The pandemic has introduced many differences in the world around us. And while people tend to focus on the negatives that have happened – because there is admittedly no shortage of examples – there have also been some silver linings in this cloud. For one thing, the situation served as a good wake-up call for some people about the importance of the healthcare sector, and the reality of its fragile nature. Many assumed that physicians and everyone else involved had the capacity to handle what was happening, but we quickly learned that this was far from the case. If you’re one of those with a newly sparked interest in helping out and contributing to the sector, but have no medical degree, don’t worry – there are still plenty of options available, and many of them are in high demand right now.

Home Care

With so many people finding themselves stuck at home during the various lockdown phases, and many of those being elderly or frail people without a support network, the importance of home care specialists has gone through the roof. Keep in mind that this kind of job can be a lot more complicated than you would assume – it’s not like taking care of your granny at home. You’ll have to deal with unusual hours, special conditions, and will need to be extremely patient in order to help your patients out to the best of your abilities. If you have a knack for it though, this can be a fantastic opportunity for a long-term career with solid prospects.

Rehabilitation and Sports

Physical therapy and rehabilitation are also fields that have seen a lot of growth in this situation. Keep in mind that you might need a specialized license for physiotherapy – but there are plenty of ways to apply any relevant skills you might have without that requirement. If you’re good at a particular sport, now may be a great time to start practicing that professionally, and to train others on how to improve as well. It can take a while to get this off the ground if you have no prior experience as a trainer, as it’s about much more than your raw skills. But once you get the hang of it, you might find a great delight in pushing people through the next plateau.

Nursing

And if you’re looking to get more directly involved in the healthcare sector without a medical degree, nursing may be right up your alley. There are various online ABSN programs that can help you get up to speed as quickly as possible, and the likelihood of this becoming irrelevant over the next couple of decades is pretty slim to none. There will always be a need for competent nurses, and in fact, the current market has opened up a lot of demand for this type of work. Keep in mind that this is also a job that requires a lot of patience and people skills, something which your nursing school may not necessarily focus on. It’s generally accepted that you will be focusing on building those skills on your own outside of your primary learning.

Using Your Tech Skills

Have a knack for technology but little to no aptitude for actual medical work? There might be a great position waiting for you in the tech sector! Medicine and modern technology have always been tightly connected, and there is a lot of synergy between the two fields. This has proven even more true in the last year, with a lot of advanced research focusing on things like working out the intricate details of the virus. There’s a lot you can do to help out if you’re good with things like programming, database administration, data analysis, and other advanced fields. And even if you consider yourself to be poorly educated on actual medical topics, you never know when you might find a new field that you’re surprisingly good at.

Medical Assistant

A medical assistant is generally tasked with the administrative side of running healthcare facilities, and you don’t need any in-depth medical knowledge to get started in the field. The exact job details may vary from one position to another, but the general idea stays the same. You need an aptitude for organizing things and for keeping your work tidy and professional. You will also need strong communication skills, especially when it comes to dealing with more difficult patients or physicians (they exist on both sides of the equation). If you can see yourself doing that without crumbling under the pressure, then the job of a medical assistant might be exactly what you’re looking for. It’s also not difficult to get started in this field, which is always a nice bonus. Keep in mind that you may be expected to keep developing your skills on your own time though, as you will have a lot of catching up to do at first.

Radiation Therapist

And for something a bit more specialized, there has been a lot of demand for radiation therapy specialists in the last few years. The job does require extra education, but the learning workload is typically not as heavy as that for regular physicians and other similar positions in the field. It’s also challenging work revolving around lots of new developments, so you’ll be expected to stay on top of your game at all times and keep researching new things. For those who like to constantly learn and improve themselves though, this can be a fantastic opportunity with great long-term prospects.

If you’re excited about helping others and want to contribute something positive to the current situation, the world of healthcare awaits you. There are many options to explore, and if you have the time, it’s definitely advisable to take a step back and evaluate everything in front of you under a microscope. You’ll likely find that there is a lot more that you can do on top of what you already knew, and some of these opportunities don’t even require that much effort to get started with in the first place.