University of Arkansas
Old Main 518
479-575-3307

e-mail

Allied Health Manual

What is the Health Professions' Manual?

This manual was compiled to be a source of information for students who have an interest in health professions. In it you will find entries answering questions about thirty-one different fields. Each contains a brief description of the occupation, the average earnings of its members, educational requirements, a list of selected programs that offer professional training, and other basic information. Some entries include the average GPA's and test scores of successful applicants into professional schools. All of them list sources of more information.

This manual is not intended to be a detailed guide to all of these professions, but rather a starting point. Consequently, an effort was made to be brief and concise, so that students could learn about these career possibilities in a relatively short time. In perusing it, you will get an idea of which careers you want to learn more about, and which ones don't interest you. From there it will be your task to seek more details.

Most of the information contained in this manual was taken from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' on-line version of the Occupational Outlook Handbook. Some was gathered from SIGI PLUS, the career database used by Career Services on campus. Both of these sources contain excellent, detailed information about health and other careers, and we encourage you to make use of them in your career exploration.

How do I use it?

If you are seeking information about a certain profession, then go directly to its entry and read it. Spend a few minutes looking at related professions as well. For example, if you're interested in physical therapy, read about occupational therapy and physical therapy assisting. If you're not sure which fields you might be interested in, take the time to skim through the whole list, noting those careers that appeal to you and ruling out those which don't. When you look over an entry, pay particular attention to the pre-professional courses and the personal requirements.  Ask yourself, "Are these courses I would enjoy and do well in?" and "Does that sound like me?"

Once you have an idea of which professions you're most interested in, research them in more detail.  You can learn more by talking to the campus advisor listed at the end of each entry, meeting with a career counselor, writing to the occupation's national organization or to schools that offer programs you're interested in, and examining other printed or Internet sources.

Career Development

Exploring your interests is probably the best place to begin your career development.  This manual is one resource you can use for that project.  You might also take a career test, such as the Strong-Campbell Interest Inventory, to see how closely your interests match those of various kinds of health care professionals.  After you've narrowed the field some, one of the best ways to find out if you would like to work in a particular profession is to spend some time around it, either working or observing.

It's exciting and necessary to explore your interests, but keep in mind that interest is only one part of the equation. You must also be suited to a profession's educational requirements and work. For example, if you don't like math and science, you should probably rule out medicine, dentistry, pharmacy and some others, because of their curricula.  Similarly, if you are impatient and like to see immediate results from your work, physical and occupational therapy are probably not careers you would enjoy.

Because many of these professions are so attractive, they are pursued by large numbers of students.  As a result, the number of spots available in the most popular professional programs (for example, medicine and physical therapy) is much smaller than the number of applicants.  Many qualified applicants aren't accepted simply because there are too many of them.  Any student preparing to apply to a competitive program should have an alternate plan in case she isn't accepted into her first choice.  Maybe your first choice is physical therapy, but because it's so competitive, you might make physical therapy assisting your back-up plan.  It's important to be realistic about both your abilities and the extent of the competition.  Set reasonable goals and you'll have a much better chance of achieving them.

The more exploration and research you do, the less likely you are to commit to something prematurely, only to find out later that it's not for you.  Don't fix on one particular career path until you've thoroughly researched it.  Be open and flexible while you're exploring.  If you are in a rush to decide, you may make a bad decision.  It's simply not true that there's only one job out there for you; there are probably lots of things you would be happy doing, so don't limit yourself.

We hope that you will find the Health Professions Manual helpful in your on-going career development. Any comments or suggestions are welcome. Contact: Trevor Francis at Old Main 518. Or call the Fulbright Advising Center at (479) 575-3307.

Health Professions


 

Other Resources

In Print:
Allied Health and Rehabilitation Professions Education Directory 1996-1997, Twenty-fourth Edition. (Chicago: American Medical Association, 1996).
Occupational Outlook Handbook 2002-2003. (Washington: U.S. Department of Labor Statistics, 1998).
Health Care Job Explosion: Careers in the 90's, Dennis V. Damp. (Coraopolis, PA: D-Amp Publications, 1993).
Careers in Health Care, Barbara M. Swanson. (Lincolnwood, IL: NTC Publishing Group, 1989).

On the Net:
American Medical Association
Occupational Outlook Handbook
Health Web

Software:
SIGI PLUS. Available for student access in Career Services.