The Office of Science Education at the National Institutes of Health provides an online, interactive program to help junior high and high school students “explore health and medical science careers”: LifeWorks.
Still looking for a career? While some of this information may not capture the full range of possibilities in these careers, this is a great place to start your exploration!
On the LifeWorks site, you can:
- Find a mentor
- “Meet” experts or successful professionals
- Learn what courses to take in school
- See tips on planning a career and finding a college that is right for you
- Find median salaries
You can search the careers in different ways, by…
- An ABC list
- Interest area (e.g., artistic or investigative)
- Education required
- Median salary
Most of the public heath positions on the ABC list:
- Biostatistician
- Environmental health scientist
- Environmental science and protection technician, including health
- Health educator
- Health information administrator
- Health information technician
- Mental health counselor
- Occupational health and safety specialist
- Public relations specialist
- Epidemiologist
Example copied from the site:
Activities:
Promote, maintain, and improve individual and community health by helping people and communities adopt healthy behaviors. Collect and analyze data to identify community needs before planning, implementing, monitoring, and evaluating programs designed to encourage healthy lifestyles, policies, and environments.Outlook: Faster-than-average-job growth
Median Income: $44,000 per year in 2008
Work Context & Conditions:
Usually work indoors. The job requires a lot of sitting and being in contact with others, e.g., face-to-face, telephone, or e-mail. They must be very exact and highly accurate.Minimum Education Requirements: Master’s Degree
[Note: Some successful health educators do not have master’s degrees.]Skills: Active Listening, Writing, Active Learning, Judgment and Decision Making, Coordination, Reading Comprehension, Speaking
Abilities: Oral Expression, Written Comprehension, Speech Clarity
Interviews: Frank GrayShield
Don’t find something that meets your needs or interests? Send me an email at [email protected] with your current career ideas or thoughts, and I will see what I can do to direct you :).
