Practitioner
You’re an empathetic person who likes to help others. Things like anatomy and biology intrigue you, and natural bodily functions don’t phase you. Whether it’s through nursing or surgery, therapy or routine care appointments, what matters to you is improving the health of others. You may already have a background in patient care and are ready to advance your career, or you may be answering a new calling.
What's a common health care career path for The Practitioner?
Occupations that align with The Practitioner’s career path tend to examine, diagnose, treat, or advise patients. There are a wide range of patient care jobs available depending on your interests and goals. Popular and high-need careers include:
- Nursing: Nurses are an essential role in any health care setting, and there are many career advancement opportunities. Most nurses start as an LVN/LPN and move into an RN role. After that, an ARPN role allows nurses to specialize in areas such as nurse anesthetist, midwife, or nurse practitioner, or other advanced career.
- Dentistry: Dental hygienists often only require an associate’s degree to enter the field, and have a natural path to becoming dentists.
- Pharmacy: While a pharmacy degree is required to become a licensed pharmacist, pharmacy technicians help pharmacists dispense medication and are on a natural path to their advanced degree.
- Therapy: There are a range of careers such as respiratory and occupational therapy that don’t require a doctoral degree. These can be a good entry point to the medical field.
- Medicine: While there are common professional degrees in medicine such as the MD and DO, there are careers that require less schooling that still involve patient care, such as a Physician’s Assistant.
- Nutrition and Athletic Training: Preventive wellness is an important part of health care, and these careers often only require a bachelor’s or master’s degree.
13%Growth
In employment of healthcare occupations over the next decade
$75KMedian Salary
For healthcare practitioners and technical occupations, ranging from $30K to $163K averages
2MJob Openings
Predicted annually over the next decade due to workers retiring or transferring careers
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
What are the best health care degrees for The Practitioner?
For many roles in The Practitioner’s career path, a bachelor’s degree is a minimum qualification. Master’s degrees are common and often preferred, especially for more senior management roles.
Does The Practitioner need a license, certification, or registration?
Explore Your School Matches
Appily partners with institutions across the country that are known for having exceptional programs and providing strong outcomes.
No matter which career or degree you choose, you’re likely to find a path to success at these colleges and universities.
What’s Next?
Now that you know what type of career path suits you and which type of degree can get you there, the next step is to find a school that can help you reach your goals. All of Appily’s partner schools are high-quality, accredited institutions with in-demand degree programs.