Medical Career Research

Lesson Content

• Lesson Plan Template:

  CTE Lesson Plan

• CTE Course Info and Benchmark Notes

  
  

  Course Title: Medical Skills and Services

  Course Number: 8400320

  Career Cluster: Health Science

  CIP Number: 03179997PA

  Course Type: Non-Career Preparatory

  CTE Standard(s) and Benchmark(s):

  10.02 Examine levels of education, credentialing requirements including licensure and certification, employment opportunities, workplace environments, and career growth potential.

• Unit Outline

  
  

  This lesson is designed to be used with the case study, “Filling a Job Vacancy.” See CPALMS resource ID# 210165. Other lessons that use this case study include Introduction to Interview Skills (resource # 210169), Mock Interview Activity (resource # 210211), and Researching Job Openings (resource # 210560).

• Career Connection

  
  

  Researching job outlook and how to become a specific medical career will help students in planning their career paths.

• Learning Objectives

  
  

  Students will be able to:

  • explain why job outlook fluctuates over time.
  • use credible resources to find and verify information about careers in the medical field.
  • explain how job outlook can affect career choice.

• Prior Knowledge

  
  

  Students should be familiar with/able to:

  • Knowledge that different careers require different levels of training and education (from on-the-job training to a doctoral degree).
  • Knowledge that some websites are more credible than others (example: .gov or .edu over commercial and opinion-based websites).

• Guiding Questions

  
  
  • How and why have jobs changed over time?
  • What is job outlook? Why is it an important factor to consider when choosing a future career?
  • How can you find credible career information?
  • What information should you research when choosing a career?

• Procedure

  
  
  1. To introduce the lesson, gives students 1-2 minutes to think of a job (in any field of work) and how it has changed over the last 100 years. Have students share their ideas with the class and discuss why and/or how these jobs have changed. Possible answers for discussion include that there are more jobs because of global population increase, or fewer jobs due to advances in technology/AI, etc.
  2. Share at least one of the following examples of careers that have changed and/or disappeared:
     • Middle Ages barber-surgeon: A barber surgeon cut hair, trimmed beards, pulled teeth, performed blood-letting and minor surgery, and sometimes performed amputations. This career no longer exists as each of those tasks is now performed by a specialist with training in their specific field.
     • Lamp lighter (early 1800s): Streetlights used to be oil lamps hanging on poles along city streets. It was a job for someone to light streetlamps each night and extinguish the flames each morning. Once electricity powered streetlights, lamp lighters were no longer needed.
     • Pin setter (early 1900s): When bowling alleys first developed, a person had to set up the pins for each bowler. Now machines reset the pins, eliminating this job.
  3. Tell students that there are jobs that exist now that probably won’t exist in 20 years, possibly travel agents, store cashiers, newspaper delivery drivers, bank tellers, transcribers, stenographers/court reporters, etc. Have students brainstorm why/how these jobs could disappear.
  4. Tell students that “Job Outlook” is the term for how stable a career will be in the future (i.e., the number of jobs that are available in that position will increase, decrease, or stay the same). It is something that should be considered when choosing a career for the future.
  5. Pass out the “Filling a Job Vacancy” case study to students. Give students a few minutes to read it.
     • After a few minutes, discuss the following questions with the class:
       • “The case study mentions 5 careers: pediatrician, registered nurse, medical assistant, office manager, and medical receptionist. How do you think these jobs might change in the future?”
       • “How do you think changes in these jobs might affect Dr. Morales' practice in the future?”
       • “How can we find out the job outlook for a career?”
       • “In addition to job outlook, what else should you consider when choosing a career for your future?”
         • Student answers may include salary, work schedule, work location/ environment, needed education and/or training, and job tasks vs. interest of the individual.
       • “What sources provide credible information to learn about a career?”
  6. Discuss online content credibility, with emphasis on .edu, .gov, and/or professional career resources over Wikipedia, personal websites, and so forth.
  7. Show students official career statistics from a reliable career data website, such as the Occupational Outlook Handbook on the Bureau of Labor and Statistics website.
     • It is recommended to show students the website(s) you are allowing them to use to model and help them navigate each website. Be sure that job outlook, salary, job duties, and education/training are included in the website(s) you recommend to your students.
  8. Next, students will research a medical career identified within the case study to explore the following topics: job tasks/duties, salary, work environment, pay/salary, job outlook, education/training, etc.
     • Provide an Exploring a Medical Career Worksheet (see attachments) to each student.
     • A copy of the Education & Training Background for Medical Careers handout (see attachments) may also be provided if students are unfamiliar with levels of education/training.
       • See Teacher Notes for more information.
  9. To close this lesson, students will answer the follow-up questions on the Exploring a Medical Career Worksheet.
     • The questions ask students to summarize what they learned about the career, explain if they are interested in the career, and describe the importance of researching job outlook.

• Teacher Notes

  
  
  • If students are unfamiliar with levels of education and training, it may be necessary to review that prior to this lesson. Refer to the Education & Training Background for Medical Careers (see attachments) as needed.
  • Computers/internet access will be required for students to research careers.
  • The case study careers of Receptionist, Medical Assistant, Registered Nurse, and Medical/Health Service Manager are in the BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook. Pediatricians are in the “Physicians & Surgeons” career page.
  • This lesson utilizes the Occupational Outlook Handbook on the Bureau of Labor and Statistics website https://www.bls.gov/ooh/.
    • It is recommended that the teacher display and introduce the Summary page (overview) of a career that is not in the case study and the other tabs below the career title, which provide detailed information about job duties, salary, education/training, job outlook, and similar/related careers. Be sure to point out job outlook AND that the website explains why growth is or is not expected.

• Optional

  
  

  Formative Assessment Ideas:

  • Student answers on the Exploring a Medical Career Worksheet can also be used to evaluate student understanding of conducting research, job outlook and job information.

  Extension Ideas:

  • Students could research a medical career of interest as part of their participation in this medical science course.
    • Note: Not all careers are available on the Bureau of Labor and Statistics website. Students who are interested in a career that is not on this website may use other websites to complete the assignment.
  • Students could create a poster, brochure, or presentation of a researched career.