How Can I Get Started on a Career in Health Science?
Health sciences offer many rewarding and stable career paths for healthcare professionals. In addition to preparing them for graduate programs in specialized careers in health science, health science degrees also give undergraduates the skills they need to move directly into professional positions.
Unlike other degrees, health science prepares graduates for more than one career. And the rapidly expanding healthcare industry has increased the number of careers that health science graduates are qualified to enter.
Given the flexibility of online health science degree programs, healthcare professionals are in a better situation than ever to pursue an undergraduate health sciences degree.
A Wealth of Choices
The health science degree choices offered through Touro University Worldwide provide a good example of the many pathways a career in health science can take you down. For undergraduates, health science degree programs include concentrations in:
- Health care administration
- Health education
- Long-term care administration
Undergraduate students also can earn a Bachelor of Arts in Social Work. Graduate students looking to bolster their career in health sciences and take on leadership positions can earn a degree in the following concentrations:
- Health education
- Public health
- Human services
Graduate students can also earn a Master of Arts in Marriage and Family Therapy.
What You’ll Learn
The exact curriculum varies depending on your health science concentration and the career in health sciences you want to pursue. For example, a Bachelor of Science in Health Sciences with a concentration in Healthcare Administration focuses on preparing graduates for leadership positions by providing them a foundation in the theories and philosophies that drive the principles of management and administration in the healthcare industry.
Courses focus on:
- Organizational behavior
- Management of health services
- Cultural competence in healthcare
- Healthcare marketing
- Health information systems
- Healthcare finance
- Healthcare policy
- Safety issues in healthcare
The Job Opportunities
As the above degree programs suggest, health sciences can branch in many different directions. Health science jobs are part of a revolution in the healthcare industry that focuses on not only improving patient health but also their quality of life. It’s helped contribute to a rapid expansion in the number of jobs. Overall, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects an 18% increase in the number of healthcare jobs by 2026. For those who want positions in administration, that number is even larger, with a 20% increase expected.
Jobs in health sciences for those who concentrate in healthcare administration include leadership positions in:
- Hospitals
- Doctors’ clinics
- Community centers
- Consulting firms
- Healthcare insurance companies
- Nursing homes
- Mental health organizations
- Public health departments
With all of the choices for careers in health science, students who want to enter this rapidly growing industry will find ample opportunities. The healthcare industry is a smart career choice. And in that industry, few degree fields offer more opportunities than health sciences.
