Prepare for a Career

It's never too early to begin preparing for a career in the health care industry! There are many exciting programs designed especially for students in middle and high school, some specifically for students who are deaf or hard of hearing. 

Middle school

• Keep grades up
• Take science and mathematics courses
• Attend outreach camps and science fairs that relate to careers in the healthcare field such as RIT/NTID's TechGirlz, TechBoyz, the Math Competition for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Students, and RIT's BioScience Exploration Camp

High school

• Keep grades up
• Take science and mathematics courses
• Look for summer camps that focus on science, mathematics and technology
• Participate in science fairs 
• Volunteer at a local health care-related agency (hospital, veterinarian’s office, nursing home, etc.)
• Talk to high school guidance counselor to plan class schedules with health care careers in mind
• Gallaudet University offers several summer youth programs for 10th – 12th graders including Immerse Into ASL!, Discover Your Future, and the Young Scholars Program: Exploring the Sciences.
• DeafVerse is a game that allows you to learn about self-advocacy, and explore careers that suit your characteristic traits best.
• Look into different colleges and see what programs and majors they offer. Attend the open houses to get a feel of the campus and the people.
• Attend career exploration programs and camps such as RIT/NTID's FutureQuest and Explore Your Future, RIT's BioScience Exploration Camp or University of Rochester's Life Sciences Learning Center Student Science Camp
• Apply for a Youth Apprenticeship Program at Rochester General Health System or your local hospital
• Attend RIT/NTID's Health Care Careers Exploration Program. Check out this video for more information!

College

• Keep grades up
• Take science, mathematics and technology classes
• Meet with academic advisors and department chairperson to plan coursework with health care careers in mind
• Seek out internships, cooperative work experiences and shadowing experiences local physicians, veterinarians, nurses, etc.
• Volunteer at a local health care-related agency (hospital, lab, veterinarian’s office, nursing home, etc.)
• Join on-campus clubs, organizations, fraternities/sororities that focus on health care
• It is extremely beneficial to shadow a deaf person in your profession of interest to see how they communicate with others and methods or technology they may use to improve the communication barriers. This will allow you to be better prepared when you graduate.Get outside of your comfort zone and study abroad anywhere in the world. It could even be any of RIT's global campuses located in Croatia, Dominican Republic, United Arab Emirates and Kosovo.
• Develop relationships with faculty, advisors and mentors on your campus.
• If you are interested in a research project that your professor is working on, ask them for an opportunity to become a research intern in their lab.
• Research post baccalaureate schools and programs of interest (medical,dental,veterinary, or graduate school).
• If you plan on going to a post baccalaureate school (medical, dental, veterinary, graduate, etc.), find out if you need to take an admissions test. Medical schools require that you take the MCAT; graduate schools require the GRE and dental schools require the DAT. 
• The Rochester Bridges to the Doctorate program - a partnership between RIT/NTID and University of Rochester Medical Center - provides research and mentorship opportunities for deaf and hard-of-hearing students seeking graduate experiences in the sciences. 

After College

• Seek out post-baccalaureate programs in fields such as nursing, medicine, dentistry, veterinary and more
• Meet with career counselors at local labor department offices, training centers
• Meet with academic continuing education counselors at local community and four-year colleges to discuss part-time, full-time enrollment and programs.
• Biomedical Research Training Program for Individuals from Underrepresented Groups (BRTPUG) that offers opportunities for underrepresented post baccalaureate individuals to receive training in basic, translational, and clinical research. Individuals must have a specific intention to further pursue an advanced degree after training.

 Other Resources for preparing for a career in the health care industry include Vitality Medical.