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Careers in health

You may think you want to become a general practitioner. But did you know that there are several other careers you can pursue in the health field? Try these.

Occupational and physical therapists
If you study occupational therapy (OT) or physical therapy (PT), your postsecondary classes may include anatomy, physiology, neuroanantomy, neurophysiology, kinesiology and treatment techniques. Students must complete a minimum of 1,000 clinical hours in hospitals, private clinics, rehabilitation centres or schools.

Caroline Storr, academic coordinator of clinical education of OT at McGill University, says that students in Ontario must complete a master’s degree to practice OT or PT.

“In order to work in Canada, OTs and PTs must be registered with their provincial licensing body,” Storr adds. “High school students should take advanced chemistry, physics, biology and maths. Most programs require a minimum of 50 related volunteer hours.” Storr says that PTs and OTs will be in demand as the population ages.

“The best part is that no two clients are alike, and each new case is a challenge,” she says. “There is tremendous satisfaction from making an impact on each client. A Canadian degree is very portable and permits global job mobility.”

According to JobFutures.ca, occupational therapists earn on average $24 an hour.

Massage therapist
To become a registered massage therapist in Ontario, you must first complete a 2,200-hour diploma through an accredited program and pass your certification board exams through the College of Massage Therapists of Ontario (CMTO).

Like OTs and PTs, massage therapists will also be in demand to care for an aging population.

Registered massage therapists work in places like rehabilitation centres, chiropractic offices, hospitals, spas and their own practices.

As a massage therapy student, you’ll take classes in anatomy, physiology, pathology and treatment techniques. You should take as many university-level sciences as your high school offers.

“Massage therapists gain satisfaction through alleviating pain and dysfunction,” says Nadia Schepis, director of administration at the Canadian College of Massage & Hydrotherapy. “They are challenged to stay on top of their field through continuing education and professional development, and they also contribute to a growing body of research demonstrating the benefits and effects of their techniques.”

Biological engineer
Biological engineering encompasses biomechanical/biomedical engineering, bio-processing and food engineering. Biological engineers work for pharmaceutical companies to design and test medications. Bio-engineers research and design medical tools, prosthetics, work in health-care management, ensure food safety and more.

Bio-engineering students take classes in  thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, engineering design, microbiology, biochemistry, human physiology, musculo-skeletal anatomy, biomaterials and prosthetic biomechanics, says Katherine Sorensen, liaison officer for the school of engineering at University of Guelph.

“Many students choose to pursue graduate studies in biomedical engineering or a related field because of the diverse applications of biomedical engineering, the depth of knowledge and experience needed, or because they have a personal interest in research and development,” Sorensen says. “Some students pursue careers in the biomedical, pharmaceutical or the human factors engineering field without graduate work.”

Registered nurse
Looking for access to an in-demand career? Consider becoming a nurse! In the next 10 years, Ontario is expected to be short 15,000 nurses. (By 2011 there is estimated to be a nationwide Canadian shortage of 59,000 to 113,000 nurses.)

“It’s frightening,” says Jenifer Richardson, an administrative assistant for the nursing department at Trent University in Peterborough. “So there’s a lot of incentives out there to help promote people to come to nursing.”

Some of those incentives include scholarships, early-graduation options for high school students who already have some university credit and programs that include international travel or assignments to remote areas. “Students quite often like to take advantage of that,” Richardson says. “It’s like being your own little emergency, counseling and community-outreach department.”

Other career paths for registered nurses could have you working with a specialist group, in health promotion, doing research, working with expectant mothers or communicable diseases. “It could be everything from teaching a class to teaching a mother how to feed her newborn baby,” Richardson says. “That whole mental picture of nurses in a hospital going from bed to bed to check on their patients is a very small part of it.”

As a nursing student, you’ll take classes in health ethics, biology, pharmacology, psychology, chemistry, nutrition and leadership. According to the College of Nurses of Ontario (CNO.org), RPNs often receive their training at colleges, RNs at a university or a combination of both university and college. The CNO Web site also states that, by January 2005, all new RNs must complete a bachelor’s degree in nursing before practicing. According to JobFutures.ca, the average salary for nurses in Canada is $41,400.

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