8 Objective: This study was intended to compare and con- trast young adults’ perceptions of an ideal career versus their perceptions of six health professions: medical labora- tory science, nursing, pharmacy, physical therapy, radiation technology, and respiratory therapy. Study Design: The study used a survey developed by May et al., which was modified and tested for application to the allied health workforce. The instrument measures 17 parallel items on a five-point Likert scale and has been assessed for reliability (coefficient , 0.81–0.84) and content validity by a panel of experts. Analysis included descriptive statistics and paired t tests, with Bonferroni adjusted  significance set at p < 0.0028. Population: The study used a convenience sample of 720 young adults aged 18 to 24 yrs who were recruited between January and September 2005 at job fairs and community events in one urban area and two adjacent rural communities in a northeastern U.S. state. Findings: All six health professions were perceived as significantly less desirable (p < 0.001) than the ideal career in the areas of “being respected” and “working with high technology.” “Care for people” was the third highest ranked attribute of an ideal career, and pharmacy and radiation technology were found to be statistically significantly lower in this area (p < 0.001). Only nurses were perceived as having job secu- rity that matched the ideal, with the other professions per- ceived as offering significantly less job security than the ideal (p < 0.001). Conclusions: Health care is increasingly dependent on highly collaborative multidisciplinary teams. Inaccurate perceptions of allied health occupations likely hamper the development of an adequate pipeline of new recruits to these professions, which has the potential to impact all health disciplines. Strategies to address this chal- lenge and areas for further research are outlined. J Allied Health 2008; 37:8–16. <A U: abstract has been shor t - ened to meet jour nal/Medline r qmts.] IN THE PAST 7 YEARS, much attention has focused on a shortage of health care professionals. These shortages are expected to be exacerbated as an aging workforce reaches retirement, just as the “baby boomer” cohort moves into the last third of life, a time of greater health services uti- lization. Across the board, new recruits into health care professions are needed, yet recruitment issues have plagued many of the allied health disciplines. For example, in a stu- dent sample, 85% were only vaguely familiar with allied health careers, even though they had a favorable opinion of these careers. 1 Students’ failure to pursue allied health careers may be due to a lack of information rather than insufficient interest. Prospective allied health students have generally received their career information from a practicing health professional and have enrolled in these fields when encouraged to do so by a practitioner. 2 Together, these studies suggest public image and visibility are important elements to student recruitment. The aim of this study was to explore young adults’ perception of an ideal career and their perceptions of six allied health careers as a basis for evidence-based recruitment strategies. Some professions have already benefited from dramatic recruitment and public image campaigns. For example, since 2000, concentrated efforts by nurse leaders, 3 the Johnson & Johnson advertisement campaign, 4 and improv- ing nursing salaries 5 have increased the visibility of this pro- fession such that educational programs are at capacity and refusing admission to many qualified students. 6 Long before this public attention, however, increasingly severe work- force shortages had developed in some allied health profes- sions. 7 These authors suggested that hospital cost contain- ment is one cause of the increasing demand for rehabilitative and outpatient care provided by allied health ORIGINAL ARTICLES  Perceptions of an Ideal Career versus Perceptions of Six Health Careers Mary Val Palumbo, DNP, APRN Betty Rambur, PhD, RN Barbara McIntosh, PhD Shelly Naud, PhD Dr. Palumbo is Director of the Office of Nursing Workforce, Research, Planning, and Development; Dr. Rambur is Professor of Nursing and Dean, College of Nursing and Health Sciences; Dr. McIntosh is Professor, School of Business Administration; and Dr. Naud is Biostatistician, Med- ical Biostatistics & Bioinformatics Facility, College of Medicine, Univer- sity of Vermont, Burlington, VT. Supported by Health Resources and Services Administration Research Focused Initiative R1C RH03426-01: Vermont Health Workforce Supply/ Demand Monitoring System. Received December 21, 2006; revision accepted May 16, 2007. Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Mary Val Palumbo, DNP, APRN, Office of Nursing Workforce, Research, Planning, and Develop- ment, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT. Tel ■■-■■-■■■; fax ■■-■■-■■■; e-mail mpalumbo@uvm.edu. [A U: Pls supply complete mailing addr ess, telephone and fax nos .]