| Course | HS106 Health Science Profession and Career Planning |
|---|---|
| Unit | Unit 1 |
| Paper type | Discussion board post |
| Length | About 360 words, 2 pages double-spaced |
| Format | APA 7 discussion post |
| School | Purdue University Global |
| Program | BS in Health Science |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for HS106 Unit 1
Eight Years as a Corpsman, Two Careers on the Table: A Unit 1 Discussion Post Introducing My Health Science Plans
HS106 · Unit 1 Discussion Board Post
Posted by [Student Name]
The student, classmates and details are composite; the sources cited are real.
Initial Post
Hello, everyone, and thank you in advance for reading. I am a Hospital Corpsman Second Class at Naval Medical Center Portsmouth in Virginia, where I work on an inpatient medical ward and before that spent two years with a Marine infantry battalion. My family and I plan to stay in Hampton Roads after I separate; my spouse teaches in Chesapeake, and our two children are settled in school, so moving for a program is not an option.
Physician assistant appeals to me because it is the closest civilian match to what I did in the field: assessing patients, deciding what is wrong and acting. It also has a history I feel part of, since the first PA program was built for former military medics and corpsmen in the 1960s (Cawley et al., 2012). The cost is time. It requires a master's degree from an accredited program, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics lists median pay of $135,880 in 2025 (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2026a).
Respiratory therapy appeals for a different reason. On the ward I spend more time with patients on oxygen and breathing treatments than with any other group, and I like the technical side. An associate degree is the usual entry, so I could be working within about two years of separating, and the bureau projects the field to grow faster than average as well.
I know which career I would choose if time were free; HS106 is where I find out what time costs.
My question for you: if you weighed a longer program against a faster one, what did you count besides tuition?
Reply to Tamsin
Tamsin, you mentioned medical laboratory science. Have you shadowed in a lab yet, or only read about the work?
Reply to Andre
Andre, you want to move from EMT to paramedic. Does your state let you bridge with your current hours?
References
Cawley, J. F., Cawthon, E., & Hooker, R. S. (2012). Origins of the physician assistant movement in the United States. Journal of the American Academy of Physician Assistants, 25(12), 36-40. https://doi.org/10.1097/01720610-201212000-00008
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2026a). Physician assistants. In Occupational outlook handbook. U.S. Department of Labor. https://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/physician-assistants.htm
The Purdue Global HS106 Unit 1 instructions
The first HS106 board usually asks students to introduce themselves and the health careers they are considering, with a reason for each. Expect to share a little background, name one or two careers and explain what draws you to them. Military students are invited to describe their service if they wish, since it often shapes career choices. A source or two, such as a labor statistic or a short history of a profession, makes the reasons more than personal preference. The prompt usually ends with a question for classmates, and replies to two peers are typical. Keep the post short and specific; a single honest constraint, such as time or family, gives classmates something real to respond to and makes the board more useful for everyone in the section.
How the HS 106 Unit 1 example is put together
The post opens with the writer's rating, ward and battalion service, then the family's reason for staying in Hampton Roads. The physician assistant paragraph explains the appeal of assessing and deciding, links it to the profession's military origins through Cawley and colleagues and gives the PA median pay with the bureau as source. The respiratory therapy paragraph explains the appeal of breathing care and the shorter associate-degree entry. A highlighted line states that the writer knows the choice if time were free and needs HS106 to learn what time costs. The closing question asks what classmates counted besides tuition. The reply to Tamsin asks whether she has shadowed in a lab, and the reply to Andre asks whether his state allows an EMT-to-paramedic bridge.
Reading the HS106 Unit 1 grading rubric
Points for this introduction come mainly from specificity and engagement. Naming real careers with real reasons earns more than general interest in helping people. Sources earn credit when they support a reason, such as pay or history, and are cited correctly. A closing question that peers can answer from their own decisions scores well, since the board is meant to start discussion. Replies are graded on whether they ask something precise about a classmate's plan. Timely posting matters, because late introductions miss the conversation. Professional, friendly writing in the first person suits the unit. Correct APA 7 references for both sources finish the rubric, and a post that stays within the length limit is easier for classmates to read and answer.
HS106 Unit 1 help: mistakes that cost points
Introduction posts lose ground when they list several careers with no reason for any of them. Another common weakness is a post that tells a life story and never reaches a question, leaving classmates nothing to reply to. Some students quote pay or growth figures without a source, or use old figures from a website rather than the current federal data. Military students sometimes describe duties with acronyms civilians cannot follow. Replies that only welcome a classmate add little to the discussion. Before writing, decide the single thing you most need to learn in this course and end on it. Tell us your background and the careers on your list, and we can draft the post.
Get an HS106 Unit 1 example written to your instructions
Send the Unit 1 prompt, the careers you are weighing and the rubric. A custom post introduces your interests and asks classmates a useful question. It arrives within 24-48h, and the first is free. The paper above is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Purdue University Global document.
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HS106 Unit 1 questions, answered
How specific should the first post be?
Name one or two careers and one reason for each; specific interests make better replies possible.
Should military students mention their service?
Yes, if you wish. Military training is often relevant, and classmates can learn from it.
How long should replies be?
A few sentences that ask a classmate something about the career they named.
Where can I find a free HS106 Unit 1 sample paper?
The complete HS106 Unit 1 discussion board post is on this page, introducing a Navy corpsman choosing between physician assistant and respiratory therapy careers, with two replies.
What question does the HS106 Unit 1 sample ask classmates?
What they counted besides tuition when they weighed a longer program against a faster one, since the writer's main constraint is how long the family can manage while school continues.