Part-Time Jobs in Healthcare

By Kaitlin Hurtado on April 4, 2017

The responsibility and time that academics can take up when you are a full-time college student can be overwhelming between attending lectures and office hours, keeping up with your readings, and getting ahead on studying before finals or midterms.

As a college student, you are going to have more responsibilities piled on your plate as you will most likely need a steady source of income in the form of a part-time job while also working on your future career path through extracurricular clubs and internships. The number of responsibilities may be overwhelming, but you can minimize the number of commitments by combining two or more activities, like securing a part-time job in the field you want to pursue a career in. Some part-time jobs in the healthcare field will require training prior to starting in the position, so be prepared to put in some time, like planning to start in summer break when you will most likely not be enrolled in college full-time.

This choice allows you to have a steady source of income in college while also helping yourself make progress in your desired career path. If you are interested in pursuing a career in healthcare, here are some part-time jobs in healthcare you could consider looking and applying for.

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1) Home health aide

The name provides the simple version of the job description. As a home health aide, you will be working with people who have physical disabilities, illnesses, and/or cognitive issues. You will be assisting them in carrying out daily activities and your duties will vary depending on the patient you are assisting. You can expect to be assigned to bathe your patient, help with dressing, make sure physical therapy is carried out, keep up with medication distribution, help the patient with commuting to where they need to be, and so on.

This job description may sound like that of a personal care aide; however, you will be allowed to provide basic medical service for your patient, which is something that a personal care aide is not allowed to do.

Your job location as a home health aide will depend on where you are assigned, which can be a client’s personal home or a group home, as you will be working for certified home health agencies that will oversee your job.

The requirements for becoming a home health aide change according to what state you are in, but most states have aides that already have gotten their high school diploma. You will not be working alone, however, as most home health aides do work under medical professionals, like registered nurses or therapists.

2) Nursing orderly 

As a nursing orderly, you will be working in a hospital or in more long-term facilities, like nursing homes. You will be expected to help transport patients (pushing wheelchairs) and clean treatment areas (equipment, changing linens, restocking supplies, etc).

Like home health aides, orderlies usually have their high school diploma, and will require on-the-job training and Basic Life Support (BLS) certification.

It may not seem like the most appealing part-time job, but if you are seriously considering a career in healthcare you need to be starting somewhere, and that somewhere may not always be your first and most appealing choice.

3) Receptionist at a medical (dentist, optometrist, etc.) office 

As a receptionist, you will not be doing any medical service, but your options are already extremely limited if you only have your high school degree and are still in school for your undergraduate degree. Being a receptionist will allow you to still submerge yourself into a healthcare environment and allow you to work with medical professionals that can offer you both guidance in your intended career path and references for your later academic and professional applications.

You will gain experience with patient care as you interact with your office’s patients, learning about their needs and how they are attended to. You can also get a clearer picture of what specific job you want to pursue in the healthcare field; if you end up in a dentist’s office and do not like the environment, you are still early enough in your career that a change would have little to no impact in the long run.

As you are not going to be carrying out any medical service, you can still apply for this position as a part-time job with only a high school degree as your main concern in the position will be providing customer service and carrying out administrative tasks.

4) Medical scribe 

According to CEP America’s website, “scribes document patients’ medical histories and physical exams as they work with CEP America healthcare providers in the emergency department. They also work closely with our hospitalists in the intensive care, telemetry, medical/surgical, and other units to help with documentation of admissions, rounding, and discharge.”

Because scribes are usually undergraduate or post-baccalaureate students, the schedule is flexible and open to changing with your school schedule. You will be expected to work 2-3 shifts per week and will typically work less than 20 hours a week, which allows you to not have your job overwhelm you with hours that you could use for studying or focusing on your wellbeing.

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