EXPLORE CAREERS
Look inside a health career before you choose one.
Three careers, written out in full: what the job is, what it takes to get there, and what it pays in California.
Counselor
What does it take to help someone put words to what they are feeling?
Registered Dietitian Nutritionist
What does it take to build an eating plan around the food someone really has?
HOW CAREERS CONNECT
One family, more than one door.
Each health career family holds three careers that take different amounts of school. Before you choose one, find out how they connect. It is not always a ladder.
Separate doors
Some careers sit side by side, each with its own program and its own license, and one does not turn into the other. In California, a registered dental assistant and a registered dental hygienist hold different licenses from two different state boards, and the hygiene license requires finishing a dental hygiene program. Working as an assistant does not replace it. The same is true for physical therapist assistant and physical therapist: they are two separate California licenses, and each one is entered through its own accredited program.
A ladder
Sometimes the first license is required before the next one. In California, you must hold a registered nurse license before you can be certified as a nurse practitioner.
A first step that helps you decide
Even when it is not a ladder, starting with the first career in a family can be a way to learn the work and find out if you like it before you commit to more years of school.
Experience that helps you apply
The work you do first can also count when you apply to the next program. Some California physician assistant programs ask for at least 1,000 hours of patient care experience. Depending on the duties, work as a medical assistant or nursing assistant can count toward those hours. One California dental hygiene program gives extra points to applicants who took its dental assisting program. Experience can help you get in. It does not replace the program.