An Overview Of The Different Health Professions?

There are many different health professions available. Nearly all of them require some type of medical training or internship. Because the health profession works with living, breathing human beings and controlled narcotics, most of the positions require a license or certification issued by the state or local government.

Surgical doctors are the most commonly thought of health professional. Doctors must undergo anywhere from six to twelve years of medical training. They must then complete an internship working at a hospital with real patients under the supervision of another doctor. Additionally, doctors must be in good standing with a medical board of establish professionals. Doctors can be general practitioners who help to diagnose and treat general diseases and problems, or they can specialize in only one particular area of the body.

Doctors can easily make over $100,000 a year once established.

Nurses are assistants to doctors and also perform a variety of daily activities in a hospital or clinical setting. There are several different levels of nursing, from a licensed practical nurse (LPN) to a registered nurse (RN). LPNs must work under the supervision of a more highly trained professional such as an RN, but are able to perform routine maintenance procedures on patients in their absence. An RN is able to do much of the work of a doctor, but does not have all of the formal training to operate on their own in many advanced situations. All nurses must undergo medical training and clinical internships that last anywhere from six months to four years or more. A nurse must hold one of a variety of licenses in order to practice medicine.

Depending on the area, employer, seniority and level of the nurse the salary can range from minimum wage to in excess of $80,000 a year.

There are also health professions which do not directly deal with patients. This can include administrative positions such as medical coders who translate doctor's treatment charts into invoices that are used by Accountants. It also includes pharmacists who dispense or assemble medications to fill prescriptions. Health science researchers can also fall into this field. The salary ranges for each of these professions vary by an extremely large amount as do their individual qualifications which vary by state or region.

All health professions share the common need for formal education which can be very costly. They almost all also require a license from some governmental authority which must be earned through an extensive testing system.