The healthcare sector is a wide and varied field, and there are numerous roles that people can train for and engage in for many years. And for the most part, these roles don’t always come with extensive and lengthy training programs you need to complete to become qualified. But that doesn’t mean they don’t have real career progression.

They do.

If you want to get started on healthcare and dive into a role that has real chances of progression, should you want to, we have some ideas for you.

Licensed Vocational Nurse

LVNs provide direct patient care. They work under the supervision of registered nurses and physicians, and the role includes things like taking vitals, administering medications, dressing wounds, monitoring patient condition,s and documenting care.

The training timeline here is generally shorter than an RN program, and it’s generally around 12-18 months long. And during this time, you’ll get both classroom training and hands-on clinical hours.

If you’re looking at a vocational nursing career training,accredited programmes will include the full preparation needed to sit the NCLEX-PN licensing exam.

From here, the pathway can take you towards a registered nursing qualification if you prefer, or another role that can use the skills and training you already have.

Medical Assistant

A medical assistant is someone who works both the clinical and administrative sides of a practice. In this role, you’ll be taking notes, preparing exam rooms, taking patient histories, drawing blood, administering injections, and handling scheduling and insurance paperwork.

For training, you’re looking at around 9-12 months. But why should you consider this option? If you’re new to healthcare work, then seeing both sides of the coin can be really beneficial. You’ll get hands-on patient care while seeing how the administrative side of things is run. You’re not locked into ine environment, so when the time comes to move forward with your career, you can choose a role on either side if you wish.

Phlebotomist

While it might not initially seem like you have much of a career progression as a phlebotomist, that’s actually not quite true.

You can complete training for this role in a matter of weeks and then get real-world experience in drawing blood accurately and safely for tests, donations, and transfusions.

But the bulk of the role is dealing with patients. Some of them might be scared, anxious, unwell, or they might be difficult to draw from. This is where your experience will be essential and help you move forward with a new career. For some, this role can be a deliberate first step in clinical exposure before moving into a laboratory-focused role or into other allied healthcare programs.

Surgical Technologist

Surgical techs are people inside the operating room for every procedure. They set up the sterile field, pass instruments, anticipate what the surgeon needs, and maintain strict aseptic technique throughout.

Training is usually completed around 12-24 months, and then you get to work in real-life operating theatres, building skills and experience. For career progression, you can choose to specialise in a certain field, i.e. cardiovascular, orthopedic, or neurosurgery, all of which have their own distinct technical demands and corresponding pay. Or you can move into different roles entirely.