Disease management specialist careers are an exciting and growing part of the health care system. These caring professionals come from a variety of academic background, but have one thing in common: A commitment to educating and empowering patients to manage their chronic disease burden. If you’re a compassionate and natural-born teacher who wants to combine medical and counseling roles, you could have a fulfilling career helping patients with long-term illnesses.
How Do You Become a Disease Management Specialist?
You have many options for becoming a specialist in managing diseases. You can pursue a medical path and become a registered nurse or respiratory therapist. These are your best options if you want to help patients with illnesses like diabetes or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). You’ll provide expert medical advice and education to help your patients manage their illnesses and ensure their medications are appropriate. You’ll also provide day-to-day medical supervision by monitoring symptoms and referring patients for intensivist care when needed.
If you want to help medical patients without providing hands-on care, you can purse a degree in social work or counseling. With that background, you can specialize in disease management and provide psychological support. You’ll likely work with patients who suffer from mental illnesses, HIV/AIDS or other highly debilitating issues. You could find yourself leading support groups, helping patients access the resources they need to stay healthy or providing education in individual counseling sessions. You’ll straddle the line between counselor and cheerleader as you provide emotional and professional support.
Job Outlook
The United States Department of Labor estimates that the healthcare industry will grow roughly 20% in the next decade and add millions of jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. With changing federal regulations, much of this growth will be directed towards preventative care to lower overall costs. That means jobs in community health, patient education and disease management will experience strong growth. Plus, since you’ll start your career by earning a Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing (BSN), Associate of Science in Respiratory Therapy or a Master’s of Social Work (MSW) degree, you’ll have the training to transition to many different health care roles.
Personality Traits
Because you’ll be working directly with patients on a daily basis, you should enjoy interacting with people. Your patients may be stressed or unhappy and need a supportive disease specialist who won’t take things personally. You should also have organizational skills to manage paperwork and resources. An affinity for the natural and social sciences will help you excel at your classes. You can be an excellent disease management specialist even if you don’t enjoy the hard sciences because you can study social work, psychology or counseling to enter this field.
Related Resource: What is a Nurse Advocate?
The health care industry is the perfect place to combine your interests in helping others and your need to pay the bills. Whether you’ve watched a loved one struggle with a long-term illness or are looking for a stable career in the health sciences, becoming a disease management specialist could be the perfect step for reaching your goals.
