What areas of healthcare can I work in?
How do I find a graduate job in healthcare?
Alternatively you might consider health-related roles in the science and pharmaceuticals or leisure, sport and tourism sectors.
The largest employer in the UK healthcare sector is the NHS, which employs more than 1.5 million people - placing it in the top five largest workforces in the world. There are more than 350 different roles available within the NHS.
A significant proportion of the sector's workforce is in independent healthcare. In addition to their private sector functions, these providers are increasingly contracted to provide services on behalf of the NHS.
to be able to work anywhere in the country.
Search healthcare job profiles to find out more about typical salaries and working conditions in your chosen career.
For many graduate healthcare careers, including medicine, nursing, midwifery and allied healthcare, you must be a registered healthcare professional. You'll need a relevant approved degree and to register with a professional body to work in these roles.
If you haven't studied an approved first degree, you could consider a graduate-entry accelerated course to start your clinical career. Some of these will require you to have a science or health-related degree, but others are open to graduates of any subject. In any case, you'll typically need at least a 2:2 and a substantial amount of work experience to be successful.
The NHS Modernising Scientific Careers scheme has resulted in more structured training for healthcare science roles. The NHS Practitioner Training Programme (PTP) combines study for a BSc with work-based training in areas such as life sciences, medical physics technology and clinical engineering.
For some roles such as paramedic, physiotherapist and occupational therapist, it's possible to work your way up from assistant level through in-service, work-based learning, including degree-level study. However, postgraduate study is an essential part of training in a number of roles such as pharmacy and clinical psychology.
In other areas, such as nursing and midwifery, you can consider taking post-registration courses at postgraduate level in order to specialise.
Jobs within the NHS are advertised through NHS Jobs and individual NHS Trust websites. Jobs in independent healthcare are usually advertised on company websites or via specialist recruitment agencies.
The NHS Graduate Management Training Scheme has options in finance, HR, general management and health informatics. Graduates with 2:2 degrees in any subject area are considered.
If you have a 2:1 degree in pure or applied science, you could consider the NHS Scientist Training Programme (STP). This offers you the chance to take on paid work while studying towards a Masters degree in areas such as blood sciences, genetics and medical physics. Visit Health Careers for the latest application details.
Vacancies for smaller organisations can be found by contacting them directly with a speculative application or through local press advertisements.
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