Your path to a career in health care
Health care professionals have successful careers in a variety of areas. They may work in health care administration, provide patient care, or sell medical equipment and supplies. If you have an interest in health care, Ohio State offers you many degree options. Medical school is not the only path to a career in health care! As you browse the following majors, you will find many paths at Ohio State that can lead to a successful career in the health field.
Major
Career possibilities
- Administration
- Advocacy
- Dental clinics
- Education
- Research
- Cardiac rehabilitation
- Employee fitness
- Exercise physiology
- Personal training
- Physical therapy / sports medicine (requires graduate school)
- Strength and conditioning coaching
- Food safety microbiologist
- Graduate study in functional foods or nutrition
- Professional study in medicine and dentistry
- Academic wellness
- Community health promotion
- Corporate wellness
- Non-profit organizations
- Research
- Wellness education
- Consulting and data analytics
- Electronic health records, pharmaceuticals or medical device companies
- Government agencies
- Law firms and insurance companies
- Health data management
- HIMS department administration and revenue
- Quality management
- Research and development
- Teaching in HIMS educational programs
- Acute-care centers
- Education
- Graduate/professional school
- Health care corporations
- Medical sales
- Non-profit organizations
- Public health
- Research labs
- Work-site health promotion
Dietetics track
- Nutrition counseling and therapy
- Nutrition education
- Sports nutrition
Nutrition in Industry specialization
- Business organizations that focus on foods, nutrition and nutraceuticals
- Government policy/regulation/lobbying
- Nutritional marketing
- Public relations
- Sales for nutritional, pharmaceutical and other health care products
Nutrition Sciences specialization
- Biological technology
- Fitness training
- Food science
- Health education
- Medicine and other allied medical professions (requires graduate school)
- Clinical laboratories (e.g. fertility clinics, forensic labs, physician offices)
- Forensics
- Laboratory information systems (computers)
- Public health and infection control
- Quality assurance and administration
- Research and development
- Sales and equipment service
- Teaching in MLS educational programs
- Clinics for special populations
- Community health centers and hospitals
- Health care research
- Home health care
- Hospice
- Long-term care centers and outpatient clinics
- Public and private health promotion centers
- Sub-acute and rehabilitation centers
- Clinical research
- Drug discovery and development
- Insurance companies
- Pharmaceutical administration
- Post-graduate study in professional fields such as dentistry, law, medicine, optometry, pharmacy, physical therapy and veterinary medicine
- Public health
- Quality assurance
- Sales and marketing
- Administration and management
- Business and industry
- Casework
- Graduate study in fields such as psychology, counseling, medicine, social work, human resources, physical therapy, occupational therapy, nursing, health administration, public policy and public health
- Health services
- Marketing and public relations
- Psychiatric assistant
- Research or laboratory assistant
- Social services
- Community health clinics
- Environmental specialists and scientists
- Global health
- Graduate study in public health and health-related fields such as medicine, dentistry, optometry, pharmacy, social work and law
- Health departments
- Health, prevention, wellness education
- Health-related non-profit organizations
- Health services administration
- Public health social services
- Wellness programs for private corporations
- Hospitals, clinics, physician offices
- Imaging centers
- Industrial firms
- Manufacturers of imaging/therapeutic equipment and supplies
- Research and development
- Teaching in radiologic sciences and therapy educational programs
- Home health care
- Hospitals, clinics and out-patient offices
- National and regional lung associations
- Pharmaceutical companies
- Research and development
- Respiratory equipment manufacturers
- Teaching in respiratory therapy educational programs
- Aging and health
- Chemical dependency counseling
- Community health clinics
- Global health, immigration and refugee rights
- Health care advocacy
- HIV/AIDS counseling and education
- Hospice and palliative care
- Medical social work
- Mental health care
- Nursing care facilities
- Prevention and wellness education
- Rehabilitation centers
- Centers for the developmentally disabled
- Community and university clinics
- Health departments
- Hospitals
- Nursing care and private practice facilities
- Public and private schools
- Rehabilitation centers
- Research laboratories
Students pursuing a health-related degree at Ohio State have many learning and social opportunities beyond the classroom.
Living-learning communities are residential experiences in which students of the same academic program or interest reside in the same residence hall. These communities feature faculty interaction, special programming and community service. Ohio State offers the following health-related learning communities:
The Ohio State Scholars Program brings together high ability students in academically stimulating, close-knit communities. Each program emphasizes its own specific academic program, career or special interest. Scholars programs designed for students interested in health care professions include Health Sciences Scholars and Sport and Wellness Scholars.
At Ohio State's regional campuses, students receive the same comprehensive education that they would receive on the Columbus campus. Courses at regional campuses are offered to meet the needs of traditional and nontraditional students, and students can begin any Ohio State degree at any campus. Some programs can even be completed at a regional campus.
Health-related degrees that can be completed at a regional campus include:
- Dental Hygiene (BS completion program)
- Health Sciences Program
- Nursing (RN to BSN program)
- Psychology
- Social Work
Learn more about academic programs at your regional campus of interest.
You may already have goals for a career in medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, optometry, occupational therapy or physical therapy—all of which require education beyond the four-year degree. Undergraduates who plan to pursue advanced health-related degrees follow a pre-health academic program while completing an undergraduate degree. The pre-health program includes necessary courses required for admission to medical school or other professional programs.
Ohio State offers a wide variety of undergraduate majors that can prepare students for medical or professional school at Ohio State or elsewhere. Students who are interested in the pre-health program should contact a pre-health advisor as early as possible for help choosing an appropriate undergraduate major. Pre-health advisors can also assist throughout the undergraduate program as students prepare for the rigorous exams and competitive courses of post-baccalaureate study.
In addition to prerequisite courses, medical and professional schools will also consider relevant co-curricular activities, so it is important for students to take advantage of the many opportunities Ohio State offers: volunteer programs at the University Medical Center, research activities and pre-health student organizations.