1. US Curriculums
  2. TEKS
  3. Grade 12
  4. Health Education
  5. Health care occupations--working within the health care system. The student explores different careers in the health care industry and analyzes their various roles

Grade 12 · Health Education

Health care occupations--working within the health care system. The student explores different careers in the health care industry and analyzes their various roles

Quarter 3 · Week 5 · TEKS

Standards Alignment

  • TEKS.115.40.09A primary
    explore and describe a variety of careers in the health care industry; and
  • TEKS.115.40.09B primary
    analyze the various roles in the health care delivery system, including health care administration, health care professionals, public health professionals, corporate health care, and research and development.

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Lesson Overview

This Grade 12 health education lesson focuses on exploring various careers in the health care industry and analyzing the different roles within the health care delivery system. Students will learn about health care administration, health care professionals, public health professionals, corporate health care, and research and development. The lesson is designed to provide students with a comprehensive understanding of the health care system and the diverse occupations that contribute to it, grounded in TEKS standards and suitable for homeschool or classroom instruction.

Learning Objectives

  • Identify and describe a variety of careers in the health care industry.
  • Analyze the roles and responsibilities of different positions within the health care delivery system, including administration, health care professionals, public health professionals, corporate health care, and research and development.

Success Criteria

  • Students can list and describe at least five different health care careers.
  • Students can explain the distinct roles and contributions of various health care occupations within the delivery system.
  • Students can discuss how different health care roles interact to support patient and public health.

Prerequisite Knowledge

Students should have a basic understanding of the health care system and general health concepts from previous health education courses or experiences.

Key Vocabulary

  • Health care industry
  • Health care administration
  • Health care professionals
  • Public health professionals
  • Corporate health care
  • Research and development
  • Health care delivery system

Materials and Resources

  • Chart paper or whiteboard
  • Markers
  • Career profile handouts or digital resources
  • Role-play scenario cards
  • Internet access for research (optional)

Teacher Preparation

  • Prepare a list or chart of common health care occupations with brief descriptions.
  • Gather or create career profile handouts or digital resources about various health care roles.
  • Develop role-play scenarios illustrating interactions among different health care professionals.
  • Prepare guiding questions to facilitate discussion and reflection.

Detailed Lesson Notes

Overview of the Health Care Industry

The health care industry includes a wide range of careers that contribute to maintaining and improving health. These careers can be grouped into several categories: health care administration, health care professionals, public health professionals, corporate health care, and research and development. Understanding these categories helps students see how diverse roles work together to deliver health services.

Health Care Administration

Health care administration involves managing the operations of health care facilities such as hospitals, clinics, and nursing homes. Administrators handle budgeting, staffing, compliance with laws, and ensuring quality patient care. Examples include hospital administrators, medical office managers, and health services managers. Their role is crucial for the smooth functioning of health care organizations.

Health Care Professionals

This category includes individuals who provide direct patient care, such as doctors, nurses, therapists, and technicians. Each profession has specific training and responsibilities. For example, doctors diagnose and treat illnesses, nurses provide ongoing patient care, and therapists help patients recover physical or mental functions. Understanding these roles helps students appreciate the teamwork required in patient care.

Public Health Professionals

Public health professionals focus on community health rather than individual patient care. They work to prevent disease, promote healthy lifestyles, and respond to health emergencies. Examples include epidemiologists, health educators, and public health nurses. Their work involves research, policy development, and community outreach to improve population health outcomes.

Corporate Health Care

Corporate health care refers to businesses and organizations that support the health care industry but do not provide direct patient care. This includes insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies, and medical equipment manufacturers. These organizations influence health care delivery through funding, product development, and services that support health care providers and patients.

Research and Development in Health Care

Research and development (R&D) professionals work to discover new treatments, technologies, and health care practices. This includes biomedical researchers, clinical trial coordinators, and pharmaceutical scientists. Their work is essential for advancing medical knowledge and improving health care outcomes over time.

Interconnectedness of Roles

All these roles are interconnected. For example, health care professionals rely on administrators for resources, public health professionals for community data, corporate health care for supplies and funding, and researchers for new treatments. Understanding these relationships helps students see the complexity and collaboration involved in health care delivery.

Worked Examples

Worked Example 1

Scenario

Given the role of a hospital administrator, explain how this position supports health care professionals and patient care.

Explanation

A hospital administrator manages the operations of the hospital, including budgeting, staffing, and compliance with regulations. By ensuring the hospital runs smoothly, the administrator provides health care professionals with the resources and environment they need to deliver quality patient care.

Answer Guide

The hospital administrator supports health care professionals by managing resources and operations, which helps ensure patients receive effective and efficient care.

Worked Example 2

Scenario

Describe how public health professionals contribute differently to health care compared to doctors and nurses.

Explanation

Public health professionals focus on the health of populations rather than individual patients. They work on disease prevention, health education, and policy development to improve community health, whereas doctors and nurses provide direct care to individual patients.

Answer Guide

Public health professionals work on preventing disease and promoting health in communities, while doctors and nurses treat and care for individual patients.

Engage

Teacher Activity

Begin the lesson by asking students to brainstorm all the health care jobs they can think of and write them on the board. Share a brief story or example of a health care team working together to help a patient.

Student Activity

Students share their ideas about health care jobs and listen to the example story. They discuss what roles might be involved in a health care team.

Explanation

This activity activates prior knowledge and introduces the variety of careers in health care, setting the stage for deeper exploration.

Examples

  • Students list a variety of health care jobs, including doctors, nurses, and others.
  • Students recognize that health care involves teamwork among different roles.

Explore

Teacher Activity

Provide students with career profile handouts or digital resources about different health care occupations. Guide students to read and identify key responsibilities for each role.

Student Activity

Students read about various health care careers and take notes on the roles and responsibilities of each.

Explanation

This exploration helps students learn specific details about health care occupations and understand their diversity.

Examples

  • Students identify distinct duties and contributions of different health care roles.
  • Students begin to see the range of skills and education required.

Explain

Teacher Activity

Lead a discussion analyzing the roles within the health care delivery system. Use a chart to categorize careers into administration, health care professionals, public health, corporate health care, and research and development.

Student Activity

Students participate in the discussion, categorizing careers and explaining their understanding of each role.

Explanation

This phase clarifies the organization of the health care system and the specific functions of each category of careers.

Examples

  • Students correctly categorize health care careers.
  • Students articulate the importance of each category in the health care system.

Elaborate

Teacher Activity

Organize role-play scenarios where students act out interactions between different health care roles, such as a nurse communicating with an administrator or a public health professional collaborating with a researcher.

Student Activity

Students perform role-plays demonstrating how various health care roles work together to solve health problems or provide care.

Explanation

Role-playing helps students understand the collaboration and communication needed among health care professionals and other roles.

Examples

  • Students demonstrate understanding of role interactions.
  • Students recognize the importance of teamwork and communication.

Evaluate

Teacher Activity

Ask students to write a short reflection or create a presentation describing at least three health care careers and how they contribute to the health care system.

Student Activity

Students complete the reflection or presentation demonstrating their knowledge of health care occupations and roles.

Explanation

This assessment confirms students’ understanding and ability to analyze health care careers and their roles.

Examples

  • Students accurately describe health care careers and their roles.
  • Students reflect thoughtfully on the health care system and career diversity.

Classroom Activity

Students read about various health care careers and take notes on the roles and responsibilities of each.

Guided Practice

Guided Practice 1

Prompt

Name three different careers in the health care industry.

Teacher Answer Guide

Doctor, nurse, hospital administrator.

Guided Practice 2

Prompt

Explain the role of a public health professional in the health care system.

Teacher Answer Guide

They work to prevent disease and promote health in communities through education, research, and policy.

Guided Practice 3

Prompt

How does a health care administrator help improve patient care in a hospital?

Teacher Answer Guide

By managing hospital operations, staffing, and resources, the administrator ensures health care professionals can provide effective patient care.

Guided Practice 4

Prompt

Compare the roles of health care professionals and corporate health care in the health care delivery system.

Teacher Answer Guide

Health care professionals provide direct patient care, while corporate health care organizations support the system through services like insurance, pharmaceuticals, and medical equipment.

Guided Practice 5

Prompt

Analyze how research and development professionals impact the future of health care and patient outcomes.

Teacher Answer Guide

They discover new treatments and technologies that improve medical knowledge and health care practices, leading to better patient outcomes over time.

Independent Practice

  1. Foundational: Name three different careers in the health care industry.
  2. Developing: Explain the role of a public health professional in the health care system.
  3. Application: How does a health care administrator help improve patient care in a hospital?
  4. Analysis: Compare the roles of health care professionals and corporate health care in the health care delivery system.
  5. Challenge: Analyze how research and development professionals impact the future of health care and patient outcomes.

Independent Practice Teacher Answer Key

  1. 1. Examples include doctor, nurse, and hospital administrator.
  2. 2. A public health professional works to prevent disease and promote health in communities through education, research, and policy.
  3. 3. By managing hospital operations, staffing, and resources, the administrator ensures health care professionals can provide effective patient care.
  4. 4. Health care professionals provide direct patient care, while corporate health care organizations support the system through services like insurance, pharmaceuticals, and medical equipment.
  5. 5. Research and development professionals discover new treatments and technologies that improve medical knowledge and health care practices, leading to better patient outcomes over time.

Guiding Questions

  • What are some different careers in the health care industry?
  • How do health care roles differ and work together?
  • Why is teamwork important in health care?
  • What skills and education are needed for various health care jobs?
  • How do different health care roles impact patient and public health?

Common Misconceptions

  • All health care jobs involve direct patient care; in reality, many roles support health care indirectly, such as administration and corporate health care.
  • Public health professionals provide individual patient care; actually, they focus on community and population health.
  • Health care roles operate independently; in fact, they are interconnected and require collaboration to function effectively.

Differentiation

Support and Intervention

Provide simplified career descriptions and visual aids for students needing extra support. Use role-play with guided scripts to help students understand interactions between roles.

English-Language Learner Support

Use clear, simple language and provide vocabulary lists with definitions. Incorporate visuals such as pictures and charts to support understanding of health care roles.

Advanced and Extension

Encourage research on emerging health care careers and technologies. Have students analyze how changes in health policy affect different health care roles.

Assessment

  • Observe student participation during brainstorming and discussions.
  • Review notes taken during career profile exploration.
  • Evaluate role-play engagement and understanding.
  • List two health care careers and describe one responsibility for each.
  • Explain why teamwork is important in health care.
  • Create a presentation on a chosen health care career, including education requirements and role in the health care system.
  • Write an essay analyzing how different health care roles collaborate to improve patient outcomes.

Answer Guide

  • Name three different careers in the health care industry.
    Answer: Doctor, nurse, hospital administrator.
  • Explain the role of a public health professional in the health care system.
    Answer: They work to prevent disease and promote health in communities through education, research, and policy.
  • How does a health care administrator help improve patient care in a hospital?
    Answer: By managing hospital operations, staffing, and resources, the administrator ensures health care professionals can provide effective patient care.
  • Compare the roles of health care professionals and corporate health care in the health care delivery system.
    Answer: Health care professionals provide direct patient care, while corporate health care organizations support the system through services like insurance, pharmaceuticals, and medical equipment.
  • Analyze how research and development professionals impact the future of health care and patient outcomes.
    Answer: They discover new treatments and technologies that improve medical knowledge and health care practices, leading to better patient outcomes over time.

Real-Life Application

Encourage students to interview a family member or community member who works in health care to learn about their role and share findings in class.

Homework or Home Connection

  • Encourage students to interview a family member or community member who works in health care to learn about their role and share findings in class.

Lesson Summary

This lesson explored a variety of careers within the health care industry and analyzed their roles in the health care delivery system. Students learned about health care administration, health care professionals, public health professionals, corporate health care, and research and development. Understanding these roles and how they work together helps students appreciate the complexity of the health care system and consider potential career paths in health care.

Teacher Notes

Use the exact standards alignment and retrieved-source provenance stored with this enrichment.

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