Love Anatomy? You May Also Love These STEM Careers!

     I loved anatomy and biology in high school. It was so interesting to learn about all of the bones and muscles in my body. It was my favorite STEM (science, technology, engineering or math) class.

     Perhaps anatomy is already your favorite science class or you’re thinking about exploring it in a STEM summer program. Either way, it’s a good path to one of these careers:

1. Prosthetist

     Do you like to help people? There are nearly 2 million people in the United States who have lost a limb. Designing the replacements that they desperately need and helping them get used to their new limbs requires expertise in anatomy and sometimes specialities such as biomedical engineering.

    You will need a master’s degree in prosthetics and you’ll spend a year in residency in order to be a legally certified prosthetist, but you’ll do well if you enjoy learning about the human body and figuring out ways to help people make their bodies work better.

     The UConn Pre-College Summer is one summer program that offers classes in biomedical engineering, if you want to see if you like it.

2. Forensic Pathologist

     Being a forensic pathologist won’t be quite as exciting as prime time TV but your job will be to solve mysteries. What was the cause of death? How long has the individual been dead? Was criminal activity involved?

     If you enjoy this Sherlock Holmes sleuthing as much as you like learning about the human body, look into a career as a forensic medical examiner. You’ll need a medical degree, which is a long haul. So, you might want to see if you really like medicine by checking out a forensic summer program like the one at Emory University.

3. Exercise Physiologist

     Physiology focuses on how the body systems work. Exercise physiologists use tools such as stress tests to evaluate patients’ fitness and to help them create a plan for getting healthy or improving athletic performance.

     You might work for a health organization that offers cardiac rehab or for an athletic team trying to get players into better shape. You’ll need at least a bachelor’s in exercise physiology and possibly a master’s degree. You’ll also have to be certified.

     If you want to learn more, check out Camp Cardiac, a week-long day-camp program offered in locations throughout the United States that teaches about physiology and the heart. You’ll even get exercise tips for yourself and certified in CPR.