Long Island has a vibrant medical community. If you’re interested in an allied health career, there’s no better place to find a job. Opportunities are available for students of all interests. Just pick your passion and find quality training; job opportunities are waiting.
Why Do People Start Careers in Allied Health?
People pursue allied health careers for various personal and professional reasons.
These are the tip of the iceberg:
Scientific Interest
Some people are naturally interested in science and wellness, leaning toward health careers out of intellectual curiosity. Medicine is a tech-heavy, evidence-based field that can bring out the scientist in anyone.
A Desire to Help Others
Allied health professions appeal to compassionate people. If you want to make a meaningful difference in others’ lives, few careers provide as many opportunities. You’ll feel a deep sense of satisfaction helping physically and emotionally vulnerable people face life-changing challenges.
Occupational Flexibility
Allied health is a broad field encompassing many areas of interest. Regardless of where your talents lie, there’s a seat for you at the table. You can choose from roles beyond doctor or nurse, allowing you to find a mission that aligns with your interests and core values.
Shorter Training Programs
Many health careers require at least a four-year degree. You could spend half a decade or more in a classroom before earning money as a doctor. But the allied health field offers dozens of roles you can train for in as little as 7 ½ months. If you need a good job quickly, a technical school can prepare you for a successful career in less time than a 4-year college.
Job Security
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics projects a significant demand for allied health professionals through 2032. An aging population with growing healthcare needs means jobs are less threatened by economic downturns.
And while technology is making some careers obsolete, it’s creating new roles in the allied health field. The types of careers available might change, but options are expanding. Overall, the healthcare industry is booming.
Work-Life Balance
Careers in healthcare are rewarding, but roles like nursing come with 24/7 responsibilities. Emergencies, mandatory overtime, and on-call requirements can affect family life. Allied health professionals, however, can generally avoid the crunch culture, enjoying better hours and a balanced work-life schedule.
Choice of Work Setting
Where you work can be as important as what you do. Whether you prefer the hustle and bustle or a more relaxed atmosphere, you’ll have options as an allied health professional. Potential employment settings include hospitals, clinics, schools, long-term care facilities, rehabilitation centers, research institutions, private practices, and insurance companies. The possibilities are limited only by your imagination.
Team Spirit
Team spirit is lacking in some industries, but healthcare is naturally collaborative. A multidisciplinary field, it draws on the skills of many health professionals. You’ll thrive in a mutually supportive environment if you enjoy working with others. The camaraderie is inspiring.
Specialization Opportunities
Allied health fields offer opportunities to specialize in areas of interest, allowing you to choose more personally satisfying work. Life’s too short not to do what makes you feel valuable.
A Learning Culture
Allied health professionals have frequent opportunities for continuing education. Professional development through experience and certifications is encouraged. Cultivating a career is always easier when you’re incentivized to learn and grow. There’s no end to your potential in the field.
Professional Support
The future of any profession relies in part on the support of leadership organizations that promote worker’s interests. Membership includes benefits from legislative representation to educational assistance.
As an allied health professional, you can join one or more groups. Medical assistants, for example, can be part of the American Association of Medical Assistants (AAMA) and the National Association of Allied Health Professions.
What Allied Health Jobs Are Available on Long Island?
With a population of nearly 3 million people in Nassau and Suffolk County, there’s no shortage of allied health jobs on Long Island.
These four-career options appeal to a broad range of interests:
Medical assistants are crucial in the healthcare system, performing clinical and administrative tasks supporting licensed medical professionals. Jobs may have a predominantly clinical or clerical focus, but most offer various responsibilities.
Clerical Responsibilities
Administratively, medical assistants manage the day-to-day operations of healthcare offices, from scheduling to billing. Described as logistical specialists, they direct patient flow from check-in to check-out, ensuring that things run smoothly. As patients’ first point of contact, they serve as liaisons between patients and physicians, setting the stage for productive interactions.
Clerical tasks include making appointments, maintaining patient records, tracking inventory, and ordering medical and office supplies. Billing and coding duties vary. Most medical assistants have a primarily clinical role with integrated administrative responsibilities, while others are deeply involved in the billing process, collecting financial data, filing claims, and tracking payments. The beauty of medical assisting as a career is its flexibility.
Clinical Responsibilities
In clinical settings, medical assistants contribute to patient care. Their primary role is to save physicians time by preparing patients for exams. You’ll gather medical histories, update medication lists, obtain vital signs, and collect laboratory specimens.
Additional clinical responsibilities vary by employment setting. You may assist with procedures from set-up to instrument handling. You’ll support the patient and the physician by ensuring the necessary equipment and supplies are available. In an orthopedic clinic, you might remove sutures and change surgical dressings. Infection control training will help you safeguard patients from transmissible diseases.
Laboratory Responsibilities
Laboratory duties include phlebotomy, sample preparation, and processing. You’ll also perform diagnostic tests, including electrocardiograms, urine pregnancy screens, and blood glucose monitoring. Client education is also a critical task. You’ll help patients understand and implement their physician’s recommendations. Medical assisting is genuinely a multifaceted role.
Medical Billing
Key players in the healthcare revenue cycle, medical billers work with clinicians and administrators to manage insurance claims and invoicing for healthcare physicians. It’s a purely administrative role with no clinical duties. However, researching health information is required, so some medical training is helpful.
Billing responsibilities are two-fold. The first, coding, is condensing health data into standardized billing codes. You’ll choose from alphanumeric sequences in one or more coding volumes to represent symptoms, diagnoses, tests, procedures, and other services on insurance forms. You’ll strive for accuracy using the information in patient charts, physician’s notes, surgical reports, lab results, and medication orders. When data is missing, you’ll reach out to physicians with questions. The goal is to maximize reimbursement while adhering to ethical and regulatory standards.
The second, billing, requires tracking payments from patients and insurers, ensuring that balances minus discounts and other adjustments are accurate. It’s a straightforward yet complex task requiring knowledge of health insurance models, including public and commercial policies.
In addition to balancing accounts, you may work with patients to explain their bills and address financial inquiries. In essence, you’ll manage cash flow into hospitals, clinics, private practices, and long-term care facilities, helping them keep the lights on.
Sonographer
Sonographers are allied health professionals specializing in non-invasive medical imaging. Also called ultrasound technicians or diagnostic sonographers, they harness the power of sound waves to produce images of internal body structures. Using an ultrasound machine, you’ll help doctors diagnose and monitor health conditions, from pregnancy to organ failure, making an essential contribution to patient care.
As autonomous professionals, sonographers manage the entire ultrasound process from start to finish. Working closely with patients, they gather their medical history, explain the procedure, and adjust positioning to optimize images. They then apply a conductive gel to the skin that facilitates the passage of sound waves from the handheld transducer through tissue, capturing images of organs. The detail quality is critical.
Sonographers need a firm grasp of anatomy and physiology to produce and troubleshoot images. Manual dexterity and hand-eye coordination are also required to operate ultrasound equipment. Finally, as in all healthcare professions, people skills are a must. Sonographer jobs are available in hospitals, clinics, women’s health centers, private practices, and sports medicine facilities.
Radiology Technician
Radiology technicians perform diagnostic imaging procedures using X-rays. You’ll help physicians diagnose and treat illness and injury by capturing precise images through optimal positioning and machine settings.
This role requires operating and maintaining complex radiographic equipment. A passion for technology and basic math skills are essential. In addition to managing equipment, radiology technicians are responsible for patient safety. Training programs cover radiation safety guidelines and protective gear, such as lead aprons and thyroid shields. The goal is to expose patients to the least possible amount of radiation.
Administrative responsibilities include patient education, recordkeeping, and professional collaboration. Radiology technicians work with radiologists and physicians to assist with image interpretation.
Once done primarily in hospitals, X-rays are more available in outpatient settings, so employment possibilities are numerous. It’s not unusual for an orthopedic practice, for example, to manage its own radiography needs. If you prefer working in a more intimate environment, jobs are available in private practices, specialty clinics, and imaging facilities. If you enjoy traveling, consider working for a mobile X-ray service.
How Do You Become an Allied Health Professional?
Most allied health careers require some form of formal education; these jobs are too sophisticated for on-the-job training. Once you’ve identified a field of interest, you can enroll in a technical school program. Curricula are job-focused but comprehensive and include preparation for industry certifications or licensure when required. You’ll graduate work-ready and well-prepared to climb the career ladder.
Technical schools support their students in many tangible ways, offering lifestyle-friendly schedules and personalized instruction from field-experienced instructors. You’ll benefit from small class sizes and networking opportunities foundational to career growth.
Career advisers will assist with job placement upon graduation, helping you navigate the Long Island employment scene. By leveraging the school’s relationship with local employers, you can learn about potential openings to access the broadest possible range of opportunities.
Final Thoughts
Allied health professionals on Long Island make noteworthy contributions to their communities, improving access to healthcare services for those in need. With dedication and a technical school education, you can build a career and help shape the future of medicine.
Want to Learn More?
Contact us today to learn more about becoming an allied health professional in Nassau and Suffolk County.