Going into Cardiovascular Technology without moving into the library
Cardiovascular Technology sounds like this mysterious profession that is only within reach of people who can pronounce it and who have been in school forever.
Essentially, you're aiding and abetting a Doctor in diagnosing and treating any number of Cardiovascular diseases. This could include surgery and office work so you have to look at the job from multiple angles. It isn't JUST something like Grey's Anatomy and it isn't JUST like working in an office.
Now, many Doctors do keep Cardiovascular techs on hand to help with office work because those people tend to know the most about the medical side of things, but can also handle clerical work. However, you have an important job in helping patients, so you won't just be shuffling papers.
The Doctor will want you to help run simple tests, handle simple tests, and package labwork that may need to be done offsite. Also, the Doctor may trust you to repeat to them critical information about patients so that they can act more quickly and fluidly. This is a pretty big responsibility because you're reading important medical info to the person who need sit the most.
In the middle of all this you'll be working in hospitals with Doctors who have privileges and are visiting patients. This is the kind of thing you need to do so that all the patients get equal care AND so that the Doctor is able to see everyone and get everything they need to do done. You could think of it as being the Doctor's "lackey" but what you're really doing is improving healthcare for the patients because they are getting seen faster and their healthcare is being improved with another "hand on deck".
Even though this kind of work doesn't take a ton of schooling you could easily turn it into something more profitable for yourself. First off, you could easily work in more than one place. Some Doctors keep offices outside the hospital and others do not. Some Doctors needs only part-time workers and other Doctors need the same.
Nowadays people want to complain about work, but we should be happy to have it and if you can parlay two part-time jobs into full-time pay then it should be well worth it.
I'd also say that you could use your medical experience to progress more quickly through a nursing or other advanced program. Though this shouldn't be considered a "step up" job it could easily be considered a "learning experience" that makes you look good and COULD lead to another job down the line.
Just keep in mind that the words Technologist and Technician are NOT bad words. These people work the frontlines of healthcare attending to patients and making sure the Doctors seeing them are fully prepared and can work smoothly and easily. It's a pretty rewarding if you take it seriously and who knows...maybe one day you'll get an even better job because of it.
