Planning for a Health Career and Health Career Pathways

Health 10 - Quarter 4

LESSON 1 : Planning for a HEALTH CAREER

Choosing a career is not an easy thing to do. You don’t look at the pay and the security it offers you;
you also need to consider your primary interests and passion which can open doors to other careers that you
have not considered.
With lots of professions in healthcare, you might consider getting into a health career. Especially now
that we are facing and battling with the COVID-19. There is a continuous demand for health professionals.

Career
- An occupation or profession that requires special training.
Health Career
- Are designed to familiarize students with the various careers in the medical profession and allied
health services.
- Self-assessment is necessary to understand one’s capabilities and drawbacks.
- It involves continuous learning and improvement to build and grow in the chosen career path

Why pursue a Health Career?

“YOU’LL MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN PEOPLE’S LIVES”

Things we consider:
➢ 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)

What are the components and steps in making a health career plan?

A. Self-Assessment
Discover your personal strengths through self-assessments (values,
interests, personality, testing, skills etc.)

B. Career Exploration
You can explore different careers and work environment through
career fairs, online research meetings, internship, alumni
connections, professional resources.

C. Decision Making
Before you decide on taking a career that works for you, you can
evaluate and narrow down your options through listing the pros and
cons, comparing your personal strengths and interests and decide
which career fulfills both current and future goals.

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 D. Plan of action
Plan achievable goals and develop strategies to reach your goals,
organize your goals into smaller steps, identify actions for each
step, utilize helpful people and resources, review and adapt your
plan regularly.

LESSON 2 : HEALTH CAREER PATHWAYS

WHAT IS IT

Disease Prevention and Control Personal Healthcare

Emergency Medical Maternal and Child

HEALTH
Occupational Safety Mental Healthcare
CAREER
PATHWA
Dental Health YS Community

Environmental Healthcare
Health Education Managemnt

Nutrition Drug Prevention and

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Example of Health Career Pathways:
1. DISEASE PREVENTION AND CONTROL
Specialized in this career path focus on communicable and non-communicable diseases. Their work
includes immunization, screening of newborns, promotions of breastfeeding, infant diseases prevention,
adolescent healthcare and life skills.
Sample Careers:
• Community Health Work, Education and Research
2. PERSONAL HEALTHCARE
Performs healthcare related tasks in a personal care level. These includes monitoring patients;
administering and assisting in personal hygiene; performing housekeeping duties; and advising clients on
related healthcare issues like infant care, hygiene and nutrition.
3. MATERNAL AND CHILD CARE
Deal with complex public health issues that affect women, children
and their families.
Sample Careers:
• Midwifery, Community Health Educator, Outreach Specialist
4. MENTAL HEALTHCARE
Specialized in dealing with interpersonal and intrapersonal
relationships and life skills.
Sample Careers:
• Social Work, Clinical Psychology, Psychiatry, Guidance Counseling
5. COMMUNITY HEALTHCARE
Focused on the maintenance, protection, and improvement of the health of all community
members.
Sample Careers:
 Barangay/Community Health Work, Rural Sanitary Inspection
6. ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTHCARE MANAGEMENT
Workers try to establish the correlation between and among the physical, chemical,
biological, social and psychological factors in the surrounding environment.
Sample Careers:
• Air quality monitoring, Soil science analysis, Hazardous and solid waste management,
Environmental noise control, Radiological assessment
7. DRUG PREVENTION AND CONTROL
Careers revolve around this area seek to reduce community and individual problems related
to alcohol and drug abuse through evidence-based programs and policy advocacy.
Sample Careers:
• Drug Enforcement, Drug and Alcohol Rehabilitation
8. NUTRITION
Find ways to balance individual’s food and nutrition and
their impact on patient’s health.
Sample Careers:
• Clinical Dieticians, Food and Nutrition Management, Public Health Nutrition, Education and
Research
9. HEALTH EDUCATION
Tasked with promotion of healthcare and training of health
workers on managing change in healthcare.
Sample Careers:
• Education and Research, Community Health Work
10. DENTAL HEALTH
Deals with various oral conditions.
Sample Careers:
• Dental Hygiene, Dental Nursing, Dental health support
11. OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY
Related to the safety, health welfare of people engaged in work
or employment.
Sample Careers:
• Occupational Health and Safety Technicians, Health Inspector,
Industrial Hygienist
12. EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES
Specialized in out-of-hospital medical care.
Sample Careers:
• Emergency Medical Aid, Paramedic

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II. MEDICAL AND ALLIED HEALTH PROFESSION

These are group of individuals qualified to practice medicine.

Allied health professions, on the other hand, are lines of work
that still deal with healthcare, but are distinct from medicine.
They have distinct and specialized knowledge and skills
that actively work with people accessing health and disability that
are offered services across a range of setting. They are healthcare
practitioners with formal education and clinical training credentials
through certificates, registration and/or licensure.

HEALTH CARE PROVIDER- a person who helps identify, prevent or treat an illness or disability.
HEALTH CARE PRACTITIONER/PROVIDER- an independent healthcare provider who is licensed to practice on and
provide general and/or specialized care to a specific area of the body.
ALLIED HEALTH PROFESSIONALS- a trained healthcare provider practicing under supervision of a physician or
healthcare practitioner. They include pharmacist, dental hygienists, physical therapist and nurses.

Allied health professionals provide services and engage in activities which include:
a. Prevention- keeps illness and injury from happening.
b. Assessment/Evaluation- appraisal of the condition based on the
patient’s subjective report.
c. Identification/Diagnosis- analysis based on signs, symptoms and
laboratory findings.
d. Treatment- management and care of a patient or the combating of disease or disorder.
e. Rehabilitation/Habilitation- treatment design to recover from injury, illness or disease towards a
normal condition as possible.
f. Advocacy- a method by which patients, their family attorneys, health professionals, and citizen’s work
together to develop programs that ensure the availability of high quality healthcare for a community.
g. Promotion of health and well-being- the process of enabling people to increase control over their
health and its determinants and thereby improving their health.
h. Education- the process of sharing and gaining knowledge.
i. Research- the diligent inquiry or examination of data, reports and observations in a search for facts or
principles.

Allied Health Professionals in the Philippines:

1. Audiologist- identifies and rehabilitates hearing impairments and related disorders.
2. Chiropractor- diagnosis and treats neuromuscular disorders, with emphasis on treatment through
manual adjustment and/or manipulation of the spine.
3. Clinical psychologist- assesses, diagnoses, treats and helps prevent mental disorder.
4. Dietitian/nutritionist- promotes good health through proper diet and treatment of diseases.
5. Emergency medical technician- also known as ambulance technician; respond quickly to any
emergency and life-threatening situation to immediately treat serious injuries, physical or mental trauma to
increase a patient’s chances of survival.
6. Guidance counselor- assists students with personal, family, education and career decisions and
concerns; also helps them develop job-finding skills and other life skills needed to prevent and deal with
problems.
7. Health educator- specializes in health education and promotes the development of health knowledge,
life-skills and positive attitudes towards the health and well-being of students.
8. Massage therapist- performs the scientific manipulation of the soft tissues of the body for the purpose
of normalizing those tissues; uses manual techniques that include applying fixed or movable pressure on
affected parts of the body.
9. Medical assistant- performs under the direction of a physician, various routine administrative and non-
technical clinical tasks in hospitals, clinic and other similar facilities.
10. Medical technologist- performs a variety of tasks on body fluids, from simple blood tests to more
complex tests to uncover abnormalities, in the body and underlying causes of illnesses.
11. Midwife- professionals with expertise and skills in helping women maintain healthy pregnancies, assist
in or perform childbirth delivery and help in women’s recovery process through the postpartum period.
12. Nurse- trained to provide care for people who are sick and injured; monitors patient’s health and record
symptoms, assists physicians during examinations and treatment and administers medications.

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13. Occupational therapist- uses purposeful activity and interventions to maximize the independence and
health of any client who is limited by physical injury or illness.
14. Orthotist/Prosthetist- makes and fits prosthetics or artificial parts of the human body.
15. Paramedic- gives emergency medical treatment or assists medical professionals in an emergency.
16. Pharmacist- prepares and dispenses medication prescribed by licensed health professionals; also
provides information to patients regarding drugs, and consults with healthcare professionals on advances
in drugs or medicine.
17. Radiologic technologies/ Radiographer- perform imaging procedures, such as x-ray examinations,
magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans and computed tomography (CT) scans.
18. Physical therapist- examines, evaluates and treats physical impairments through use of special
exercise, application of heat or cold, and other physical modalities.
19.Speech language pathologist- diagnoses and treats patients’ with functional and organic speech
defects and disorders.
20. Phlebotomist- professionals with special training in phlebotomy or drawing blood from patients.
21. Radiation therapist- administers radiation therapy services to patients and observes patients during
treatment; other duties may include tumor localization, patient follow-up, patient’s education and record
keeping.
22. Respiratory therapist- specializes in promotion of optimum cardiopulmonary function and health;
regularly deals with various chronic respiratory diseases such as asthma and emphysema.
23. Social worker- investigates treats and gives aid to people with social problems and helps people with
mental illness, serious health conditions, financial difficulties, substance abuse problems, domestic or child
abuse, unwanted pregnancy and other social problems.

Allied Medical Professionals whose specialized training is available in other countries:

1. Cardiovascular technologist- uses imaging technology to help physicians diagnose patients with
cardiac (heart) and peripheral vascular (blood vessel) ailments.
2. Clinical officer- performs general medical duties such as diagnosis and treatment of disease and injury,
recommendation and interpretation of medical tests, performance routine medical and surgical procedures,
and referral of patients to other practitioners.
3. Dental hygienist- specializes in removal of calcaneus deposits and stains from patients’ and provides
additional services and information on prevention of oral diseases.
4. Diagnostic medical sonographist- uses ultrasonic imaging devices to produce diagnostic images, scans,
videos or 3D volumes of patient’s anatomy.
5. Kinesiotherapist- develops and monitors exercise programs to help people regain muscle strength and
function lost due to injury or disease.
6. Neurophysiologist- specializes in the diagnosis of conditions affecting the nervous system such as
neuromuscular diseases, epilepsy and nerve entrapments.
7. Medical dosimetrist- designs treatment plan for patients by means or computer and/or manual computation
to determine a treatment field technique that will deliver the prescribed radiation dose while taking into
consideration the dose-limiting structure.
8. Medical radiation scientist- performs complex diagnostic imaging studies on patients and plans and
administers radiation treatment.
9. Music therapist- uses music within a therapeutic relationship to address a client’s needs and expressing
their feelings through music.
10. Nuclear medicine technologist- performs imaging procedures using radioactive drugs and materials to
make diagnostic evaluations of the anatomic or physiologic conditions of the patient’s body.
11. Orthopist- investigates diagnoses and treats defects of binocular vision and abnormalities related to eye
movement; involves seeing patients of all ages from infants to the elderly.
12. Pedorthist- is foot orthotic or orthopedic footwear experts trained in the assessment of lower limb
anatomy and muscle and joint function.
13. Perfusionist- assists in performing procedures that involve extracorporeal circulation, such as during
open-heart surgery or hypothermia.
14. Surgical technologist- a member of the surgical team who serves as a scrub technician or as a
circulator.

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III. HEALTH CAREER ORIENTATION PROGRAM

A Health Career Orientation is an activity-based career

exploration to broaden your knowledge about careers in the
health field.

Health career orientation helps you to:

• Evaluate and assess such factors as personal

needs, interests and skills.
• Provide opportunity to identify and exploration
health careers.
• Learn about the duties and responsibilities of health professionals.
• Acquire an awareness of a wide variety of educational training and resources for both
academic and vocational fields.
• Pursue health career pathways for future education/training.

Medical research, scientific research and technical breakthroughs have made the health
science industry one of the most exciting and personally rewarding fields to explore. And the most popular jobs
in this cluster include those of: Doctors, Dentists, Nurses, Chiropractors, Pharacists, Radiology
Technicians and Physical and Occupational Therapists.