Prepare
How will you prepare for your healthcare career?
Preparing for a career in health can (and in some cases should) start as early as your first year in college. Programs want to see that you have been thoughtful in your decision to pursue your health career of choice and that you have taken the appropriate steps to get there. In order to be a competitive applicant, these are some things that you should consider:
Coursework
Professional health programs require courses that build content knowledge required for success in higher level coursework.
Plan for prerequisite coursesExams
Many professional health programs require exams as part of the application process.
Learn more and create a plan for completing these exams.Getting Experience
Clinical exposure and time spent interacting with patients and health professionals is important to demonstrate that you understand the career you are aspiring to, and that you will be good at it.
Review options for getting experience.Self-Care
Self-care is important in guarding against burnout, which is common in helping professions such as healthcare.
This blog post shares 7 simple self-care tips for healthcare workers.Stories can bring understanding, change and healing. Visit AHECWW’s Cultural Humility page, scroll to the bottom, watch an introduction to digital storytelling and a powerful collection of eight digital stories exploring health equity. These stories share the personal experience of BIPOC health professionals living in the Pacific Northwest in their own voice.
Return to this page for Online self-paced Cultural Humility learning modules, which are coming soon!
Self-Assessment
Before you move on to the Apply phase…use this Self-Assessment Tool to determine your next steps. Apply when you are really ready for the process – it’s a lengthy one!