By definition, health and social care courses are designed to help students attain the skills, information, and training necessary to help and care for those that need it, in a wide range of jobs related to and spread across the health and social care sector. Now, the question is, can education in health and social care really help your career? The answer to that question would be yes, as long as you are associated with the field already, or you plan to enter a career in healthcare or social care. To understand how exactly a health and social care diploma can help your career in the industry, go through the following points as we discuss some of the most relevant factors and prospects.
Development of Basic and Advanced Skills Necessary for Working in the Field
Whether you are someone who has been working in social and health care for a long time or not, you stand to benefit from completing even a basic certification. Experienced workers will become better acquainted and aware of the latest changes, as well as updates in the industry’s curriculum, standards, and procedures. Beginners, on the other hand, will gain the basic knowledge, training, and certification necessary to start work in social care or healthcare. Some institutions may even make it mandatory for its workers to have certification in relevant courses to close knowledge gaps, especially when they will be expected to take up a higher post or more responsibility later on in their careers. At the very least, an updated understanding and formal certification in health and social care will mean that you will be able to become an effective recruiter and trainer for the new workforce.
The Right Course Will Increase Your Chances of Getting a Promotion
A higher level diploma than the one you currently hold in a specific subject such as dementia care, safe handling of medication or proper implementation of GDPR regulations, can and will open your career up to new opportunities, or more precisely, promotions. As you will become equipped with the skills and knowledge necessary to handle more advanced tasks and specific departments in your institution, a promotion with higher pay is definitely on the cards. However, it is important to compare the different courses here and find something that applies to your specific line of work and is a step up from your current level of education. After all, there is a huge selection of health and social care courses to choose from and unless the course is something that you will be able to make use of in improving your work and enhance your career prospects in the process, it would be a poor use of your valuable time.
findcourses.co.uk has hundreds of courses for students and professionals to choose from and there are a number of flexible online courses in there too, which is great for working students and students who are already pursuing another course to further augment their future careers. A thorough comparison of the available, relevant courses and their curriculums on the website is advised to ensure the best use of your time and money.
Specialisation Leads to Better Career Prospects
This is true for not just careers in health and social care, of course, but pretty much in every field. As mentioned previously, a specialisation will help your case for a promotion and a pay rise, and it will open your career up to more opportunities in various other associated fields as well.
While choosing to specialise with a health and social care course, you will have the option to concentrate in handling and helping children, partially or fully disabled individuals, the elderly, terminally ill patients, mental health patients, and cognitively impaired individuals with learning problems. Try to complete at least up to a Level 3 certification in a specific line of your interest or experience. Although this may take some time, depending on your current education level, opt for an online course so that you don’t necessarily have to give up too many hours on the job either.
Level 3 or Higher Level Diplomas Will Open Up Your Career to Managerial Roles
Those that already have a Level 4 qualification, will be able to complete a Level 5 Diploma in Management for Health and Social Care, which automatically makes them suitable to be promoted to some of the highest managerial roles in the field. However, even a Level 3 Diploma in similar courses can also open you up to taking up important managerial roles in a facility. Taking up such a course will teach you about advanced, practical techniques regarding staff organisation, decision-making, effective communication, pressure handling, situation, and report assessment, along with a host of other skills necessary to play a managerial role in medical care and social care settings. In other words, such courses are designed to turn experienced workers into future leaders of the industry, by imparting adequate knowledge and teaching the essential skills necessary to handle the challenges of the field with maximum efficiency. If you can eventually get around to complete your Level 5 diploma in a managerial course, expect to move through the ranks fast.
A Wider Range of Occupational Options Will Also Open Up
If you decide to move away from the usual lines of work that health and social care workers are found to be in most often, a course in health and social care can still benefit you and open doors. For example, you can become a teacher and contribute towards preparing the next generation of healthcare and social care workers that are in short supply. Alternately, occupational therapy is another great career option that will allow you to truly help people get rehabilitated and accustomed to the changes in their life brought on by health issues, injuries or any other external factor.
Online Courses Make It possible to Pursue Multiple Avenues Simultaneously
Most of the higher level courses are designed to further augment and strengthen the skill sets of professionals that already have working experience in their respective fields. Previously, it wasn’t always possible earlier for everyone to take advantage of the higher level programs because they often had personal and professional responsibilities, which couldn’t be abandoned even for a small period of time necessary to complete the advanced courses. Since the introduction of high-quality online courses with the necessary accreditations, this is no longer an obstacle that working students cannot overcome, Flexibility and mobility of online education in social care and healthcare has now enabled students to pursue multiple avenues of education simultaneously and/or hold a full-time job while doing so.
People often make the mistake of considering “health and social care” as one subject with minor variations in between courses, but that’s not true at all, especially while considering higher level courses, designed to prepare professionals with skills that are unique to a specific type of work. Of course, the basics will be the same in elementary Level 1 introductory courses, but things branch out and become much more specialised with each level that you complete. Depending on which line of education you are following, you might actually be able to choose additional courses to complete alongside the current healthcare or social care degree that you are pursuing. It will strengthen your CV exponentially and as we have already discussed, open up a brighter career path down the line.
