No Training...No Problem

Sometimes we just need a way to get our "foot in the door", so we can find the kind of work that will sustain us.

Unfortunately that means that some of us just can't drop everything and go to school or even afford to go to school if we could drop everything. It's a sad situation that must seem hopeless when everyone seems so "professional" when they're asking for "experience" and a "certificate" or a "degree". Well, there are jobs in the medical world that do not require any training. You can come in, work hard, advance yourself, and get experience in the place you want to work...medicine. Plus, some people who hire untrained workers will pay for you to go to school or at least support in school in some way. Imagine how much easier things would be if you could just get in the door, have your employer support your education (and even pay for it!) Let's take a look...

Let's start in a less-than-obvious place. Your local Pharmacy has a Pharmacist and maybe even some Pharmacy Technicians, but it also has Pharmacy Aides. A Pharmacy keeps the place running while the Pharmacist gets the "medical stuff" done. This means you're getting retail experience AND you can see how the Pharmacy works without having to be dragged into the stress of getting a lot of things done. This is a great job that would inform a Pharmacy education if you were in school and we know that a lot of bigger companies sometimes offer grants and support to workers who are in school.

A Home Health Aide is great for you if you just love people. Caring for someone in their home and making sure they are comfortable is a wonderful job if you are really tender-hearted and it can be very informative if you are in nursing school. (This is especially true since most Home Health Aides work under a nurse anyways.)

Physical Therapy Aides and Occupational Therapy Aides work in a field that seems foreign to a lot of people, but sounds cool at the same time. Anyone who receiving therapy for an injury or who needs to relearn how to do things needs a caring hand at their side. Even though Therapy Aides don't do any direct work with patients you would have the joy of helping people get ready for therapy and making sure the office runs smoothly so the patients have a good experience. Moreover, if you're in school to become a Therapist it's going to tell you a lot about what to do and how to do it. You might even end up working in a Hospital where they offering on-site training for other fields or give tuition grants to employees.

If you stay in the Hospital for a minute you'll see the Orderlies, Nursing Aides and Attendants. Even though these folks do a lot of janitorial and clerical work they do work in a medical setting all day long. You run into enough Doctors and Nurses and you're bound to learn something. Plus, they might even take you under their wing and really show you some stuff. If that's not great training I don't know what is.

Then we have Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers. If you love animals and just can't enough of their furry-cuteness then this is great work for you. You can get in on the ground floor while you're in Veterinary School or this may be the kind of job that will tell you if you can handle being a Veterinarian.

Because so much is going on around you it's very easy to soak up lots of information and really get a handle on how lots of these "higher-level" medical jobs work. You may also make lots of contacts that will help you find a job later on when you finally get a chance to go to school. So, the "ground floor" isn't just so you can go to school, or just so you can hope to get a tuition grant...nope, it's also about Networking. Now that's just smart business right there!