Some healthcare careers, such as nursing, provide a straight path up the career ladder. You may start as a certified nursing assistant and continue studying to become a licensed practical nurse, registered nurse, nurse practitioner and doctor of nursing practice.
For most other healthcare careers, the climb looks more like a jungle gym. For instance, you can't earn an associate's degree to become a physical therapist's assistant and take a few more classes to become a physical therapist. (PTs need a doctorate.) The same goes for laboratory jobs. You can't earn a two-year degree to become a histology technician or a cytotechnology technician, and add on two more years to become a clinical laboratory scientist, says Laura Beeth, director of talent acquisition for Fairview Health Services (www.fairview.org).
Accreditation is key
However, if you know you want to get a two-year degree and return to school later for a bachelor's, make sure your two-year school is accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, one of six regional accrediting organizations recognized by the U.S. Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. Without that accreditation, your credits may not be accepted by your next school.
"We have people coming to us who think they're part of the way toward a baccalaureate and they're not," explains Greg Steenson, associate dean of admissions at the College of St. Catherine in St. Paul (www.stkate.edu). "They've wasted time and money."
Credits should transfer
Those with two-year degrees from accredited institutions easily transfer their credits into St. Catherine's Weekend College, where radiation technicians, sonographers and occupational therapy assistants, among others, continue on toward a healthcare management degree, for example.
"The paths people choose are really all over the map," Steenson says. "The main lesson is to ask lots of questions and ask them early."
