Interested in pursuing a career in healthcare and medicine? Below you will find resources, events, opportunities, and advice to help you explore & confirm your interest and kickstart your career.
Explore a Career Path in Healthcare and Medicine
Pursuing a career in health means you’ll make a lifetime of difference, whether you’re drawn to medicine, nursing, dentistry, veterinarian science, public health, or another field. In this career community, you will find helpful information and resources to help you explore possible career fields of interest, prepare your next steps, and successful apply to medical or health profession schools.
CAPD’s Prehealth Advising team is here to support you as you explore your interest in health professions.
How do I determine if a career in Healthcare and Medicine is right for me?
There are a variety of ways to begin exploring careers in healthcare and medicine. The first step is to determine if a career in healthcare is right for you?
If you realize you have an interest in helping others, having a direct impact on peoples lives, an interest in the human body, amongst many other factors, a career in healthcare and medicine might be right for you! The next step is begin determining the type of career you want to pursue.
- Do you prefer a career that involves direct patient care or engaging in medical research?
- Do you have an interest in both direct patient care and research?
- Or maybe you have preferred interest in the promotion of health overall through advocacy, education, and/or business.
As you consider the answer to these questions, it will be important for you to research the various career paths in healthcare and medicine, along with identifying which career paths and specific positions align with you and your values, interests, skills, preferences, and experiences thus far.
Researching Career Paths in Healthcare and Medicine
The following websites will be helpful as you research career paths and specific positions in healthcare and medicine.
Explore Career Paths in Healthcare and Medicine
The 3 websites below will assist you in exploring different careers in healthcare and medicine.
- Explore Healthcare Careers – the Explore Healthcare Careers website provides easy access to updated, peer-reviewed career descriptions that inspire and motivate students to find health careers that suit them.
- Occupational Outlook Handbook – to assist you in exploring career paths, you can use the Occupational Outlook Handbook to view statistics on salaries, working conditions, education required, etc. in the many careers/jobs in the U.S.
- Career Paths in Academia & Education – if you are interested in a career in Academia & Education related to Healthcare/Medicine, CAPD’s website will provide you with valuable resources, events, opportunities and advice to help you confirm you interest and kickstart your career.
Becoming a Physician (MD, MD-PhD, DO)
- MD – Doctor of Medicine
- AAMC – The Association of American Medical Colleges is the standard source for information on exploring and preparing for a career as a MD and applying to medical school.
- Doctorly.org – An in-depth list of the medical specialties a MD can pursue once in medical school
- MD -PhD – Physician Scientist
- MD-PhD Overview – review AAMCs overview of the Physician Scientist career path and application process
- Why Pursue an MD-PhD?
- The American Medical Association (AMA) also includes some tips if you’re considering an MD-PhD program – read here
- DO – Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine
We’re here to help.
Schedule an appointment
Prehealth Advising is here for you through every step of the process. Need advice? Plan an appointment that fits your schedule or join a virtual Prehealth Advising Drop-In session.
Join the prehealth mailing list
Stay up-to-date by joining the prehealth email list; just email prehealth@mit.edu with the subject: “Please add me to the [year] prehealth email list.” (Use the year you plan to enter medical school, not the year you graduate from MIT.)
Join the Prehealth Facebook group
Find your MIT prehealth community, get advice, and connect with other students by joining the Prehealth Advising Facebook group.
Consider applying to a medical interpreting course
This 4-week IAP course trains multilingual MIT community members in core principles, standards of practice, ethics, and medical terminology. Participants will be qualified to work or volunteer as interpreters in healthcare settings upon completion of the 40-hour course.
