Prologue

A career in health care is more than just a job - it is a way of securing your future while enhancing the quality of life for the people of New Mexico. For this reason, SoAHEC has publis hed A Lifetime of Opportunity: Careers in Health. The goal of SoAHEC is to improve health care in its seventeen-county area of southern New Mexico. As a regional resource center, it makes available learning opportunities and materials and it assists in the development of placement sites for health professionals, allied health professionals, and students in training. Specific objectives include the following:

to present health career awareness programs to minority youth
to recruit professionals and students to deliver health care to underserved areas
to identify the training needs of health care providers and students
to sponsor continuing education seminars and workshops for health care providers
to promote cooperation between health care and educational institutions

SoAHEC thanks Montañas del Norte (the northern New Mexico AHEC office) and the New Mexico AHEC for their contributions to this publication. Additional thanks go to the Virginia Health Council, Inc. for its assistance in the production of the manual .

Reference Materials

Information on entry-level salary averages and general health career statistics can be obtained from the following resources which are also available at the SoAHEC offices:

Allied Health Education Directory 1992, Twenty-first Edition, 1993, $45 (postpaid). For a copy, contact the American Medical Association, Order Department OP417593, P.O. Box 109050, Chicago, IL 60610-9050.

Carol Kleiman, The 100 Best Job$ for the 1990s and Beyond, 1992, $19.95. For a copy, contact Dearborn Financial Publishing, Inc., 520 North Dearborn Street, Chicago, IL 60610-4354.

Occupational Outlook 1994-1995, $21.95. For a copy, contact Jist Works, 720 North Parks Avenue, Indianapolis, IN, 46202.

Photography Credits

Special thanks to the following New Mexico organizations for their assistance in much of the photography featured in this issue of A Lifetime of Opportunity: Careers in Health:

Doña Ana County Public Health Department, Las Cruces
Family Eye Care, Las Cruces
Gila Regional Medical Center, Silver City
Johnson's Veterinary Clinic, Las Cruces
Memorial Medical Center, Las Cruces
Mesilla Valley Hospital, Las Cruces
Mesilla Valley Rehab, P.A., Las Cruces
New Mexico State University, Athletic Training Department, Las Cruces
New Mexico Veteran's Center, Truth or Consequences
James O. Schaefer, DDS, PC
Sterling Trantham, New Mexico State University

In addition, the Medical Illustration Department, University of New Mexico School of Medicine in Albuquerque, New Mexico and Mike Laurance, Design/Photography in Las Cruces, New Mexico have been very helpful in the production of photographs.

Order your copy today!

New Mexicans may receive a FREE copy of A Lifetime of Opportunity: Careers in Health by contacting SoAHEC at (505) 646-3441 while supplies last. If you live outside of New Mexico, send $10 per copy (with your name and address) to the Southern Area Health Education Center, Box 30001, Dept. AHC, Las Cruces, New Mexico, 88003-8001.

A Lifetime of Opportunity:
Careers in Health

Published by the
Southern Area Health
Education Center

Editors
Doreene Ward Alexander
Erin J. Frew
Pearl A. Hawe

Advertising Director
Pearl A. Hawe

Advertising Assistants
Faith Edwards
Jo Fairbanks

Editorial Assistants
Adriana Casarez
Robin Lane
Luisa Serna

A Lifetime of Opportunity: Careers in Health
First Edition 1994
Southern Area Health Education Center
Department of Health Science
College of Health and Social Services
New Mexico State University
Box 30001, Dept. AHC
Las Cruces, NM 88003-8001
(505) 646-3441

Copyright © 1993 by Virginia Health Council, Inc.