10.1 Introduction to Additional Healthcare Careers
Karen Piette, MHS, CMA
In previous chapters, career paths were categorized as clinical, administrative, or laboratory. However, some careers do not fit neatly into any of these categories. This chapter focuses on additional careers in healthcare.
These careers include health educators, substance abuse disorder professionals, medical interpreters, pharmacy technicians, and social workers. While these roles may or may not involve direct patient care, they are valuable to the healthcare community.
The additional careers discussed in this chapter play diverse roles in healthcare communities. Some focus not only on individual patients but also on specific populations. For example, health educators target populations within the community to promote positive health outcomes, while social workers perform similar tasks but also work with individuals and families. A substance use disorder professional (SUDP) works one-on-one with individuals suffering from substance use disorder, while medical interpretation focuses on a patient’s language comprehension. Pharmacy technicians assist pharmacists in filling medication prescriptions. The following sections will explore these careers further.
A neuropsychiatric disorder that is characterized by a habitual desire to take drugs despite their harmful consequences.
The process by which the spoken word is used when transferring meaning between two or more languages.