Career Exploration
Discover Your Future in Healthcare
Explore Our Healthcare Career Pathway Tools
Healthcare offers countless opportunities to make a difference while building a rewarding career. On this page, you’ll find resources to help you explore career pathways, learn about different healthcare occupations, connect with job shadowing opportunities, and access guides for specialized fields. Whether you’re just starting out or considering your next step, these tools can help you discover the path that’s right for you.
Job Shadowing
Step into the world of healthcare by observing professionals in action. Job shadowing programs give you firsthand experience to explore careers and discover your interests.
Career Pathway Tool
Explore career pathways within the healthcare sector and gain insight into possible career advancements and transitions based on real-world occupational data.
Healthcare Occupation Pages
From nursing to lab science to therapy, healthcare offers diverse opportunities. Learn about different roles, responsibilities, hourly wages, job titles, and more.
Healthcare Career Guides
Explore detailed guides for careers in psychology, social work, and counseling. Find resources and information to help you succeed in these growing fields.
Why Choose a Career in Healthcare?
Growing Demand
According to our most recent Michigan Healthcare Workforce Index, Healthcare jobs in Michigan are projected to increase by 10% over the next decade, adding nearly 49,000 new positions.
Variety of Roles & Pathways
There are dozens of healthcare occupations evaluated in the Michigan Healthcare Workforce Index, some requiring advanced degrees, others accessible via shorter credentialing or training programs.
Making a Real & Tangible Difference
Working in roles like home health, nursing, behavioral health, or allied diagnostics puts you on the front line of what defines well-being in individuals and populations.
Competitive Compensation & Improving Wages
Since 2013, wages in Michigan’s healthcare sector have increased by about 47%, showing both appreciation for the field and the economic sustainability of healthcare careers over time.
Resilience & Purpose
Even with challenges around recruitment and retention, healthcare remains one of the more stable employment sectors — people will always need care. For many in the field, the sense of purpose can also provide rewarding work beyond what many other jobs can offer.
Opportunities for Advancement & Lifelong Learning
Many healthcare careers offer ladders: you might start in a support role (e.g. aide, tech) and move into roles with more responsibility (e.g. nurse, specialist) through further training or schooling.
Coming Soon: Virtual Behavioral Health Career Day
Michigan Health Council (MHC) is hosting a Virtual Behavioral Health Career Day this spring to help students discover the many rewarding pathways in Behavioral Health.
This statewide virtual event will connect high school and middle school students, educators, and counselors to behavioral health professionals, employers, and training programs across Michigan. Together, we’ll explore how students can make a difference in their communities through a career in behavioral health.