Health Care Exploration
Planning Ahead for a Career in Health Care
MultiCare has a number of ways to support your interest in a health care career. Some of our programs include Nurse Camp, Medical Explorers and Job Shadows. The health care field offers a variety of opportunities that provide a very secure and comfortable future.
Job Shadows: Job-shadowing is often touted as a career-exploration activity for middle-school and high-school students to help them determine a career path to follow. This helps the student to choose the college program (higher education/training) and subsequently the profession that they would like to choose. But there is absolutely no reason why college students and older job-seekers cannot also participate in this invaluable practice.
"Job shadowing is a work experience option where students learn about a job by walking through the work day as a shadow to a competent worker. The job shadowing work experience is a temporary, unpaid exposure to the workplace in an occupational area of interest to the student. Students witness firsthand the work environment, employability and occupational skills in practice, the value of professional training and potential career options. Job shadowing is designed to increase career awareness, help model student behavior through examples and reinforce in the student the link between classroom learning and work requirements."
The job shadow experience can be valuable for established job-seekers considering changing careers. If you know you want to change careers but are not sure what career is right for you, job-shadowing can give you a taste of what various careers are like.
Medical Explorers: Medical Explorers is a health care career exploration program co-sponsored by MultiCare and Learning for Life, a subsidiary of Boy Scouts of America. This co-ed group or “post” is open to male and females ages 14-18. The post meets once a month September –June. Meetings consist of presentations by health care professionals, tours of the hospital and simulated hands on experiences. These activities allow teens to explore health care careers through the interaction with health care providers currently working in the filed. Complete the Medical Explorers Application.
Visit MultiCare Medical Explorers Post 647 website.
Nurse Camp: Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be a nurse? MultiCare’s Summer Nurse Camp is your chance to explore this exciting career. At Nurse Camp, you’ll join professional nurses and other allied health care providers as they care for patients in the Emergency Department, Intensive Care Unit, and surgical care areas. You’ll observe actual operations and participate in mock emergencies. In short, you’ll get a firsthand, behind the scenes look at the multi-faceted world of nursing. Nurse Camp offers four full days of education, observation and participation in the daily activities of professional nurses. At the end of Nurse Camp, you’ll walk away with a CPR First Aid certification, a pair of nursing scrubs, and many wonderful memories. Nurse Camp is typically in July and open to high school students in 9th-12th grade. Applications are typically available in January.
Researching Occupational Information
Health care careers do not just happen but involve planning, preparation and a desire to work hard. The earlier you begin preparing the better, Job shadowing and volunteering are excellent ways to prepare for a career in healthcare.
It is helpful to study the field, contact professional associations, read up on the field and research it through the many books and on line resources. The time spent in this research will pay off in your success, entering the field with eyes open and will help you when you begin your job search.
Many links can be located by searching the internet by entering the word “health careers”
Some helpful sites: