Health Careers (Page 2)

Dental Hygienist

Career Profile

Good oral hygiene protects not only teeth and gums, but the whole body, reducing the risk of infections, heart disease, clogged arteries, and stroke. Dental hygienists help prevent and correct dental problems by taking X-rays, examining teeth and gums, removing plaque, polishing teeth, injecting local anesthetics, and assisting with dental procedures. They also play a key role in educating patients about how and when to brush and floss. Read more

Chiropractor

Career Profile

Some patients prefer to treat certain medical problems without the use of medications, surgery, or other traditional therapies. Chiropractors diagnose and treat problems involving the muscles, skeleton, and nervous system using alternative therapies, such as manipulation of the spine and joints, acupuncture, massage, bracing, and heat therapy. They also counsel patients on how to achieve good overall health through diet, exercise, stress management, and rest. They try to treat the patient as a… Read more

Dietitian or Nutritionist

Career Profile

Ever wondered who plans the school lunch, food for patients at a hospital, or the meals for athletes at the Olympics? The answer is dietitians and nutritionists! A dietitian or nutritionist's job is to supervise the planning and preparation of meals to ensure that people—like students, patients, and athletes—are getting the right foods to make them as healthy and as strong as possible. Some dietitians and nutritionists also work to educate people about good food choices so they can… Read more

Marriage & Family Therapist

Career Profile

Families and couples face many problems, from difficult child behaviors, depression, and compulsions to anger-management issues and eating disorders. Sometimes these problems get repeated generation after generation, whereas other times they arise spontaneously. Marriage and family therapists can help break the cycles of maladaptive behaviors. They provide goal-oriented counseling that focuses on the family and close relationships. They diagnose mental health problems, give psychological tests,… Read more

Epidemiologist

Career Profile

Do you like a good mystery? Well, an epidemiologist's job is all about solving mysteries—medical mysteries—but instead of figuring out "who done it" like a police detective would, they figure out "what caused it." They find relationships between a medical condition and things like human behavior, environmental toxins, genes, medical treatments, other diseases, and geographical location. For example, they ask questions like what causes multiple sclerosis? How can we prevent brain… Read more

Nurse Practitioner

Career Profile

Are you interested in working in the medical field to be an advocate and care for patients? If so, a nurse practitioner may be the career for you. Nurse practitioners require less school than a doctor, but with similar jobs. Nurse practitioners diagnose and treat illness as a part of a healthcare team or by themselves. Another important piece of their job is to teach patients and their families. They help patients stay healthy and teach them how to manage diseases. Nurse practitioners can work… Read more

Optometrist

Career Profile

Optometrists are the primary caretakers of our most important sense—vision. They diagnose and detect problems not only with vision, but with the health of the eye and the whole body. Based on their diagnoses, they prescribe glasses, contact lenses, and medications; refer patients to ophthalmologists for surgery; or develop treatment plans, like vision therapy, to help correct for deficits in depth perception. Their work helps people live better at every stage of life. Read more

Pharmacist

Career Profile

Pharmacists are the medication experts. They advise doctors, nurses, and patients on the correct drug dosage for a patient's weight, age, health, and gender; on interactions between drugs; on side effects; on drug alternatives; on costs; and on ways to give drugs. They also dispense drugs at pharmacies, according to prescriptions, checking for dangerous drug interactions, and educating patients on how to take drugs, what reactions to watch out for, and how long it should take for drugs to work. Read more

Speech-Language Pathologist

Career Profile

What if you couldn't tell someone what you needed or wanted? Or you couldn't understand what other people around you were saying? Can you imagine how frustrating that would be? Communication is vital to our lives as human beings. Language allows us to express our daily experiences, needs, wants, ideas, and dreams—even our jokes! Without it, we are isolated. Speech-language pathologists are the therapists who assess, diagnose, and treat communicative disorders related to speech, language,… Read more

Cardiovascular Technologist or Technician

Career Profile

The first leading cause of death in the United States is heart disease, and the third leading cause is stroke. Cardiovascular technologists or technicians are key members of the healthcare teams that are on the front lines of treating heart and blood vessel diseases and conditions. They set up monitors and tests to help physicians diagnose heart or blood vessel problems. Then they work with physicians to treat an identified problem. For example, they might help break up a blockage in an artery… Read more

Health Careers (45 results)

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