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What is a good career a person can get if they have a low GPA but still want to be in a medical field?

#healthcare #medicine #nurse #college

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Wendy’s Answer

A good startup job in healthcare is to be a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) also known as Patient Care Associate (PCA). There are places where you aren't required to get certified to work as a nursing assistant. If you choose to take the class and get certified, it's about 13 weeks long. There are high schools that offer the course so by the time you graduate, all you have to do is take the state skills and written tests. This is a good starting point for your career in healthcare. You get a broad view of what healthcare is like, if you want to be a CNA the rest of your career, or if you want to further your education. CNAs are the nurses' eyes and ears. CNAs see our patients more times than nurses because of the amount of computer work involved. CNAs are needed in nursing homes and in the hospital setting. They are also needed at home health agencies. If you are a person who cares about others and their welfare, this is a great way to find out where your passion takes you.

Wendy recommends the following next steps:

Ask to shadow a CNA or nurse at a local hospital or nursing home.
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NISSIDA’s Answer

You may consider a technical school.
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Ryan’s Answer

Good morning Emily! To answer this question I would have to ask you a thought provoking question. Why do you have a low GPA? I am a big believer that if you put your mind to something you will be able to achieve it. It will take a lot of hard work but ultimately what you will find is that your GPA is a means to an end . If you have a great GPA you will have more options for college and medical schools compared to a lower GPA. However, just because you have a low GPA doesn't mean you can't work harder to improve it and move in a positive direction toward the career you want.
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Estelle’s Answer

You might look into becoming an EMT.
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Lecia’s Answer

try to bring GPA up and work with tutor in local community colleges if you need to bring it up to qualify for a particular program. the military is a great option if you are driven to work hard and take classes to advance a healthcare area of interest. advanced degrees require bringing that GPA up and it can be done with proper preparation and study. best of success to you
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Hwal’s Answer

Emily,

It looks like you're interested in a career in healthcare. I feel that one thing you can try is to think about what healthcare (or any other) career choices you would like and what you truly want to do in the future, and figure out the best way for you to get there. At that point, you can look at some of the training programs for your chosen career and find out the requirements for entry, including GPA. In other words, build and improve your GPA around your dream career, instead of build your career around the GPA you currently have. I hope this makes sense.

Good luck!

Hwal

Hwal recommends the following next steps:

Think about your dream career. Write down ideas. You might want to talk to a school/career counsellor to help you with this process.
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Richard’s Answer

My sons became EMT certified this summer. It took about 12 hours per week for 10 weeks. They had to do four 12-hours shifts of clinical observation as well.
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Ken’s Answer

If your high school GPA is low you may have a harder time getting into certain colleges, but otherwise you will still have plenty of career options. If healthcare is your goal, look into what jobs can be obtained without any degree to get your foot in the door. For example physical therapy clinics usually have aids who clean surfaces, wash towels, etc. You could work such a job regardless of GPA after high school and learn what the work environment of a clinic is like. Then you could apply to community colleges and start taking classes towards becoming a PTA. Not only would your experience look good on paper but it will help make your studies easier because of your practical experience. After college and/or grad school GPA is pretty much irrelevant. I've never been asked my GPA in any interviews, and some hiring managers even find it tacky and off-putting if someone includes it on a resume.
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Shannon’s Answer

Your GPA is not the only factor to consider. People enter healthcare in order to take care of patients, not just because they have a high gpa. Consider what kind of patients you're interested in helping. Consider if you want to go to school for 2,4 or 6+ years. Consider if you want to work with patients 1:1 like a nurse, or with machines and people like an x-ray tech, or out on an ambulance like a paramedic or EMT. even within these fields there are different levels of skill & schooling required. if there's a medical college near you, see if they have career days or other chances to ask questions of different people in various roles. volunteering at a hospital is another good way to accomplish this search.
in general health care is a hard field. there's a lot of stress for many people. it's important to know that going in. you may check it out & find you'll endure the stress because you know you'll be helping; you may realize it's not what you want. any job in healthcare can be a good job once you've found your niche.
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