The Education Sector

There’s more to the education sector than academia. After all, just about every type of non-clinical career out there has some sort of education-based role one can hold. Just think: everything from public health to content creation to sales and even tech will at least have a few jobs that focus on educating others! 

You could work in a healthcare tech company in a clinical training role. Or you could work at an educational company providing CEU-based courses for healthcare providers. Sure, you could take the traditional academia track, working up to a cushy program director role. Or, you could work in public health, creating educational materials to help everyday citizens prevent illness and injury. You could even work as a medical science liaison or sales rep, as both positions include a surprising amount of educating others!

Clearly, there’s plenty of crossover with other industries, but we still consider education to be its own sector. After all, there are countless therapy and assistant programs popping up—not to mention CEU companies—and those courses aren’t going to teach themselves.

Pros and cons of the education sector

Every industry has its pros and cons, and we’d be remiss if we recommended you pursue a specific sector without sharing the bad along with the good. Here are a few pros and cons you’ll find working in education.

Pros

• Stable – Jobs in the education sector are typically stable, predictable, and less prone to layoffs than other industries.
• Fulfilling – Education-focused careers are often fulfilling and enjoyable, as you typically get the reward of seeing the results of your work in real time.
• Low Stress – Non-clinical jobs that involve teaching tend to be laid back and collaborative, which can be a nice change from fast-paced clinical life. 
• Transferable Skills – Educators and those who have worked in education can often make career pivots more easily than most, as skills needed for teaching are helpful in many other jobs

Cons

• Static – Working your way up a career ladder can feel a bit sluggish when you’re in education. Career progression is not always a clear path for educators.
• Thankless – Education roles are not as sexy as higher-visibility jobs. For this reason, you might sometimes feel unrecognized for your efforts. 
• Limited Support – The education sector is notorious for being underfunded and understaffed, which can make people feel undervalued at work.
• Tiring – Some teaching roles require giving presentations, answering questions in real time, and managing other responsibilities that require being “on” for much of the day. This can be exhausting for some people.

Clinicians working in education

• Blake Nowicki, MS, CCC-SLP — Software Training Specialist
• Erika del Pozo, MOT, OTR — Patient Engagement Content Manager
• Kellie McGee, MS, CCC-SLP — Clinical Engagement/Sales Rep
• Emily Gherghel, PT, DPT — Lead Learning and Simulation Developer

Articles

• How to Become an OT/PT Professor
• How to Become a Continuing Education Instructor
• What to Know About a Career in Physical Therapy Education
• How to Become a PT Instructor

If you’re still reading, you’re probably feeling pretty jazzed about all the opportunities out there for people who enjoy teaching. There really are tons of options!

That’s the beauty of teaching. Just about every industry out there needs people to teach, create educational content, and generally disseminate information. And while you may or may not land in a role one classically considers education (we mean academia here), you’ll probably love where you land as long as you’re able to spend a good part of your day teaching, training, or educating others. 

Note that we used the world PROBABLY in that last sentence. That’s because you took a very quick personality assessment. We’re proud of that assessment—we bet you’re nodding your head at how well your results suit you—but it’s still a simple, free, online personality quiz.

The reality is that everyone’s life is different. We all have stakeholders in our lives (friends, family, pets, volunteer commitments), and their needs will impact what we can commit to our careers. We might NEED to work remotely. We might NEED part-time work. Or we might love the idea of working in education, but ultimately, we crave a more rapid-fire upward mobility career path, or one where there’s more guaranteed recognition and status. 

Ultimately, it’s up to you to look within and discover what really makes you tick, which is why we know you’ll love our free lesson (password: FIRSTSTEP)! In this 28-minute video, you’ll gain deeper insights into your life and career priorities through a powerful self-discovery exercise that will help kickstart your non-clinical journey.

Feeling overwhelmed? We created Non-Clinical 101 to take the guesswork and overwhelm off your plate. The online, self-paced format provides a structured playbook with lifetime access—so you achieve your goals on your timeline.

Getting started is always the hardest part, but you CAN do this. Whether you dive in right away or schedule a course binge for later, ​Non-Clinical 101​ is waiting for you with lifetime access and a supportive community. Plus, you’ll receive early-access to our weekly jobs every Sunday.

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