A career in the medical field can be deeply rewarding, both personally and professionally. In addition to caring for people's health and saving lives in some cases, you will learn valuable new skills that can make a difference in the lives of your family members. To begin a medical career, you will need to prepare for an entry level position. Here are some effective ways to do that.

Volunteer

One of the best and earliest ways to learn more about the medical profession and see if it’s a good fit for you is to volunteer. You might be able to help at a local doctor's office, a community clinic, or the hospital. Even non-medical tasks like delivering mail, filing records, and answering the phone as a receptionist can provide helpful insight to a medical career of interest. In addition, accruing volunteer hours on your resume will attract employer attention when they know you have some background, even unpaid, in the medical field.

Job Shadow

Ask someone you know who works in a medical position you would like to one day have if you can job shadow them for a few days. Be polite and stay out of the way as they do their work, but pay attention and take notes to learn all you can. Observing how the job is actually done will give you a great start to preparing for an eventual career in the medical field. This is another unpaid experience that will look great on your resume, especially if you can get a letter of recommendation about your interest and support from the person you shadow.

Take a Support Position

Many people who want to enter the medical professions start from a non-medical job. They apply for positions in maintenance, transportation, kitchen work, and other related areas of support to learn the basic routine of how a doctor's office, clinic, or hospital operates. As well as being paid, this type of job connects you to professionals in the medical field as well as real patients and treatments. Although you will not be actively involved in patient treatments, you can learn quite a bit from observation and discussions among the professionals where you are employed. Like the unpaid positions, this paid job also adds to your medical experience when you apply for a higher-level job in the field.

Earn a College Degree

Ultimately, earning a college degree will prepare you for a professional position in the health care professions. Many medical assistance programs are accepting candidates with the type of experience described above. Talk to an admissions office about your credentials and the program's requirements.

Start preparing early for a medical career. Steps like these can help to qualify you for an eventual entry-level position.