Different Medical Careers: A List of Healthcare Fields differentmedicalcareers.com / Timothy Mathisen Advertisements Medical careers are good paying, f ast growing, and in demand. Whether you are a recent graduate or looking f or a list of dif f erent career choices, you have come to the right place. T he health care prof essions combine technology and the human touch to address the needs of patients. All the dif f erent medical careers on this site are prof essional workers, making sure their patients are cared f or 24 hours a day, seven days a week. T he healthcare industry is large, with more than 14 million jobs in the U.S. alone. But there are many types of health care prof essions, with varying education requirements. We will look at medical careers that require 2-year degrees, 4-year degrees, and 7-year degrees. I have split the categories into degree types — i.e., associates, bachelor’s, graduate/prof essional.
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How long you want to go to school? Quick careers 2-year careers 4-year careers 7-year careers I, also, created a list of medical careers I considered bef ore I chose radiographic technology. Each of the health care prof essions require a minimum of an post-secondary degree. Advertisements Each also has the ability f or f urther educational opportunities, including receiving a master’s degree, which was important to me f or f uture growth in the position. T hey are also good paying medical careers. Here is the chart I created:
T IT LE
DESCRIPT IONS
EDUCAT ION
PAY RANGE
Physician Assistant
A physician assistant, who works under a doctor, diagnoses and treats patients f or routine visits.
Master's
$57,450 to $117,720
Nurse
A registered nurse provides direct patient care.
Associate's
$44,190 to
$95,130 Dental Hygienist
A dental hygienist cleans patients' teeth. T hey also examine teeth and provide preventative dental care.
Associate's
$45,000 to $93,820
Ultrasound Technician
An ultrasound technician provides patient care and captures medical imagery.
Associate's
$44,900 to $88,490
Laboratory Technologist
A laboratory technologist examines, tests, and analyzes bodily f luids and tissues
Bachelor's
$38,810 to $76,780
Physical T herapist
A physical therapist creates, manages, implements a rehabilitation plan f or injured patients
Master's
$53,620 to $107,920
Radiation T herapist
A radiation therapist treats patients who have cancer.
Associate's
$50,950 to $110,550
Radiologic Technologist
A radiologic technologist handles patient care and uses diagnostic medical imaging equipment.
Associate's
$36,510 to $54,340
Counselor
A counselor educates and provides talk therapy to troubled patients
Master's
$24,180 to $63,630
I also created a master list of medical careers, which has more than 40 health care prof essions. Although you can get started in the health sector in less than 6 months, you will be better served to identif y which medical career is right f or me.
‘What medical career is right for me?’ A career in the medical f ield provides many incentives. It is important to identif y traits about yourself , which I’ll try to help you do over the next f ew paragraphs.
Are you a hermit? You have to interact with people and help them on a daily basis. But don’t let that scare you, especially if you are not social by nature. Many f ields in medicine — such as a laboratory technologist — don’t require patient interaction. Interaction is an important trait you need to consider f or your career. You will want to ask yourself — am I a hermit? am I social? am I somewhere between these two extremes. For example, I like time alone to research and make decisions, but I also like interaction. I knew a position such as a lab tech would not suit me because I’d drive myself crazy being lef t by myself . At the same time, I knew a position as a nurse would not suit me, either, because of the massive amount of patient interaction.
T his is the thought process you should consider. You need to learn about yourself when picking a medical career. One solution is to talk to a career counselor, who may be able to suggest you take a personality test like the Myers-Briggs. T his test will of f er insight about yourself and provide dif f erent career choices. Also, your workplace location will be inf luenced by the medical career you choose. Many in the health sector work in hospitals, physician of f ices, cancer centers, substance abuse f acilities, laboratories, and research f acilities.
How secure is my job? Job security can be important. We want to know the career path we are picking will have jobs in it in the f uture. With health care prof essions, that is the case. Medicine relies on people needing care — and there’s no shortage. With baby boomers starting to reach retirement age, there will be an increased need f or health workers. Also, in many cities the major employer is the hospital. T his is important f or three reasons. Stability: T he likability of the hospital closing up shop is non-existent. Relocation: You can move to just about any state, get licensed, and be able to f ind a job easily. Advancement: At a large organization such as a hospital, you have many dif f erent medical careers that you could experience and have the opportunity to be hired f or.
Job outlook and the BLS Related to security is job outlook. T he Bureau of Labor Statistics of f ers data on job outlook. T he data can be misleading, especially when you look at rate of growth. An example is nuclear medicine technologists. T he BLS notes that there will be a need f or 20 percent more nuclear medicine technicians by 2020. T hat sounds like a lot, but it is not and you have to look at the data closer. Currently, there are 16,900 technicians who handle nuclear medicine procedures. Twenty percent of 16,900 is 3,400. T here will be less than 3,500 more of these technicians needed. Despite 20 percent growth, this likability of f inding a job in this position af ter graduation may be tough. Compare that to nursing. T he BLS notes there will be a need f or 20 percent more registered nurses by 2020. Currently, there are 2,737,400 RNs. Twenty-six percent of this is 711,900. Become a nurse and you won’t have a problem f inding a job. T he point: Percentages can be misleading. Please do yourself a f avor and check expected growth in
numbers, not percentages.
High-paying medical careers You want to get paid, I’m sure. Medical careers pay well, but you should not just look at dollar signs. From a money standpoint, a radiation technologist and nuclear medicine technician have the highest median pay — 74,980 and $68,560, respectively — and low education requirements. But both are small job markets, with less than 4,000 new expected job openings until 2020. Good pay is only available if you can f ind a job.
Job advancement Sooner or later you will get bored with your job — whether you are a pediatric nurse or a radiologic technologist. What do you do then? T his is why advancement is important. With many dif f erent medical careers, you can advance into management or continue your education and upgrade into a dif f erent position. For example: A nursing career is many-f old. A nurse can work in hospitals, clinics, or schools, and every location will be dif f erent. At a hospital, there are dif f erent nursing specialties, such as emergency nursing or surgical nursing. T his kind of variety will make sure you do not get bored. Another example: I chose radiologic technology because that is the f oundation f or medical imaging careers and know that I could go into ultrasound or nuclear medicine if I wanted. I also knew that I could teach radiologic technology with my education and communications background or could go into medical imaging sales. It is important to look f orward in your career. Sure, you may want to become an entry-level nurse today, but f ive or 10 years what kind of senior-level nursing jobs could you get? T his brings us to education …
Back to school Medical careers require continuing education, which includes classes in your f ield. But you may f ind that an entry-level medical career such as nursing of f ers the opportunity f or advanced practices and responsibilities with a little more education. You will want to f ind out the minimum education requirements and what kind of jobs the maximum education in the f ield will get you. For example: T he minimum requirement to be a CNA — a certif ied nursing assistant — is a certif ication and takes about 6 months to get. T his job does not pay well. Go to school f or a year and you could be a LPN — a limited practical nurse. Two years of schooling is what is required to be an RN — a registered nurse. As an RN, you could complete an RN to bachelor’s of science in nursing degree, which qualif ies you f or a management role.
But you could also go f or another two years, receive a master’s degree, and become a nursing practitioner, which serves as a primary care provider in rural, under-served areas. T he point: You should check what advancement opportunities are available to you within a career f ield — even if it requires more education. I hope this inf ormation about medical careers has been helpf ul to you. Advertisements
Relat ed post s: 1. List of Medical Careers