If you’re a bit of a fitness and nutrition nut who loves to keep up with the articles we post on here about wellbeing and healthy living then thank you.
We appreciate that you’re just as passionate about looking after your body and mind as we are.
And you probably get carried away with yourself when talking to your friends about health and fitness too. Of course, they might not always want to talk incessantly about healthy living if they’re not as passionate about it as you are. It might be time to give them a break and find another outlet for your passion.
Pursuing a career that involves improving the health of other people could be a fantastic way to channel your energy and make a real impact on the lives of others (without nagging friends, family, and strangers on the train who might not want to hear your health advice).
We’re going to talk about potential career routes that involve improving physical and mental health. There’s a wide spectrum of jobs on the market related to this topic. Some of them might need more qualifications than others but it all depends on your preferences and your academic ability. Let’s get started.
Personal trainer.
If you’re a straightforward fitness fanatic who loves to hit the gym a few times a week (or every day of the week) then this career was tailor-made for you. If you really are the aspiring bodybuilder of your buddies who can’t stay away from the gym and gives everybody the best advice as to how they should get their gains then you might as well get paid for the talent you already possess.
You don’t even have to be a personal trainer that works for a gym if that doesn’t sound like your thing. You can go down the self-employed route if you’d rather have the freedom to work when and how you want (as well as the benefit of keeping all your profits rather).
And, as we’ve discussed before, if you want to be a personal trainer then you need to stay healthy too. It isn’t enough to bark orders at your students. If you want to promote your services well then you need to practice what you preach.
Your level of healthiness is your brand’s image. Potential clients will see how healthy you are and want to know your secret. Essentially, it’s important that you’re passionate about any career.
If you’re a health nut then you’re practically a personal trainer already.
Dietician.
Of course, you might want to target a different area of health than fitness. Perhaps eating well is something you really care about. The career path for you might involve involving health through an improved diet.
As suggested over at workinginmentalhealth.ca, becoming a dietician is a fantastic way to help improve not only physical health but mental health too.
The food we eat doesn’t just affect our weight and energy levels; it affects our mood and mental state. You could assess people’s nutrition and suggest changes they could make to their diet in order to be healthier. If you get properly qualified then you could address eating disorders and other mental health problems associated with bad diets.
Optician.
You could consider a different health-based career if you’d rather not work in fitness or nutrition; if those are aspects of your daily life then maybe you don’t want to mix work and your daily routine. You could consider a health-based career that involves something a little different.
As an optician, you could help to ensure the health of people’s eyes. Vision is one of the most important senses we have. And it isn’t just about making sure people have the right glasses to see properly; it’s about checking for other eye-related health issues people can get, such as cataracts.
As an optician, you could do a lot to improve and safeguard people’s eye health.
Nurse.
Let’s get a little more technical. Perhaps you have dreams of studying something a little more academic and challenging than the career options suggested so far.
A career in nursing could be the perfect role for you. You might want to check out Staffnurse.com nursing vacancies if you need some help with getting started. For somebody who’s interested in healthiness because they want to help people other than themselves, this kind of job should be ideal for you.
It involves helping people every day with issues that vary in severity. It’s about solving medical problems as well as helping people avoid future health problems.
That’s why being a nurse is the best kind of career to help improve the health of others.
Psychiatrist.
As we’ve mentioned throughout this article, the mind is just as important as the body. You could pursue a career which involves the improvement of mental health rather than physical health. Although, obviously, improving one’s mind does have positive physical effects too.
If you considered a career as a psychiatrist then you could help people with mental struggles to improve their lives and start to feel healthier and happier. Behavioral, emotional, or health issues involving the mind can have a hugely detrimental impact on somebody’s life. If you want to help improve the health of others then this could be your calling.
Dentist.
Another career involving a more specific line of healthcare is dentistry. Again, if you’re more academically inclined and you’re intrigued by the healthcare industry then you might want to consider getting qualified in dentistry so you can head down this career path. There are many different kinds of dentists, as well.
As suggested over at newhealthadvisor.com, you could become a pediatric dentist and help to treat young children with dental issues. There’s certainly nothing more rewarding than helping young people to improve their health in order to ensure that they have a long and happy life.
And the technical side of this career is only one part of the equation. As with many of the other health-based careers mentioned in this list, the most important thing is that you want to help people. You need to have a kind, calming, and welcoming personality. It has to be clear that you want to be a dentist, essentially.
Healthcare IT.
The final career suggestion on this list is a little different from the others. Perhaps you’re a health nut but your academic ability lies more in the field of technology. Well, as with most industries in the modern age, technology is hugely important in many different medical fields.
We need information for everything in this digital era but data is absolutely crucial in a healthcare environment.
If you’re interested in computer technology then you might want to do some research into healthcare IT, as discussed over at verywell.com. With the need for medical and health records to be stored electronically in the modern age, the industry of healthcare IT has grown rapidly. Whether you considered a specialist or an administrative role, this could be an enriching way to incorporate your love of health into a career-based role.
At the end of the day, there are millions of careers out there in the field of healthcare or health improvement.
The path you take depends not only on your interest in health but your academic ability. You might need to go back into studying in order to get the qualifications necessary to pursue the job role you want but it’s worth it to have a career that makes you feel truly fulfilled.