Healthcare outside the NHS - Voluntary Agencies
Your destination depends on your clinical or professional specialty. It is important to remember that there are three primary career streams for healthcare professionals in the voluntary/charitable sector.
- In the first career stream you may work as a practitioner in your own field, but in a very different setting. Doctors with A & E experience may go to Medecins Sans Frontiers; nurses with experience of palliative care can work for McMillan.
- In the second career stream you may find yourself one of a small team or as a sole practitioner, advising a charity or voluntary body on a technical aspect of healthcare. Large charities such as the Red Cross and Oxfam retain medical advisors as their permanent staff; smaller voluntary organisations may simply contract with an external specialist - perhaps on a part-time basis - to advise them.
- In the final career stream, your medical or healthcare qualification may be a useful background to a managerial post. You could find yourself as a Public Relations officer, senior manager or even in marketing or human resources for a charity or voluntary body. You may use this as a stepping stone to a different career or to help you pursue an existing part-time interest.
