How to Work in Health Care, Without Ever Seeing Blood or Needles
Even in a tough economy, a health job can offer a good paycheck and great job security. But if you can’t stand the sight of blood or needles, you might not have considered what health jobs are out there.
In fact, lots of health jobs don’t deal with blood at all — and many don’t even deal with patients.
Here are five examples of great health jobs that don’t go anywhere near blood, guts, or needles. You can find out about more about how to get into jobs like these at our job site.
Pharmacy Technician
Some pharmacy technicians work in drug stores or grocery store pharmacies and never even set foot in a hospital. Pharmacy technicians are the people who work the cash register, answer the phone, and perform tasks to prepare medications like counting tablets and labeling bottles. Getting a certification will help you stand out, but most pharmacy technicians get training on the job.
Medical Transcriptionist
Many medical transcriptionists never see patients. Instead, they work on their own, listening to audio recordings made by doctors and typing them up for medical records. Some medical transcriptionists work from the comfort of their own homes. You can begin working as a medical transcriptionist after completing a one- or two-year training program on medical terminology.
Physical Therapist Assistant
Along with the physical therapist, it’s the physical therapist assistant’s job to help patients overcome challenges like arthritis or lower back pain and regain movement. They might show their patients new exercises and stretches or help out by preparing the equipment for patients to use. Physical therapist assistants need to complete a two-year associate’s degree before beginning work, but if you want to see what working in physical therapy is like first, you can get a job as a physical therapist aide without any special training.
Medical Records and Health Information Technicians
If you are a detail-oriented person and interested in an office job, this job might be right for you. Medical records and health information technicians maintain patient files for doctors and insurance companies by making sure that records are entered completely and accurately in the computer. You can become a medical records and health information technician once you complete a two-year associate’s degree.
Dietitian
Dietitians are experts on nutrition and food. After getting a four-year college degree, dietitians have a lot of options for where to work and what they want to focus on. They might plan food programs for a cafeteria, work one-on-one with patients who have long-term illnesses like diabetes to develop individual nutrition plans for them, or even consult with athletes to help them eat right to achieve their best performances.