Have you ever thought about becoming a doctor, but it seemed like too many years of study? Are you good at working with people and helping them? Or maybe you like solving problems through research? Would you enjoy working at a school, for a women’s shelter, in a medical laboratory, or perhaps a medical office?

In health and social services, you could be an x-ray technologist, a paramedic, or even an art therapist. There are lots of different careers and a wide variety of work environments. From the fast-pace of a hospital emergency room to focused research in a laboratory, from personal care of the elderly to nursing, social work, or psychology in an institutional setting, there are so many options to look at in the health care sector!

But how do you decide which career path to follow?

• Explore our list of web resources to find the health and social services careers that interest you, or have a look at our tools on Nursing, Careers in Mental Health, Technical Medical Careers and Therapy and Rehabilitation Careers.
• Talk to your POP (Personal Orientation Program) teacher or a guidance counsellor at your school to help you find more information, to do aptitude tests or to connect you with people working in the field. They may even be able to make suggestions about which career would be best for you.
• Check with your local health care facility about doing volunteer work or taking a summer job in the field you are interested in.
• Don’t miss out on career days and fairs at school and in the community!
• Take a look at the many programs available at the vocational, CEGEP and University levels by exploring these lists of programs in health and social services which are offered in English at Québec-recognized institutions and school websites. If you want to see where and what you can study locally, click on the following links:
  • Vocational programs are offered in the Outaouais at the Western Quebec Career Centre in Health, Assistance and Nursing, or Institutional and Home Care Assistance.
  • CEGEP Heritage College offers Nursing and, starting in 2017, Special Care Counselling.
  • To study a health-related field in English at the University level, students from the Outaouais often attend McGill University, or the University of Ottawa. To study locally in French, the Université du Québec en Outaouais offers Nursing, Psycho-education and Social Work.

Information about various health careers:

–Select any of the following health careers–Ambulance Attendant, Paramedic, Emergency Medical TechnicianAudiologistDiagnostic Imaging Technologist, Nuclear Medicine TechnologistDoctor, Physician, General PractitionerHead Nurse and SupervisorHome Care AssistantLicensed Practical Nurse, Nursing Assistant, Auxiliary NurseMedical Laboratory TechnicianMedical Records Technician, Medical ArchivistMedical SpecialistNurse ClinicianNurse PractitionerOccupational TherapistNursing Attendant, Orderly, Nurse AidePhysical Rehabilitation Therapist, PhysiotherapistPsychologistRadiation Oncology TechnologistRegistered NurseRespiratory Therapist, Clinical Perfusionist, and Cardiopulmonary TechnologistSocial WorkerSpecial Care CounsellorSpecial Education InstructorSpeech Therapist, Speech-Language Pathologist

TEACHERS!

Contact us at if you are an Outaouais teacher or guidance counsellor looking for classroom materials on health and social services careers.

This initiative was funded by McGill University through a financial contribution from Health Canada.
The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the views of McGill or Health Canada.