What to study if I like helping people

Liking helping others can be a good starting point to think about what to study. But helping doesn't mean the same thing for everyone. Some people want to take care of health, others prefer to listen, teach, support a recovery, solve social problems or create solutions that improve the lives of many people.

That's why, before looking for a degree, it's worth asking yourself: How would you like to help?

Start with the Career Test
If you're still not sure which way of helping fits you best, the NoSeQueEstudiar Career Test can help you connect this interest with your skills, preferences and other fields you may not have considered.

The test doesn't choose a degree for you. Its role is to help you discover options you can later research and try out.

If you want to help by taking care of health
If you're interested in the human body, prevention, treatments or patient care, you can explore degrees like Medicine, Nursing, Nutrition, Physiotherapy and other health careers.

But it's also important to know the reality of the work: responsibility, contact with patients, continuous study, teamwork and, depending on the career, emotionally demanding situations.

The question is not only “Do I want to help?”, but also: Am I interested in helping through science and health care?

If you like listening and understanding

Perhaps you enjoy it when someone tells you about a problem, you try to understand what's happening to them and you look for different ways to support them.

In that case you can research Psychology and other careers related to support and mental health.

That doesn't mean that being a “good listener” is enough. It also matters whether you're interested in studying human behavior, analyzing complex situations and working with processes that often take time.

If you enjoy teaching

Helping can also mean explaining something until someone else manages to understand it.

If you find that satisfying, you can explore degrees related to Education, Teaching, and Pedagogy.

In these areas, communication, patience, planning, and the ability to work with people who learn in different ways are important.

If you want to work with social issues

Perhaps what interests you most is helping people, families, or communities going through difficult situations.

You can look into Social Work and other social areas.

Here the work can include support, access to resources, community intervention, social programs, and coordination with different institutions.

It is a different way of helping than Medicine or Psychology, although in some contexts these careers work together.

If you are interested in supporting a recovery

Some people enjoy seeing how someone regains abilities, gains autonomy, or learns new ways to carry out everyday activities.

Along that path you find areas like Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy, Speech Therapy, and other rehabilitation careers.

They usually combine technical knowledge with a lot of human contact and follow-up.

You can also help without working directly with patients or users
Not all careers that create impact involve being face to face with a person all day long.

You can also help by researching diseases, designing accessible technology, improving services, analyzing data, working in social organizations, or developing public policies.

If you want to help but prefer researching, organizing, or solving problems, there are also paths for you.

Try a way of helping before choosing

Reading about a degree is useful. Trying a small part of the field can be even more revealing.

You can take part in an experience related to health, education, psychology, rehabilitation, research, or social impact.

As you do it, notice which part you enjoy most:

• caring for and attending to others;
• listening and understanding;
• explaining and teaching;
• supporting a recovery;
• researching solutions;
• organizing resources or projects;

working directly with people or contributing from behind the scenes. You don't need to come out of an experience knowing exactly which degree to choose.

The important thing is to discover what type of activities make you want to keep exploring and which ones don't fit you as well.

Wanting to help is not enough to choose a degree

Medicine, Psychology, Education, Social Work or Physiotherapy may share the desire to improve other people's lives, but their studies and everyday work are very different.

So, before deciding, try to complete this sentence:

“I would like to help people…”

• …by taking care of their health.
• …by listening to them and supporting them.
• …by teaching them.
• …by helping them regain abilities.
• …by working on social problems.
• …by researching solutions.
• …by improving systems and services.

When you know how you want to help, it's much easier to discover which degrees are worth learning about, comparing, and trying out.