Preparing for the Health Professions (K-12)

Parents!

It is never too early to start preparation for a career in the health professions.  NAMME wants to partner with you in this effort and provides a wonderful resource for you and your future health professional to get state-of-the-art advice on how best to prepare academically, socially, and financially to navigate the health professions education process.

The NAMME K-12 Initiative: “Promoting Health Through Education” provides an opportunity for secondary school students, teachers, and guidance counselors to participate in a health professions enrichment activities that target academic preparation needed to pursue a college pre-health curriculum.  NAMME annually sponsors this community-based initiative in cooperation with local public schools. Past activities have included essay and research paper competitions, poster presentations, a mini-health fair, and motivational workshops. Please visit the NAMME Meetings and Events page for details on the future events.

Students!

You have taken an important first step in preparing for a health profession career – taking action!  As you have probably heard healthcare is  among the fastest growing industries in the U.S.  You could not have chosen a better time to as the growth means the industry, more than ever, needs the most diverse talent available – that means YOU! However, anything worthwhile requires commitment, focus, and effort.  Are you ready? Then, let’s go!

5 Things YOU can do to prepare for a future in the health profession:

Read! Read! Read! The possibilities in the health professions are endless.  Do your research on the various careers and read everything you can about how health professionals are literally saving lives daily. You can never be too informed about your options!

Hit the books.Maximize your learning now so that you can maximize your potential later!  Find the relevance of what you are learning in your classes to your future career.  Be creative!

Get to know yourself. This may sound odd but many students overlooked their greatest asset – themselves!  Spend some time getting to know how you learn, what your special talents are, what resources would be helpful to you.  Also, they can be the link to some exciting experiences that will help you understand which career is right for you – explore.

Get to know a health professional.  Start with the health professionals that care for you. Get to know them, asked them for advice, make the connections!  Don’t “reinvent the wheel” by learning from the experiences of others.

Read! Read! Read! – Just in case you missed it!