Popular Healthcare Courses
A medical degree will open lots of doors to you and could lead you on to be an anaesthetist or a cardiologist but there are lots of other options within the healthcare sector that don’t require going to medical school. The healthcare sector has roles varying from those that need extensive postgraduate qualifications (ergonomist) to ones that don’t need any qualifications (hospital ward assistant), and everything in between. Here are some of the popular healthcare courses.
Popular Healthcare Courses
Diploma of Nursing.
A diploma of nursing usually takes around 18 months to complete and qualifies you as an enrolled nurse. It’s widely available at TAFEs and private colleges around Australia and can often be studied on a part time basis. For example TAFE SA offer the diploma across 9 of their campuses with a variety of full time or part time and on or off campus options. Usually you would need to have obtained your senior secondary school certificate to apply. Clinical placement is a large part of the diploma and before you can do that you are required to have a police check, relevant immunisations and a first aid certificate. For those interested it can also create a pathway to University to do a nursing degree.
Bachelor of Psychology
A psychology degree comes in many different guises. It can be an arts, science, social science or health science degree with a major in psychology or it can be a Bachelor of Psychology/Psychological Science. There are many different options to choose from, depending on what your interests are and what type of psychologist you want to be. A psychology degree, in some format, is available at almost every Australian university. For example Macquarie University has a wide range of degrees that offer psychology as a major but also has a 4 year honours degree in psychology which includes workplace experience. As psychology degrees are so widely available the ATAR range is 50.05 – 99.90.
Bachelor of Nursing
A nursing degree will qualify you as a registered nurse. Most Universities offer a nursing degree and also offer specialisations such as mental health nursing or rural and remote nursing. Southern Cross University offers a bachelor of nursing with three different majors depending on your interests. Several universities also offer degree courses which are aimed at enrolled nurses extending their qualifications to become registered nurses. The ATAR range for nursing degrees is 50.75 – 96.60 depending on your interests.
Diploma of Laboratory Technology
Completing a diploma of laboratory technology is one way to become a pathology collector. The course is available at TAFEs and private colleges around Australia and takes around 18 months to complete although it is often available on a full and part time basis. At some institutions, such as North Metropolitan TAFE you can complete the course through work-based learning, rather than being on campus. This course gives you the option to become a laboratory technician also.
Bachelor of Pharmacy
Entry into pharmacy degrees is very competitive as only around half of Australia’s universities offer a Bachelor of Pharmacy. There are options to specialise in areas such as clinical pharmacy but these are largely available at postgraduate level. The degree usually takes 4 years to complete and generally includes clinical placements to get hands-on experience, such as Griffith University, which offers their pharmacy students the chance to work in the University hospital. Before practicing as a pharmacist in Australia you must be registered with the Pharmacy Board of Australia. The ATAR range for a pharmacy degree is 74.00 – 92.00.
For details on any of these occupations and the related courses, have a look at https://www.careerhq.com.au/careers-database