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What is common between Podiatry, Speech Therapy, Radio Jockeying, Cartography, and Occupational Therapy? Well, one common thing is that all these fall in the category of uncommon career options. As a student or parent you must have heard about these but very few would make any of these as their first career choice. Gauri Chhabra takes a look at these ‘little-heard-of’ careers that have a strong impact in the changing job scenario:
Speech therapist
Speech therapy is an allied branch of health sciences related to the disorder of speech, voice, and language of a person. Speech therapy and audiology have become promising career options in recent times. Speech therapists are specialists who treat people facing problems related to speech disorders.
Course details
In India, you can study speech therapy and audiology together at the bachelor’s as well as the master’s level. Postgraduate programmes with specialisation either in speech-language pathology or audiology are also offered. Several courses on speech therapy are available for interested students. The basic courses are BSc (speech & hearing), BSc (Audiology and Speech & Language), and MSc (Speech Pathology and Audiology). The qualifications required for pursuing a course in speech therapy are:
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The Rehabilitation Council of India, New Delhi, governs all institutes imparting training in speech therapy, and on http://ishaindia.org.in/ of the Indian Speech and Hearing Association, a national professional organisation of speech therapists.
PODIATRY
Podiatry is an exciting choice that offers you the chance to make a difference. It also has a high degree of flexibility and excellent employment prospects. Podiatrists treat a variety of foot and ankle ailments, including calluses, ingrown toenails, heel spurs, arthritis, congenital foot, and ankle deformities, and arch problems. They also treat foot and leg problems associated with diabetes and other diseases. Some podiatrists spend most of their time performing surgery, such as foot and ankle reconstruction. Others may choose a specialty such as sports medicine, pediatrics, or diabetic foot care.
Course details
Candidates must have passed Plus II or its equivalent, from a recognised board, with physics, chemistry, and biology as compulsory subjects, in order to seek admission in a bachelor’s degree programme in medicine. They are required to take and qualify in the medical entrance examination, conducted by various institutions across India.
Podiatric medicine is offered as a four-year programme, which follows a curriculum similar to the one followed at other medical schools. The first two years educate students on basic sciences, such as anatomy, chemistry, pathology, and pharmacology. The latter two years comprise clinical rotations at private practices, hospitals, and clinics.
Here, the interns are taught the basic and modern ways of noting down general and podiatric histories, performing routine physical examinations, interpreting tests and findings, making diagnoses, and carrying out therapeutic procedures.
Graduates who successfully complete the podiatric medicine course are awarded the Doctor of Podiatric Medicine (DPM) degree. This is followed by a 2-4 year residency programme at a hospital wherein podiatrists are taught how to execute surgery and other medical processes, like anesthesiology or radiology. It is during this period that one has to choose his specialised field, namely, geriatrics, pediatrics, biomechanics, surgery, sports medicine, dermatology, radiology, orthopedics, and primary care. After completing the residency programme, podiatrists are licensed to practice in their chosen field.
Besides this there are also diploma courses in this field. The Institute of Public Health and Hygiene, New Delhi is offering diploma in podiatry.
Radio Jockey
Radio jockeying is a talent- based field. Even though no formal educational qualification is required, a degree or at least plus two is generally a prerequisite. Qualification for Diploma & Post Graduate Diploma in Radio Programming & Broadcast Management: graduate in any field with 60% aggregate in graduation.
Entrance exam for RJ courses is conducted by Encompass Institute of Radio Management. Some other institutes also conduct their own screening test, voice test in the case of certificate courses. Following are some of the courses in Radio Jockeying
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Occupational Therapy
An occupational therapist is responsible for providing medical help and/or rehabilitation to individuals suffering from functional disabilities that prevent them from leading fully functional and healthy, independent lives, in the workplace and/or at home.
Occupational therapy employs various exercises and physical and mental activities meant to challenge and thereby further improve and develop motor and sensory perception, judgment and problem-solving skills, cognition, hand functions, and hand-eye coordination. Patients with physical limitations that cannot be healed or cured are taught how to circumvent those limitations through physical or mental exercises, or by using specially designed devices.
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CARTOGRAPHY
Cartographers use information from surveys, photographs and other reports that they have gathered and created for the purpose of creating a new digital map or updating existing ones. These professionals use global positioning systems (GPS), computer-aided design (CAD) programmes and specialised mapping software to create maps for a variety of purposes. Cartographers typically do fieldwork to collect and verify data used in creating maps. They will also collect and analyse geographical data, such as population density, demographic characteristics, and annual precipitation patterns; examine and compile data from ground surveys, reports, aerial photographs, and satellite images to prepare thematic maps and prepare thematic maps in digital or graphic form to be used for social, environmental, political, business, educational, and design purposes.
As for academic qualifications, you could get a BSc Geography, MSc Geography, MSc Applied Geography, MSc Spatial Information Technology, MSc Cartography, MSc Geographic Information System, MSc Remote Sensing, MSc Geoinformatics, MTech Geoinformatics, PG Diploma in GIS, Cartography, Surveying and mapping/topographic/earth sciences or urban and land studies before applying for jobs.
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Summing up
If you wish to step into a career that is offbeat and gives you a high impact, choose any of the above and watch your career soar high.
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