Healthcare Career Explorer

Use this page to learn about and explore the many ways that you can work in healthcare! You can explore careers by their Category or their Education and Training levels.

Career Categories

You can think about healthcare careers using a few different categories. Below are three ways of categorizing healthcare careers based on how hands-on you want to be with patients. Click the category to see a drop-down list of roles in each category. You can then click on each role to see detailed information about that role. Please note that not all careers fit neatly into a single category.

How hands-on with patients do you want to be?

Some careers in healthcare are more hands-on with patients than others:

Click here to see Direct Care careers that involve hands-on interactions with patients!
Click here to see Indirect Care careers that involve caring for or interacting with patients in a hands-off way!
Click here to see Hospital Support and Administration careers that do not involve care-related interactions with patients. Sometimes they don’t interact with patients at all!

Training and Education

You can also think about healthcare roles by how much training and education are required for entry into them. Some roles require only a high school diploma and incorporate on-the-job training; other roles require that you attend college for an advanced degree. Some roles also have a minimum education level for entry into the career, but any advancement you want to make will require additional education. As you plan your career, it’s important to think about how much schooling your career goals require.

How long do you want to go to school?

High School Diploma or Equivalent – requires that you only graduate from high school.
Program/Certification – requires that you complete a training program and receive certification, sometimes up to 1 or more years long.
Associate’s Degree – requires that you complete a relevant academic program at a community or technical college. Associate’s Degrees typically require 2 years of schooling after high school.
Bachelor’s Degree – requires that you complete a relevant academic program at a college or university. Bachelor’s Degrees typically require 4 years of schooling after high school.
Advanced Degree – requires that you pursue relevant education beyond a Bachelor’s degree program, including Master’s Degrees, Post-Graduate Technical and Professional Programs, and PhDs. Advanced Education paths typically require 5+ years of schooling after high school.