Careers in Health

In the UK, the biggest employer of health workers is the NHS. There are also lots of private medical employers ranging from care workers to plastic surgeons

Individual organisations do their own recruitment. But many employers advertise their job vacancies on NHS Jobs, the online recruitment service for jobs in the NHS. 

For some jobs you need to do a medical degree, for others you can start an apprenticeship. There are lots of routes into healthcare.

It's not just jobs in healthcare either. There are also opportunities for people to work in healthcare but specialise in business, finance or IT.

Take Action: Find out what medical job might suit you on the Step into the NHS website - Take the Test!

Different kinds of careers

This video from the NHS talks about different careers within nursing.

What choices of GCSE and post-16 learning do I need to work in health?

There is a wide range of careers. For some you need to do do years of study at university and afterwards alongside work. Others you can go into after school, on an apprenticeship. 

For some careers you need to choose specialisms, either at university or during study afterward (postgraduate). 

Crucial: You don't have to have a degree to work in health. Some careers are accessible via an apprenticeship or open to school leavers.

Reasons to study health

People go into a career in health for lots of reasons, They might be inspired by their own experiences or by relatives or friends. Lots of the time they want to help people and are inspired by wanting to make life better for others.

My ambition: Why should you take a health career? Well all my life I’ve always been fascinated and the why and how things work, but biology has always been the science that stood out to me, and made the most sense, because it’s a science that we relate to, and have in common with, because it’s to do with the human body, which means it’s easier to study and learn new things. Health as a career doesn’t all have to be about nurses, doctors and dentists, it has a wider range of jobs than you think. There approximately 350 careers in health, and some of them you don’t need a science degree, you could have been in a different work force but decided to join, and still can get a job somewhere in health. But in many health careers you need some type of degree but it depends on your career choice. Unfortunately there are not many apprenticeships yet but there are some, you can do it to build yourself up to a higher job title and gain experience. So no matter what you do it somehow relates to health, so if your career doesn’t go the way you wanted you could always find something else in health. - Abida Islam, Work Experience Student

Apprenticeships in health

This short video talks about apprenticeships with the NHS.