Explore Health Professions
Check out the links below to explore health professions and their required coursework, application processes, and career resources.
There are many professions in healthcare, and everyone’s path to a healthcare career looks different. Our team of pre-health advisors are experts in supporting students to explore, prepare, and apply to graduate level health professions programs, including MD/DO, Physician Assistant, Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, Dental, Optometry, Public Health, and Veterinary Medicine. However, a career in healthcare and our support to get there is not limited to these eight paths.
Explore health professions below by ‘CPHA’s Primary Areas of Expertise’ and find additional health professions under ‘Additional Health Professions’ to learn more about health careers, required coursework, related graduate program application processes, and more. Another wonderful resource to explore the full breadth of careers in healthcare and how they work together to help patients is explorehealthcareers.org.
Interested specifically in Nursing, Pharmacy or Veterinary Medicine? We also encourage you to connect directly with staff in UW–Madison’s programs for the best possible guidance.
Find Your Path
With so many paths to a career in healthcare, how do you find one that’s a good fit for you? We’ve collected resources to help you explore your options in healthcare on our ‘Resources for Exploring’ page.
CPHA’s Primary Areas of Expertise
Dentistry
Dentists are healthcare professionals who specialize in diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of conditions related to oral health.
Medicine
MDs & DOs are physicians who diagnose, treat, and prevent illnesses. They can practice in a variety of medical specialties.
Occupational Therapy
OTs help individuals develop, recover, or maintain the skills needed for daily living and working.
Optometry
Optometrists specialize in primary eye care services, including assessing, diagnosing, and treating eye health conditions.
Physical Therapy
Physical therapists (PTs) specialize in helping individuals restore and improve their physical function and mobility.
Physician Assistant
Physician Assistants (PA) practice medicine as part of a healthcare team under the supervision of a licensed physician.
Public Health
Public health is a field of study and practice focused on improving the well-being of populations by preventing diseases, promoting health, and prolonging life.
Veterinary Medicine
Veterinarians specialize in the medical care of a wide range of animals, from household pets to farm animals to wildlife, and are often the liaison between people and animals.
Additional Health Professions
Accelerated Nursing
Accelerated nursing programs are for people who want to enter nursing but are not enrolled in a nursing program or have already earned a bachelor’s degree – one of many pathways to nursing.
Anesthesiologist Assistant
Certified Anesthesiologist Assistants (CAAs) work with anesthesiologists and other medical professionals to care for patients in the operating room under anesthesia.
Athletic Training
ATs collaborate with physicians to provide preventative services, emergency care, clinical diagnosis, therapeutic intervention and rehabilitation of injuries and medical conditions.
Audiology
Audiologists are the primary healthcare professionals who provide services in the prevention, diagnosis, and evidenced-based treatment of hearing and balance disorders for people of all ages.
Cardiovascular Perfusion
Perfusionists are trained members of surgical teams who operate circulation equipment, such as a heart-lung machine, during open-heart surgeries and other major procedures.
Child Life Specialist
CCLSs help infants, children, youth and families cope with the stress of acute and chronic illness, injury, trauma, disability, and loss through therapeutic play and other techniques.
Chiropractic
Chiropractors provide natural, drugless, nonsurgical health treatments, relying on the body’s inherent recuperative abilities.
Cytology
Cytologists (formerly Cytotechnologists) are medical laboratory professionals who prepare and analyze cellular material under a microscope.
Dental Therapy
Dental therapists (DTs) are mid level providers who help advance health equity by providing basic dental care, especially in medically underserved areas.
Diagnostic Medical Sonography
Diagnostic Medical Sonographers use equipment that produces sound waves to form sonograms that are then interpreted by physicians.
Doula
Doulas provide professional support related to emotional, physical, mental, spiritual, and social well-being to clients going through a range of life transitions.
Genetic Counseling
Genetic Counselors help patients with or at risk for genetic disorders by analyzing inheritance patterns and facilitating genetic testing and interpretation.
Healthcare Administration
Healthcare Administrators are organizational professionals on the business side of healthcare.
Histotechnology
Histotechnologists are medical laboratory professionals who prepare tissue samples to be analyzed microscopically.
Lactation Consultant
Lactation consultants care for breastfeeding women and families by recognizing and solving breastfeeding difficulties.
Medical Dosimetry
Medical Dosimitrists use knowledge of mathematics, physics, anatomy, physiology, and more to design, generate, and measure doses of radiation used to treat patients.
Medical Illustration
Medical illustrators create communication tools in a variety of media for a wide range of audiences, from highly educated biomedical professionals to the lay public.
Medical Laboratory Science
Medical Laboratory Scientists analyze patients’ blood and other body fluids and specimens to generate accurate clinical data that inform medical decisions.
Mental Health Careers
Explore campus resources for pursuing careers in mental health, including psychiatry, counseling, social work, and more.
Midwifery
Midwives are healthcare professionals who provide primary OB-GYN care from young adult years through menopause, specializing in expectant individuals.
MRI Technologist
MRI Technologists operate Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) equipment to create images while supporting patients through the procedure.
Nuclear Medicine Technologist
NMTs prepare and administer radioactive chemical compounds to patients to create images and provide information for diagnosis and treatment.
Orthotist & Prosthetist
Certified orthotists and prosthetists (CPO) work with patients to assess their functional ability and craft orthotic/prosthetic treatment plans.
Pathologists’ Assistant
Pathologists’ Assistants (PathAs) work with Pathologists to macroscopically prepare surgical specimens submitted to a laboratory.
Pharmacy
Pharmacists are highly trained medication experts who understand the complexity of drug therapies and play a vital role in patient care.
Podiatry
Podiatrists, also known as a podiatric physician or surgeon, diagnose and treat conditions of the foot, ankle, and related structures of the leg.
Radiation Therapy
Radiation Therapists use equipment to administer therapeutic doses of radiation while caring for patients with cancer and other serious diseases.
Radiologic Technologist
Radiologic Technologists (or Radiographers) use equipment to create images of patients’ bodies that are then interpreted by doctors to diagnose and treat injuries and disease.
Registered Dietitian Nutritionist
Registered Dietitian Nutritionists (RDNs) are food and nutrition professionals specializing in the promotion of a healthy lifestyle and treatment of disease.
Respiratory Therapist
Respiratory Therapy is a specialized healthcare field where practitioners are trained in pulmonary medicine to work therapeutically with people suffering from pulmonary disease.
Social Work
Social work is a profession devoted to helping people function at their best by providing them with resources to cope with problems in their everyday lives.
Speech Language Pathology
Speech-language pathologists work with patients seeking treatment in areas of speech, language, vocal disorders, and swallowing disorders.