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| Fairmont General Hospital offers these tips about career opportunities in the medical profession: |
As a student, you may be thinking at this point in time about a career or a job some time in the future, not that far off from today. For adults, you may be thinking of a career change as well. You can begin to find out about the challenging and rewarding opportunities for careers that await you in the constantly growing and changing world of medicine. Health care careers provide an excellent way to provide a service to your community. A career in health care will not merely provide you with a job—it provides you with a profession. As a health care professional, you will always have an opportunity for continued learning and medical education as advancements in treatment, diagnostics and care procedures constantly change.
For professional careers, you must be accepted into college training programs. These require minimum test scores, certain levels of academic performance, and other indication that you are a well-rounded student. Programs for Nursing, Pre-Medicine and Laboratory Technology often require minimum composite ACT scores of 22 or above. If you plan a professional career in health care, plan to take 4 years of math, science and English courses in addition to computer classes, and advanced classes. To get good test scores on the SAT or ACT, you will need to have completed at least Algebra I & II and Geometry for math and have good reading comprehension and vocabulary skills through advanced English classes for verbal scores.
Many colleges and universities in West Virginia offer a wide variety of professional training for health careers, including nursing, physical therapy, rehabilitation, medicine, pharmacy, dentistry, dental hygiene, nuclear medicine and many more. Check out college web sites for specific details. Your local school system will have or be part of a technical training center that often provides one year training programs for allied health fields such as practical nursing, nursing assisting, or surgical technician training. Radiology Technology training programs are generally based at hospitals, although Nuclear Medicine programs are in a college setting. A community college may offer training for paramedics, respiratory therapy, and medical laboratory technology.
There are many professional jobs that are administrative in nature and not involved with direct patient care—yet these are rewarding careers as well.
Competition is keen for many health careers where admission is limited—be involved in extra curricular activity and show that you demonstrate leadership through offices held, etc. You can find out about volunteer opportunities for students 14 years and older by contacting the Fairmont General Hospital Volunteer Coordinator or visit the FGH web site for more information.
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