Dated 12th Feb. 2003

What are the career prospects for occupational therapy?

Nagaraj

Chennai

There are many career opportunities available for graduates. Occupational therapists may choose to specialise in the clinical, administrative or academic field. They may become clinical specialists in physical rehabilitation, community healthcare, pediatrics or psychosocial rehabilitation, set up private practice and occupy management positions.

The nature of work would range over areas of diagnosis, treatment and therapeutic follow up. Opportunities are also available in the teaching profession; in medical colleges and institutes as lectures/readers and professors.

What are the career prospects for zoology graduates?

Suganya

Tuticorin

Zoology graduates find employment in research in areas such as medicine, agriculture, fisheries and wildlife conservation. An increasing number are going into environmental monitoring. Others find openings in teaching in a variety of educational establishments, with museums and the media. Fish farms, leisure centres, local government and service industries also employ zoology graduates.

What are the career opportunities for Medical Librarianship? Where is this course available?

Aby Thomas

Kollam

Medical librarians work with: physicians, nurses, health educators and other allied health care professionals, administrators, programmers and information technology specialists, faculty and students, patients, health and consumers.

They can also find work with medical schools and colleges, consumer health libraries, research centres and foundations, industry biotechnology companies, pharmaceutical companies, publishing houses, any place where health information is needed. The Medical Library Association of India (MLAI), AIIMS, New Delhi offers a diploma in Medical Librarianship.

What are the career prospects in the field of technical writing?

Rahul

A technical writer can start his career as a trainee technical writer with a starting salary of Rs 8,000, depending on the organisation. After gaining two to four years of experience he can go on to become a technical writer or a senior technical writer drawing a salary of Rs 25,000 and above. Once a person reaches the managerial position, they can diversify into marketing, quality co-ordination, software development or managing a technical team. Other choices include copywriting, marketing communication, and related fields.

What are the career prospects for naturopathy?

Tilak Kumar

Bhubneshwar

Naturopathy graduates generally enter clinical practice, either alone or as partners in a healthcare clinic. Other career opportunities include: education community health service settings, social welfare, sales, manufacturing and working in health retreats. The growing industry of natural products provides exciting career prospects for product development and research.

What are the career prospects for fishery sciences?

Anurag Singh

Chhattisgarh

There are quite a few fisheries departments that employ professionals or trained personnel. You can work for fish breeding farms, supervise fish research centres and in the private sector - the marine industries, for the development of products and research etc.

As the fish breeding industry is relatively new in India, there is good scope for the field in the near future. This area of specialisation is for students who wish to pursue careers in fisheries and aquatic resource science, management, and administration; fish hatchery management; and aquaculture, aquatic education, and aquatic environmental assessment. Environment agencies employ fisheries inspectors/water bailiffs who carry out a range of duties including enforcement (patrolling, checking licence), carrying out fish population surveys and carrying out fish rescues and transfers.

The FAQ column deals with career concerns addressed to The C&K Management Ltd, PO Box-2178, Secunderabad-500003 or emailed to faqs@cnkonline.com.