Health & Wellbeing
The multidisciplinary nature of the healthcare and wellbeing sector means there are a wide range of roles available to graduates. Improving the health of the general population includes preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting ways of living healthily.
The NHS provides a list of some of the jobs where public health is seen as the core objective of the role. These include general practitioners, consultants, epidemiologists, health visitors, nutritionists, public health intelligence analysts, counsellors and substance misuse workers. There are many others and, to fully explore the options you should use resources such as Health Careers and Prospects Healthcare.
The NHS is the largest employer but organisations such as Social Services and private agencies also employ large numbers of graduates.
Many jobs require a vocational degree or post graduate degree for entry. The expansion of accelerated degree programmes in medicine and allied health professions such as physiotherapy has created new opportunities and the University of Exeter has a flourishing Medical School, together with a range of courses aimed at prospective wellbeing practitioners.
For sector statistics, please visit the Healthcare Industry Report on My Career Zone Digital https://mycareerzone.careercentre.me/resources/industryreports/
Career Zone Employability Schemes
(to help increase your work experience and networks in this area)
- Career Zone Internship schemes: Internships can be extremely useful, so try and get relevant vacation work or placements.
- Ask an Alum: A fuss-free way to connect with University of Exeter alumni to ask careers questions.
- Career Mentor Scheme: A popular employability scheme which matches a student or graduate with an experienced professional, for sector insight and one-to-one careers advice and guidance, over a 6-month period.
- Professional Pathways: a suite of sector specific training courses and paid week-long internships that take place in June.
Information Resources
Have a look at the following selection of videos for an overview of this sector and insights from a range of health professionals.
- Healthcare Industry Report - My Career Zone Digital.
- Focus On Healthcare - icould.
- NHS YouTube site.
- BBC Bitesize - Hear from people working across the sector, including some roles you may not know existed.
If you would like to do further research into this sector, the following webpages may be useful.
- British Medical Journal Career Guides
- Health Careers - In addition to job profiles, this site provides excellent advice on career planning, further study opportunities, bursaries and continuing professional development.
- British Psychological Society - The BPS provides resources and information on how to get started on a rewarding career in psychology.
- Target Jobs Healthcare - Overview of options in the sector, from medicine to allied healthcare professions such as occupational therapy and management roles.
- Prospects Job Profiles Healthcare - Provides an overview of 81 job roles that exist within the healthcare sector, from acupuncture to therapeutic radiographer.
- Gmcareershub.nhs - The Health and Social Care Careers Hub is a Manchester based initiative providing information for individuals exploring careers across the sector.
- Clinpsy.org.uk - Provides a forum for aspiring and qualified clinical psychologists to network and explore current issues in this field.
- How to become an A&E nurse in the UK - Blog created by MCG Healthcare.
- University Clinical Aptitude Test for Medicine and Dentistry - 2022 Official Guide.
For general information about finding graduate opportunities, please visit our Graduate Jobs page, and for a list of general job search engines please visit our general job sources page. You could also have a look at Handshake, our vacancy database with employers who are targeting University of Exeter students.
For sector specific job listings, the following resources may be particularly helpful:
- NHS Jobs website - Opportunities advertised throughout the UK for jobs in nursing, medicine, graduate mental health work and psychological therapist roles.
- Prospects - Jobs in Healthcare - Searchable vacancy section.
- Target Jobs - Healthcare - Searchable vacancy section that includes jobs, training schemes and placements.
- Job Medic - Job listings and some useful articles on topical subjects within the sector.
- Zenopa - Recruitment agency specialising in all types of jobs within the healthcare sector, including sales, engineering, medical, laboratory and administrative jobs.
- Pharmiweb.Jobs - Large pharmaceutical job board with opportunities in roles such as clinical research, medical communications, manufacturing and operation.
- Prospecthealth.com - Healthcare recruitment specialists with useful advice and resources on areas such as optometry and the impact of technology on the future of primary care.
- Carrotrecruitment - Recruitment agency specialising in pharmaceuticals.
- British Medical Journal Careers - Recruitment organisation specialising in jobs within healthcare.
- Think Ahead - A graduate programme that offers a route into mental health social work.
Being a member of a professional body is voluntary however, it can be valuable for developing networks, continuing professional development, and generally keeping up-to-date with what's happening in the sector. This list isn’t exhaustive and you may find others of interest at Gov.UK professional bodies.
- BMA (British Medical Association) - represents and supports all UK doctors and medical students.
- IBMS (Institute of Biomedical Science) - promotes the delivery of excellence in biomedical science and contains a useful ‘careers’ section.
- BACP (British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy) - provides an understanding of the different types of therapy used to support wellbeing, together with news and blogs across the profession.
- BPS (British Psychological Society) - provides a useful overview of the different areas of psychology, including counselling, forensic and educational psychology.
- BCMA (British Complementary Medicine Association) - contains a list of members, detailing their areas of interest e.g. reflexology, massage, aromatherapy and hypnotherapy.
- AMRC (Association of Medical Research Charities) - supports medical research charities in developing innovative research.
- BDA (British Dental Association) - the voice of dentists and dental students in the UK, providing information and advice for aspiring, part qualified and fully qualified dentists.
- RCGP (Royal College of General Practitioners) - wealth of information, podcasts and blogs on the role and professional development of GPs.
- AOP (Association of Optometrists) - contains a ‘career’ section with information and advice on options within this area of healthcare.
- RCN (Royal College of Nursing) - advice on beginning a career in nursing, together with news an events allied to professional development.
- RCOA (Royal College of Anaesthetists) - information and advice for anyone considering a career in anaesthetics and detailed section on training.
- BAD (British Association of Dermatologists) - resource aimed at providing medical students and healthcare professionals with up-to-date guidelines on education and training.
- RCOT (Royal College of Occupational Therapists) - includes an online directory of therapists and information on training to work in this area.
- BCA (British Chiropractic Association) - includes advice on how to become a chiropractor with details of specific courses.
- RSTMH (Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene) - a charity that is dedicated to improving tropical medicine and global health.
If you would like to pursue postgraduate study before entering your chosen sector, please visit our Postgraduate Study information page for more information about choosing further study.
In addition to the wide range of postgraduate courses offered within CMH, College of Medicine and Health, the University of Exeter has developed CEDAR, Clinical Education, Development and Research, an applied psychological practice centre of excellence, which focusses on new psychological therapies.
It can often be useful to gain postgraduate qualifications in the relevant subject area if your undergraduate degree is in a different topic but, beware, there are many courses on the market, and they are not all equally successful in getting you that "dream job". You can always complement your degree with professional qualifications to show your commitment towards the industry (see Professional Bodies section).
To obtain an overview of postgraduate opportunities and links to specific healthcare and wellbeing courses in the UK, the website FindAMasters provides a useful database.
Find a PhD provides a searchable database of PhD opportunities and post doc jobs for those who are interested in developing academic and research led careers.
As jobs are not always advertised, it can be useful to develop your networking skills and also apply speculatively.