With the continuously expanding and aging population, and the advent of the Affordable Care Act, there has never been a greater demand for healthcare professional. While the need for pretty much every health job is estimated to increase in the next few years, there are some jobs that are in more demand than others.
Andrea Santiago writes in this About.com Careers article about the top medical jobs for career growth and high pay.
Top Medical Jobs – Career Growth and High Pay for Top Medical Jobs
Health Careers ExpertThere are hundreds, if not thousands of different types of medical jobs. Healthcare is the largest industry, showing the highest amount of growth of any other field, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Employing 14 million people in 2006, the healthcare industry is projected to add about three million more jobs by 2016, according to the BLS.
Below are a few top medical jobs based on projected percentage of job growth, as well as number of jobs, compensation, and quality of life. The medical jobs on this list offer the highest degree of one of these factors, or a strong balance of several factors. All the included medical jobs are in very high demand and experiencing significant growth, due to the aging population, and advancements in health care.
Nurse:
Nursing makes up the largest portion of the medical workforce, at over 15%, with over 2.5 million nurses nationwide working in healthcare. Registered nursing is projected to grow by 25% for the ten year period ending in 2016.
There are so many different types of nurses, and so many different places that nurses can work, making it a very hot medical job. There are nursing jobs for high school graduates, college graduates, and those with advanced degrees, each offering varying levels of responsibility and compensation.
Physician:
Despite experiencing a bit of a financial squeeze caused by managed care and insurance companies, doctors still continue to have the highest earning potential by far over all other health care professionals. In some areas, doctors have to work harder and see more patients to earn the highest pay, but they still are able to earn hundreds of thousands of dollars annually.
Surgeons and specialists earn the most money, sometimes well over half a million dollars. The number of physicians is projected to grow by 17% by the year 2016, according to the BLS.
Allied Health – Medical Technicians, Technologists and Assistants:
Many allied health careers are well-paid, and in high demand. Therefore, if you have an associate’s degree, or a four-year college degree, you can choose from a wide variety of nearly 100 allied health careers.
Medical Assistants are projected to see a whopping 36.1% growth by the year 2016, according to the BLS. This extremly high growth, plus the flexibility and versatility of the medical assistant role makes it a great option for many. Additionally, medical assisting requires minimal educational prerequisites, making it a top allied profession.
Medical Office Administrative and Support Jobs:
As a whole, medical support roles and administrative roles make up a whopping 18% of all jobs in the healthcare industry, which is why these jobs are amongst the top medical jobs. Also, most of these jobs require little to no college coursework which is a big perk. Therefore, they don’t pay as high, but they are in great demand and many jobs continue to be available.
Medical transcriptionists are not the fastest growing of all the support roles, yet they are slated to experience a 10.5% growth, which is still very strong. Due to the great flexibility of medical transcription jobs, the work-from-home capabilities, and the relatively short training requirements, medical transcription is a hot administrative role.
- Medical transcription career profile
- Medical Receptionists are another top support job, with growth of over 22% projected by the BLS.
Home Health and Hospice Care:
Home health, including in-home hospice care and home health aides for the elderly and disabled, are set to experience a whopping 50+% growth! According to the BLS, this is the single most rapidly growing segment of the healthcare industry, earning Home Health a spot amongst the top medical jobs.
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