Other Health Professions

 

To Begin With...

There are many opportunities for fulfilling careers in the health professions. We welcome you to explore the information in this section to learn about the many ways in which you could make a difference through your work in healthcare.

Most people are familiar with the roles of doctors and nurses because we interact with these healthcare professionals so frequently throughout our lives. Fewer college students are aware of the many professionals who provide diagnostic, therapeutic, and administrative services as essential components of a healthcare team. The cytotechnologist, the respiratory therapist, and the radiographer all fill critical needs in providing vital healthcare services. If you plan to pursue a career in healthcare you will need to know about the work of all these professionals, their training and educational backgrounds, and the services they provide.

There are many different types of healthcare fields, from those that emphasize laboratory science to those that emphasize direct patient care. You should carefully consider your individual abilities and interests in making career decisions. For many health fields, very strong abilities in the sciences may be required. Many fields involve direct patient care, and require highly developed interpersonal and communication skills.

The term Allied Health Professions is sometimes used as a subcategory of health professions. Allied Health Professionals perform diagnostic procedures, provide therapeutic services, and patient care as part of a caregiving team.

Professional practice in some health professions requires only an undergraduate (associate's or bachelor's degree), while for others many years of study beyond the undergraduate level and the completion of a graduate-level degree is required. You may complete the requirements for admission on the Indiana University Bloomington campus in order to apply for admission to any of the types of programs listed below. Admission to most health professions programs is competitive. You will need to plan carefully and prepare systematically to be successful in gaining admission.

In addition to completing coursework, clinical observation ("shadowing") and other professional development activities are crucial parts of the process of choosing and ultimately pursuing any career path. To learn what kinds of experiences are most important for admission to your programs of interest, consult the HPPLC page for your area.

GPA and Target GPA calculators

Having clear, realistic projected GPA information is especially important for preprofessional students, who are usually pursuing admission to programs with moderately or highly competitive admissions. For examples of some useful GPA calculators, click here.

Choosing your preprofessional major

Most graduate-level health professions programs require you to complete an undergraduate degree (either a BA or BS) prior to beginning your professional coursework. The resources on the HPPLC Exploring Majors, Minors, and Certificates page can help you...

• quickly and efficiently narrow your areas of interest.
• serve as a starting point for identifying non-health-related majors of interest, if you feel you'd like or need a back-up plan.
• identify minors and certificates which could add breadth to your degree.

 

Explore Health Professions

There are literally hundreds of healthcare or healthcare-related professions. We encourage you to use the resources below to research your interests as you undertake the process of making decisions about your career, and your choice of health professions programs.

• The Health Professions Descriptions handout Includes descriptions of dozens of professional health programs, as well as other health-related degrees and majors.
• ExploreHealthCareers.org is another good place to begin researching health fields.
• Our page devoted to Other Health-Related Majors And Programs available at IU includes a list of many more health-related majors, minors, certificates, and programs available on the IU Bloomington campus. (Note: HPPLC does NOT provide advising for these areas, but we have included links to the given departments.)
• In the US Department of Labor's Occupational Outlook Handbook, we suggest you scan the A-Z Index, linked from the bottom of that page. There, you will encounter dozens of health-related careers, many of which you have probably never thought about before.
• IUB's Career Development Center provides a useful health professions Web Link Library.
• Other IUB Career Services

• The lists below reflect healthcare programs for which HPPLC provides advising and other services...

Graduate-Level Health Professions Programs Professional practice in the health professions listed below requires a graduate-level degree. These professional programs typically do not have a preference for any particular undergraduate major, so if you are preparing for a graduate-level health profession program you will have great latitude in choosing a major. When selecting a major, consider ones you'll enjoy and in which you can excel, and ones that might serve as a basis for graduate work or employment should you choose not to pursue a professional degree. For more information on how to prepare for specific health professions please explore the links below. Dentistry Occupational Therapy Optometry Pharmacy Physical Therapy Physician Assistant Veterinary Related Links and Documentation

Undergraduate-Level Health Professions Programs Completion of an undergraduate degree in the health professions programs listed below prepares you to practice in specialized healthcare areas as part of a caregiving team. Admission to these undergraduate degree programs is competitive, and, at Indiana University, often extremely so. To become eligible to apply to these programs, you must complete prerequisite courses and other admission requirements. For some programs, you may complete the prerequisites at Indiana University Bloomington, but must complete the rest of the program on another campus such as IUPUI. IMPORTANT: Of the programs listed below, the only one which can be completed in its entirety on the IU Bloomington campus is nursing. For the other programs, the professional coursework (i.e., the coursework you would take after the prerequisites) is offered only on another IU campus, such as IUPUI. If you are a prospective student, then for the latter programs, note that some students might be better advantaged by simply completing the admission prerequisites as well on the other campus. In any case, you will need to plan carefully in order to gain eligibility and increase your competitiveness for admission to the programs below. You are welcome to meet with a HPPLC advisor to discuss any of these options within your particular circumstances. Clinical Lab Science Cytotechnology Dental Hygiene Health Information Administration Medical Imaging Technology Nuclear Medicine Technology Nursing Paramedic Science Radiography Radiation Therapy Respiratory Therapy Related Links and Documentation

Related Programs and Majors

• Other Health-Related Majors And Programs available at IU

 

High School Students and Parents Important information for high school students and their parents. Also, an invitation to visit the Health Professions and Prelaw Center! Read more »

Exploring Health Professions? Make sure to attend the annual Health Programs Fair, where you can meet directly with representatives of health professions programs from across the country!