportunities to progress. At the moment it's difficult to recruit - we need more people - so do your research and see which areas interest you - cardiac is always popular, but I love respiratory! Look at 'modernising scientific careers' to see future direction of careers in these fields.
Wonder if you'd considered becoming a physiologist? Lots of opportunities - cardiac, respiratory, sleep, gastro or audiology. After healthcare science degree would start at band 5, but opportunities to progress. At the moment it's difficult to recruit - we need more people - so do your research and see which areas interest you - cardiac is always popular, but I love respiratory! Look at 'modernising scientific careers' to see future direction of careers in these fields.
I was just going to say a clinical physiologist you get to help diagnose and treat people with suspected or known heart disease, using specialised equipment such as electrocardiograms, stress testing, echocardiograms, angiograms, 24 hour monitors, pacemakers and also help in surgical procedures. I'm starting a degree in Clinical Physiology (Cardiology) to train as a cardiac physiology at Leeds. You get paid a damn good wage for all 4 years at Uni (starts at £16.5k and goes up to about £20k by year 4, starting salary is between £21k-£27k and as has been said, there is a shortage or physiologists so career prospects are excellent, most places try to snap you up before you've even finished training to ensure they have you!) as you work 3 days at a hospital getting hands on experience and 2 days having lectures at Uni (5 days a week at hospital during Uni holidays though). Also no fees to pay as NHS funded. So you get paid an excellent wage while at Uni, come out debt free, get loads of experience and are pretty much guaranteed a job at the end. You can also specialise afterwards depending on what areas you are more interested in (e.g. echo-cardiograms, pacemaker treatment, angiograms, etc). However, I do know that a lot of the training for these careers is changing from 2012, including clinical physiology, so not sure how that will affect things yet.
you get to help diagnose and treat people with suspected or known heart disease, using specialised equipment such as electrocardiograms, stress testing, echocardiograms, angiograms, 24 hour monitors, pacemakers and also help in surgical procedures. I'm starting a degree in Clinical Physiology (Cardiology) to train as a cardiac physiology at Leeds. You get paid a damn good wage for all 4 years at Uni (starts at £16.5k and goes up to about £20k by year 4, starting salary is between £21k-£27k and as has been said, there is a shortage or physiologists so career prospects are excellent, most places try to snap you up before you've even finished training to ensure they have you!) as you work 3 days at a hospital getting hands on experience and 2 days having lectures at Uni (5 days a week at hospital during Uni holidays though). Also no fees to pay as NHS funded. So you get paid an excellent wage while at Uni, come out debt free, get loads of experience and are pretty much guaranteed a job at the end. You can also specialise afterwards depending on what areas you are more interested in (e.g. echo-cardiograms, pacemaker treatment, angiograms, etc). However, I do know that a lot of the training for these careers is changing from 2012, including clinical physiology, so not sure how that will affect things yet.I got an interview with glamorgan university, nursing learning disabilities for the sep 2011 intake. I was soo excited I got the interview, since then I spoke to a collegue and he has said that there is not much work out there for learning disability nurses. Ive looked around and all the jobs are in the private sector in low to high security settings. Plus news articles around seem to say that there no money in learning disabilities and that there are deskilling the sector. One article even stated that someone with a NVQ 3 could be qualified enough to do the job of a learning disability nurse. Not sure whether to not accept if i get an offer and apply to do the adult nursing branch on the next intake if possible.
Original post by Nymphadorable
Have you maybe looked at Operating Department Practice?
It's what I studied initially, and it's basically a two year course that gets you to Band 5 on the NHS payscale just like a newly qualified nurse. As a profession, you essentially work as the name implies, in an Operating Department and learn how to scrub, circulate and anaesthetise patients. There's a lot of scope to the job, with the possibilities of working in A&E, HEMS, Pain service etc so you're not strictly confined to a theatre setting. I love it, and I can't recommend it enough, as it seems to be one of the unsung healthcare professions!
You could look into becoming a Physician's Assistant either? It's more widely known in the USA, but in the UK now there's a few places cropping up. It's a bit like a cross between a junior doctor and a nurse practitioner. You do need a first degree in life sciences though, and then the course takes 2 years, I believe. You can even get it as a salaried course, I think Birmingham were advertising on the NHS jobs site a few weeks back.
It's what I studied initially, and it's basically a two year course that gets you to Band 5 on the NHS payscale just like a newly qualified nurse. As a profession, you essentially work as the name implies, in an Operating Department and learn how to scrub, circulate and anaesthetise patients. There's a lot of scope to the job, with the possibilities of working in A&E, HEMS, Pain service etc so you're not strictly confined to a theatre setting. I love it, and I can't recommend it enough, as it seems to be one of the unsung healthcare professions!
You could look into becoming a Physician's Assistant either? It's more widely known in the USA, but in the UK now there's a few places cropping up. It's a bit like a cross between a junior doctor and a nurse practitioner. You do need a first degree in life sciences though, and then the course takes 2 years, I believe. You can even get it as a salaried course, I think Birmingham were advertising on the NHS jobs site a few weeks back.
Very very few ODPs work outside perioperative care or critical care areas - there are a handful of hospitals who employ a handful of ODPs in the ED
I'm not aware of any HEMS operation that routinely deploys ODPs or Nurses who do not have a Paramedic registration as aircrew ( and i'm not sure how many if any dual registered ODP/ Paramedics there are and if any are actually active aircrew - also as ODPs cannot access prescribing training there is no legal mechanism for them to administer CDs unless part of a physician crewed HEMS - and the only full time physician crewed HEMS in the UK is Helimed 27 )
PAs again very few hospitals actually use them and there are huge legal issues with the role as they cannot access PGDs or prescribing consequently any p'prescription' they write may be invalid and open any ODP or Nurse administering drugs on the basis of that prescription to professional sanction)
Original post by Nymphadorable
Have you maybe looked at Operating Department Practice?
It's what I studied initially, and it's basically a two year course that gets you to Band 5 on the NHS payscale just like a newly qualified nurse. As a profession, you essentially work as the name implies, in an Operating Department and learn how to scrub, circulate and anaesthetise patients. There's a lot of scope to the job, with the possibilities of working in A&E, HEMS, Pain service etc so you're not strictly confined to a theatre setting. I love it, and I can't recommend it enough, as it seems to be one of the unsung healthcare professions!.
It's what I studied initially, and it's basically a two year course that gets you to Band 5 on the NHS payscale just like a newly qualified nurse. As a profession, you essentially work as the name implies, in an Operating Department and learn how to scrub, circulate and anaesthetise patients. There's a lot of scope to the job, with the possibilities of working in A&E, HEMS, Pain service etc so you're not strictly confined to a theatre setting. I love it, and I can't recommend it enough, as it seems to be one of the unsung healthcare professions!.
Seconded.
I'm a podiatry student and i really enjoy it.
A lot of people think we spend 3 years learning to cut nails but we assess, diagnoses and treats a range of problems of the foot and lower limb and podiatry is the only allied health profession where you can go onto train to become a surgeon.
http://www.careersinpodiatry.com/
A lot of people think we spend 3 years learning to cut nails but we assess, diagnoses and treats a range of problems of the foot and lower limb and podiatry is the only allied health profession where you can go onto train to become a surgeon.
http://www.careersinpodiatry.com/
Original post by pickled onion
I'm a podiatry student and i really enjoy it.
A lot of people think we spend 3 years learning to cut nails but we assess, diagnoses and treats a range of problems of the foot and lower limb and podiatry is the only allied health profession where you can go onto train to become a surgeon.
http://www.careersinpodiatry.com/
A lot of people think we spend 3 years learning to cut nails but we assess, diagnoses and treats a range of problems of the foot and lower limb and podiatry is the only allied health profession where you can go onto train to become a surgeon.
http://www.careersinpodiatry.com/
where do you study and which year you in mate?Original post by Cool Cat where do you study and which year you in mate?
where do you study and which year you in mate?
Northampton, second yearOriginal post by pickled onion Northampton, second year
Northampton, second year
I'm at QMU Edinburgh, second year. Just about to start a 2 week placement. I'm nervous although I shouldnt be seeing as I've been on placement every Monday morning since the start of year 1 
Original post by Cool Cat I'm at QMU Edinburgh, second year. Just about to start a 2 week placement. I'm nervous although I shouldnt be seeing as I've been on placement every Monday morning since the start of year 1
I'm at QMU Edinburgh, second year. Just about to start a 2 week placement. I'm nervous although I shouldnt be seeing as I've been on placement every Monday morning since the start of year 1 I know what you mean, I'm nervous about starting back in clinic in a couple of weeks. I haven't seen any patients since July so I feel like I did before I started first year, I think everything I've learnt has fallen out of my head
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