Pathway
Health Care & Clinical Work
Working directly with patients, nursing, therapy, medicine, emergency care. Wide range of entry points, from a one-year certificate to a decade of training.
Majors
- Nursing (BSN)
- Biology / Pre-Health
- Kinesiology / Exercise Science
- Respiratory Therapy
- Radiologic Technology
- Public Health
Jobs people do
- Registered nurse
- Physician assistant
- Physical or occupational therapist
- Paramedic / EMT
- Radiologic technologist
- Physician
- Dental hygienist
Watch out
The choices that quietly close a door here
Putting Chemistry off until junior or senior year.
It leaves no room for Anatomy & Physiology or a second chemistry course, and direct-entry BSN programs are competitive on exactly that.
Instead Chemistry sophomore year. Then A&P junior year.
Assuming 'pre-med' is a major you apply to.
It isn't, it's a set of required courses you can complete alongside almost any major. Students who don't know this sometimes pick a school for a program that doesn't exist.
Instead Pick a major you'd be happy finishing, and check that the school supports the pre-health requirement sequence.
Thinking every health career needs the same eight to twelve years of training.
It scares people off the whole field. Respiratory therapy, rad tech, dental hygiene, and paramedic work are two-year paths with strong pay.
Instead Look at the two-year clinical roles seriously. Several of them are also a clean bridge into a bachelor's later, paid for by an employer.
Course ladder
Grade by grade
Course names differ at every school, and graduation requirements differ by state. Take this list to your counselor so the two of you are working from the same page.
Grade 8
- Algebra I if availableWorth doing
- Any health science intro electiveWorth doing
Grade 9
- BiologyLoad-bearing
The foundation for everything else on this path.
- Geometry or Algebra ILoad-bearing
- Health science / medical terminology electiveWorth doing
- English 9Load-bearing
Grade 10
- ChemistryLoad-bearing
Nursing and every pre-health program require chemistry. Take it sophomore year so there's room for a second lab science later.
- Algebra IILoad-bearing
- Psychology, if offeredWorth doing
- CNA or EMT pathway course, if your school has oneIf you have room
Grade 11
- Anatomy & PhysiologyLoad-bearing
The single most useful high school course for clinical work. Take it if it exists.
- Precalculus or StatisticsWorth doing
Stats is genuinely more useful than calculus for most health fields.
- PhysicsWorth doing
Required for physical therapy and most pre-med tracks.
- Second-year chemistry or AP ChemistryIf you have room
Grade 12
- AP Biology or AP ChemistryWorth doing
- StatisticsWorth doing
- CNA certification or clinical internshipIf you have room
A CNA license is a paid job at 17 and the strongest possible evidence for a nursing application.
Outside class
HOSA (Future Health Professionals)
The health-career equivalent of DECA. Competitive events, and it looks like what it is.
From grade 9
Hospital or clinic volunteering
Most systems take volunteers at 16, some at 14. Start the application early, background checks take weeks.
From grade 10
Get CNA or EMT certified
Often available through a school CTE program or a summer course at a community college. It is the highest-signal thing on this list.
From grade 11
Shadow three different clinicians
A nurse, a therapist, and a physician do genuinely different jobs. Finding out which one you'd want is the entire point.
From grade 10
Sports medicine / athletic training student aide
Hands-on, low barrier, and directly relevant to PT and athletic training.
From grade 9
Things to build
Run a health literacy project in your community
A first-aid workshop, a vaccine info night in a second language. Small and real beats large and hypothetical.
From grade 10
Keep a shadowing journal
What surprised you, what you'd hate, what you'd want. This becomes your personal statement two years later.
From grade 10
Is this actually a fit for you?
Ten minutes of questions, and Bearing turns this into a plan that starts from the grade you're in.
Take the survey