is an individual action or initiative in making

career choice, in growing in chosen career or in

making a career shift which involves a very
important discernment.
Similarly, Career planning involves four
important steps which include: SelfAssessment,
Career Exploration, Decision Making, and Plan
of Action.
This step requires an honest evaluation of yourself.
You need to understand your capabilities and
shortcomings
The components of this step are your strengths,
weaknesses, interests, hobbies, personal
experiences, family income, skills, and
competencies.
 What are your
strengths and
weaknesses?
GUIDE What are your skills
QUESTIONS: and abilities?
What are your interests
or hobbies?
What are your life
experiences that
motivated you to pursue
a health career?
Exploring health career options through different ways or
methods is an essential step to choosing a particular health
career path to take.
This stage is about knowing where to look and what to look
for.
It refers to searching different careers and work
environments that suit you.
This step includes listing down of health career options,
conducting informational interview, job shadowing (on-the-
job learning), job temping (short term job), attending
internship, and volunteering.
GUIDE QUESTIONS:
What career path are you
going to explore?
What are the job descriptions
of chosen health career?
What are the methods that
you will do to search relevant
information about your chosen
health career and work
environments that suit your
personal interests and
competence?
In this step, you need to consider both current
and future goals in life by narrowing down your
choices.
This step includes listing of pros and cons,
comparing your personal strengths and interests,
choosing a specific health career to pursue,
considering suggestion of family, and finally
deciding a health career to take.
 What health career
are you going to
pursue?
What are the pros
and cons in pursuing
your chosen health
GUIDE QUESTIONS: career?
Why are you going to
pursue your chosen
health career?
At this point, you will design your action plan or
identify and organize the necessary steps to achieve
your desired goals.
This step includes designing a plan to reach health
career goals, identifying short-term and long-term
goals, identifying education and training
requirements, developing job search strategies, and
creating road map considering possible problems
that may arise along the way.
 What are the necessary
steps that you will do in
reaching your personal
GUIDE health career goals?
QUESTIONS: What are your short-term
and long-term goals?
What are different education
and training required in your
chosen health career?
What are your strategies to
solve possible problems that
may arise along your way
 Specific - the plan must be
clear, concise and tangible.
In preparing Measurable - the plan must be
quantifiable by means of
a meaningful indicators.
personal Attainable - the plan must be
health achievable.
career, make Realistic –the plan should not be
it SMART simply a wish.
Time-Bound - the plan must have
a clear schedule or time frame to
do a task.
 There are 12 various
health career pathways
which you can explore.
 • Specialists in this area focus on the
maintenance, protection, and
improvement of the health of all
community members.
1. • Sample of health careers in this
Community pathway are Barangay or
Healthcare Community Health Worker,
Health Coach, Community Health
Educator, Community Outreach
Manager, Family Advocate, Peer
Counselor, and Public Health Aide.
 • Dental health workers deal with various
oral conditions which include chronic
mouth and facial pain, oral sores, gum
disease, tooth decay and tooth loss,
other diseases and disorders that affect
the oral cavity, and risk factors for oral
2. Dental diseases which include unhealthy diet,
Health tobacco use, harmful alcohol use and
poor oral hygiene.
• Sample of health careers in this pathway
are Dental Hygienist, Dental Assistant,
Dentist, Dental Nurse, and Dental
Health Support.
 • People who specialize in this career
path focus on communicable and
noncommunicable diseases. Their
work includes immunization,
screening of newborns, promotion of
3. Disease breastfeeding, infant diseases
prevention, adolescent healthcare
Prevention and life skills.
and Control • Sample of health careers in this
pathway are Community or Barangay
Health Worker, Disease Detective,
Nurse, Epidemiologist, Epidemiology
Assistant, and Prevention Specialist.
 • People whose careers revolve
around this area seek to reduce
community and individual
problems related to alcohol and
4. Drug drug abuse through evidence-
Prevention based programs and policy
advocacy.
and Control
• Sample of health careers in this
pathway are Addiction Counselor,
Addiction Nurses, and Detox
Specialist.
 • People assigned in this work
specialize in out-of-hospital
medical care. Their skills include
5. first-aid procedures, emergency
medical response and immediate
Emergency medical attention.
Medical • Sample of health careers in this
Services pathway are Emergency Medical
Responder, Emergency Medical
Aid, Emergency Medical
Technician, and Paramedic.
 • These health workers try to establish the
correlation between and among the
physical, chemical, biological, social and
psychosocial factors in the surrounding
environment. These include monitoring
the quality of environment and impact of
6. human activities on ecosystems and
Environmental developing strategies for restoring
Healthcare ecosystems.
Management • Sample of health careers in this pathway
are Air Pollution Analyst, Environmental
Health Educator, Environmental Health
Inspector, Environmental Health
Specialist or Manager, Environmental
Toxicologist and Groundwater Protection
 • Those who work in this field are tasked
with promotion of healthcare and
training of health workers on
managing change in healthcare. Their
work involves assessing individual and
community needs, planning,
implementing and evaluating health
7. Health programs, promoting the
understanding of various health-
Education related behaviors plus coordinating
health education services.
• Sample of health careers in this
pathway are Health Education
Specialist, Health Advocate, Wellness
Director, Community Health Educator,
and Social Worker
 • These health workers deal with
complex public health issues that
affect women, children and their
families. These include providing
information on reproductive health,
8. Maternal family planning and improvement of
health delivery system through
and Child advocacy, education and research.
Care • Sample of health careers in this
pathway are Maternal and Child
Health Specialist, Midwife,
Community Health Educator,
Outreach Specialist, and
Pediatrician.
 • These medical professionals specialize in
dealing with interpersonal and
intrapersonal relationships and life skills.
These include cognitive and psychosocial
development, promotion of healthy self-
esteem through feelings and anger
management and identifying warning
9. Mental signs or red flags of learning disorders,
Healthcare such as ADHD, anxiety, mood disorders,
stress, and bullying.
• Sample of health careers in this pathway
are Psychologist, Psychiatric Nurse,
Psychiatrist, Mental Health Counselor,
Clinical Social Worker, and Marriage and
Family Therapist.
 • Specialists in this area find ways to
balance individuals’ food and
nutrition and their impact on
patient’s health. These include meal
planning, food preparation and health
and nutrition economics.
10. Nutrition • Sample of health careers in this
pathway are Nutritionist, Dietitian,
Clinical Dietitian, Sports Nutritionist,
Public Health Nutritionist,
Nutritional Therapist, and Nutrition
Educator
 • Careers in this path are related to the
safety, health and welfare of people
engaged in work or employment.
These include protecting workers
11. from sickness, disease and injury
Occupational arising from possible hazards of their
employment and workplace.
Safety
• Sample of health careers in this
pathway are Occupational Health
and Safety Technician, Health
Inspector, and Industrial Hygienist.
 • Professionals in this field perform
healthcare related tasks in a personal
care level. These include monitoring
patients; administering and assisting in
personal care and hygiene; performing
12. Personal housekeeping duties; and advising
clients on related healthcare issues like
Healthcare infant care, hygiene and nutrition.
• Sample of health careers in this
pathway are Physical Therapist,
Practical Nurse, Home Health Aide,
and Wellness Consultant.