Spotlight on Health Sciences

There are a couple of reasons that students apply to study Medicine. Some students do it because they want to be doctors, working with other medical professionals to help the sick and the injured. Others have been swept up in the prestige of studying Medicine, or they are feeling pressured by their families to pursue Medicine as a career.

The reality is that there are lots of ways to work in the medical field and to help people who really need it. Health Sciences is a broad title for all of the different careers that fall under this category, and if you are interested in any of them it’s worth doing some research into some of the other fields to check if you think you’re aiming for the one that interests you the most.

One way to split the field is to think about what you want to be doing from day to day. Do you enjoy working with people, or are you more interested in the science behind how the human body works?

Some options if you want to work with people

If you want to have patients and work daily with people who need your help, here are some options you could look into:

• Nursing

• Paramedicine

• Midwifery

• Dentistry

• Physiotherapy

• Chiropractics

• Optometry

• Exercise Science

• Nutrition

• Speech Pathology

While all of these courses would obviously cover anatomy and physiology as well, when you get into your career you will be using this information to diagnose and/or treat people every day.

Some options if you want to study the human body and how it works

If you’re more interested in the science behind it and less interested in working with patients, you could consider:

• Biomedical science

• Radiology

• Medical Imaging

• Pharmaceutical Science

• Pharmacy

Again, you would have some work with patients in these fields, but the emphasis would be on what happens behind the scenes.

What is a Bachelor of Health Sciences?

If you’re not sure what area you are interested in but want to study anatomy, physiology, health and disease, then a Bachelor of Health Sciences might be for you! With this degree alone you could work in research, health education and government organisations, and if you choose to you could do further study to be qualified for one of the other specialisations above.

Whatever you choose, just know that there are lots of options for you to investigate in this area, and you will be able to find the one that interests you the most.