The UK’s health sector employs around two million people, with around 75 per cent of these working for the NHS. As the world’s largest publicly funded health service, the NHS has over 300 available careers. The constant demand for suitably trained staff means that there is a wide range of graduate opportunities on offer across  the NHS and the private and voluntary sectors for medical science graduates.

Careers within the health and medicine industry aren’t all doctors and nurses; you can choose to focus on complementary medicine and become a chiropractor, acupuncturist or osteopath. You could look into medical support jobs such as dietician, physiotherapist or optometrist, and there are other related roles including genetic technologists or audiologists. There is a vast choice of health-related courses on offer in the UK – in 2008/09, a whopping 188,885 students were enrolled on undergraduate programmes in medicine, dentistry and subjects allied to medicine (source: HESA).

A number of health sector occupations, including haematology, audiological science, clinical psychology and occupational therapy, are on the Home Office Shortage Occupation List (HOSOL). This means they are unable to recruit successfully from the UK/European economic area and are allowed to recruit from overseas, offering exceptional employment opportunities if you choose to study in these areas. It is not necessarily essential, however, to choose your specialism before embarking on your degree – for doctors, particularly; you don’t decide your final field until well after graduation. To guide you through the myriad careers available, NHS Careers has a handy website where you can find out where your degree could take you  (www.whatcanidowithmydegree.nhs.uk).

The health sector is made up of many different and connected disciplines in hospitals, nursing homes, medical and dental practices, ambulance transportation, complementary medicine and other human health activities, including medical laboratory services.

Studying Dentistry
Dentistry offers an intellectual challenge alongside the responsibilities and rewards of a caring profession. As well as being concerned with maintaining oral health and preventing dental disease, dentistry requires a special knowledge of the mouth, a wider understanding of the whole body and an appreciation of social influences. In some institutions, dentistry students work alongside medical students in the early stages of their course, and their training period takes just as long to complete.

Studying Nursing
Nursing courses combine the study of physiology, biology, social sciences and psychology and develop the skills of nursing practice and health promotion. If you’re lying in a hospital bed, the doctor may arrive to complete checks every few hours, but it’s the nurse who’ll give you seemingly undivided attention, ensuring you’re comfortable and taken care of. In the modern health service, nurses are increasingly taking on more responsibility.

Studying Health-Related Sciences
The abundance of health-related sciences reflects the complexity of the human body. Popular areas of study include anatomy and physiology, pharmacy, optometry and orthoptics, physiotherapy, alternative medicine, radiography, nutrition and dietetics, speech and language therapy, and podiatry and chiropody.

Career Paths
Professions can vary from nursing to neurosurgery and midwifery to mental health work, but all medical students are known for having a busy timetable and for having to cope with a weightier workload than most other students. The compensating factor is that when your studies are over, the excitement of starting to work with patients will be huge as you will have the opportunity to make a real difference to people’s lives.

Nurse
Once nurses are registered, they can specialise or move into other areas of care such as health visiting, mental health nursing, midwifery and social work.
To qualify as a registered midwife you need to complete a degree in midwifery leading to registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC). You’ll go on work placements as well as studying.
Salary guide
Nursing careers and most others in the NHS except doctors and dentists are covered by the Agenda for Change (AfC) pay scales. The range of typical starting salaries for Band 5 on the AfC (the entry point for graduate nurses) is currently £21,176 rising to £27,534. See Nursing and Midwifery  Council (NMC), www.nmc-uk.org

Pharmacist
A pharmacist is an expert in medicines and their use. The majority practice in  a hospital pharmacy, community pharmacy or a primary care pharmacy.
For a degree in pharmacy, you will usually need five GCSEs at grades A-C including Maths and English, plus three A-levels, usually in Chemistry and two other science-based subjects.
Salary guide
The typical starting salary for a junior pharmacist in the NHS is £25,472  (Band 6). These posts normally involve  a two-to-three year contract with annual increases up the salary scale. See Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI), www.abpi-careers.org.uk/

Sports Therapist
Sports therapists treat people in sports injuries clinics or work directly with professional or amateur sports teams. Some combine both roles.
Salary guide
Established, self-employed sports therapists/graduate sport rehabilitators (GSRs) may charge £25 an hour or more. A therapist/GSR with a professional sports team could earn between £26,000 and £32,000, rising to £40,000+ at senior level. See The Society of Sports Therapists, www.society-of-sports-therapists.org/