Other Health Professions

 

Important: Even if you have already decided upon a career path, it is important that you become familiar with the roles different healthcare professionals fulfill, their training and educational backgrounds, and the services they provide, since you will likely encounter them during whatever health career you choose to pursue.

 

A Variety Of Health Career Options...

The Health Professions and Prelaw Center invites you to use the resources in this section to learn about the many ways you could build a fulfilling career in the health professions, and make a difference through your work in healthcare.

People tend to be most familiar with the roles of doctors and nurses since we interact with these healthcare professionals so frequently throughout our lives. Fewer people are familiar with the work of the cytotechnologist, the respiratory therapist, the health information administrator, and the dozens, if not hundreds, of other types of professionals who provide vital services, and are essential members of the healthcare team. Health career areas include a wide range of diagnostic, therapeutic, and administrative services, some of which emphasize laboratory science, others of which emphasize direct patient care, and still others of which involve entirely different skill sets and career interests. For instance, many health fields require very strong science abilities, just as those fields which involve direct patient care require highly developed interpersonal skills. We strongly encourage you to complete the self-assesment questionnaire, linked from the next section, and to carefully consider your own personality, interests, abilities, and aptitudes as you make your career decisions.

"Allied health professions"

As you explore your options, you may encounter the term "allied health professions," which is sometimes used as a subcategory of health professions in general. Allied health professionals perform diagnostic procedures, provide therapeutic services, and other patient care as part of a team of caregivers. Click HERE for a more thorough description of the term "allied health."

 

Assess Your Interests And Preferences (self-assessment questionnaire)

The Health Professions and Prelaw Center has developed a self-assessment questionnaire to help you more clearly identify and evaluate your aptitudes, your areas of interest, and what has drawn your attention to these areas. If you are a prehealth professions student, or still in the process of exploring different health fields, we strongly suggest you complete the questionnaire and bring it to a session with your academic advisor. Click HERE to open the survey in your word processing program. (Important: In Word for Windows, if the drop down menus in the questionnaire do not work, click the "Enable Editing" button toward the top of the window.)

 

Different Kinds Of Training For Different Professions

The kind and length of training required for professional practice in a given health field varies dramatically from one field to another:

• Non-Degree Certificates: length of training typically varies from several weeks to several months, depending on the program. Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) and Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) are probably the most well known types of certificate training programs.
• Associate of Science degree (AS)*: typically, a 2-year degree, usually including admission prerequisites.
• Bachelor of Science degree (BS)*: typically, a 4-year degree, including admission prerequisites. For example, a 4-year nursing degree commonly includes 1 year of admission prerequisites and general education courses and 3 years of professional training and clinicals; whereas a BS in Respiratory Therapy might include 2 years of prerequisites and 2 years of professional courses and clinicals.
• Master's degree (abbreviation depends on the area; for example, MSOT for Master of Science in Occupational Therapy, or MSW for Master of Social Work): generally, a 2-year graduate degree following a bachelor's degree. Some master's degrees require summer coursework, and others do not. Other such programs take longer; for example, the typical physician assistant program is 27 months, including work during each summer.
• Doctoral degree (abbreviation depends on the area; for example, DPT for Doctor of Physical Therapy, or DO for Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine): length of training varies. For example, the DPT degree requires 3 years of training, while medical school is 4 years, plus an additional 3 - 6 years to complete residency and fellowship.

IUB students may complete the requirements for admission to most such programs on the Bloomington campus, and then apply for admission to the professional program itself. Be aware that admission to most health professions programs is competitive, sometimes extremely so; therefore, you will need to be diligent and systematic throughout your preprofessional process as you strive to gain admission.

In addition to completing coursework, clinical observation ("shadowing") and other professional development activities are crucial to the process of selecting and pursuing any career path. To learn what kinds of experiences are most important for admission to your programs of interest, consult the HPPLC page for your area.

* Training for some fields - for example, nursing, respiratory therapy, radiation therapy, health information administration, and others - can be garnered through either an AS or a BS. In most cases, someone with her AS will take the exact same certification exam as someone with a BS. How much of a difference in pay or job opportunity there is between the AS and BS depends on many factors, including the particular health field, and the job market within a given geographical region.

 

GPA And Target GPA Calculators

Having clear, realistic GPA information is especially important for preprofessional students, who are usually pursuing admission to programs with moderately or highly competitive admissions. For examples of some useful GPA calculators, click HERE.

 

Choosing A Preprofessional Undergraduate Degree/Major

If you are thinking of pursuing a graduate-level health professions program, note that most require you to complete a bachelor's degree - either a Bachelor of Arts (BA) or a Bachelor of Science (BS) - prior to beginning your professional coursework. The resources on the HPPLC Exploring Majors, Minors, and Certificates page can help you with the following:

• quickly and efficiently narrow your areas of interest with regard to your undergraduate degree / major
• serve as a starting point for identifying non-health-related undergraduate majors of interest, if you feel you'd like or need a back-up plan
• identify undergraduate minors and certificates which could add breadth to your degree

 

Explore Health Professions

There are literally hundreds of healthcare or healthcare-related professions. We encourage you to use the resources below to research your interests as you undertake the process of making decisions about your career, and your choice of health professions programs.

• The Health Professions Descriptions handout Includes descriptions of dozens of professional health programs, as well as other health-related degrees and majors.
• ExploreHealthCareers.org is another good place to begin researching health fields.
• Our page devoted to Other Health-Related Majors And Programs available at IU includes a list of many more health-related majors, minors, certificates, and programs available on the IU Bloomington campus. (Note: HPPLC does NOT provide advising for these areas, but we have included links to the given departments.)
• In the US Department of Labor's Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH), we suggest you scan the A-Z Index, linked from the bottom of that page. There, you will encounter dozens of health-related careers, many of which you have probably never thought about before. (Note: we do not recommend simply referring to the "Healthcare" link in the "Occupation Groups" on the OOH page, because the health profession listings therein are extremely incomplete.)
• IUB's Career Development Center provides a useful health professions Web Link Library.
• Other IUB Career Services

• The lists below reflect healthcare programs for which HPPLC provides advising and other services...

Graduate-Level Health Professions Programs Professional practice in the health professions listed below requires a graduate-level degree. These professional programs typically do not have a preference for any particular undergraduate major, so if you are preparing for a graduate-level health profession program you will have great latitude in choosing a major. When selecting a major, consider ones you'll enjoy and in which you can excel, and ones that might serve as a basis for graduate work or employment should you choose not to pursue a professional degree. For more information on how to prepare for specific health professions please explore the links below. Dentistry Occupational Therapy Optometry Pharmacy Physical Therapy Physician Assistant Veterinary Related Links and Documentation

Undergraduate-Level Health Professions Programs Completion of an undergraduate degree in the health professions programs listed below prepares you to practice in specialized healthcare areas as part of a caregiving team. Admission to these undergraduate degree programs is competitive, and, at Indiana University, often extremely so. To become eligible to apply to these programs, you must complete prerequisite courses and other admission requirements. For some programs, you may complete the prerequisites at Indiana University Bloomington, but must complete the rest of the program on another campus such as IUPUI. IMPORTANT: Of the programs listed below, the only one which can be completed in its entirety on the IU Bloomington campus is nursing. For the other programs, the professional coursework (i.e., the coursework you would take after the prerequisites) is offered only on another IU campus, such as IUPUI. If you are a prospective student, then for the latter programs, note that some students might be better advantaged by simply completing the admission prerequisites as well on the other campus. In any case, you will need to plan carefully in order to gain eligibility and increase your competitiveness for admission to the programs below. You are welcome to meet with a HPPLC advisor to discuss any of these options within your particular circumstances. Clinical Lab Science Cytotechnology Dental Hygiene Health Information Administration Medical Imaging Technology Nuclear Medicine Technology Nursing Paramedic Science Radiography Radiation Therapy Respiratory Therapy Related Links and Documentation

Related Programs and Majors

• Other Health-Related Majors And Programs available at IU

 

Important

This information was prepared for Indiana University Bloomington students by the Health Professions and Prelaw Center. Please note that specific requirements and policies can change at any time without notice. Students are responsible for obtaining the most current information directly from application and testing services, financial aid resources, and the schools and programs in which they have an interest. Refer to each program's web pages, bulletins, and other publications for the most current information. Students are responsible for understanding degree course requirements, as well as other requirements, policies, and procedures related to the degree(s) they are pursuing; for enrolling in appropriate courses; for understanding IU policies/procedures; third-party policies/procedures; and for following through properly with regard to all of the preceding.

 

High School Students and Parents Important information for high school students and their parents. Also, an invitation to visit the Health Professions and Prelaw Center! Read more »

Exploring Health Professions? Make sure to attend the annual Health Programs Fair, where you can meet directly with representatives of health professions programs from across the country!