On this page you can learn about more about healthcare as a career.
Table of Contents
- Why Healthcare?
- Healthcare Careers
- Medical Careers
- Mental Health Careers
- Nursing Careers
- Physical Health Careers
- Internship Listings
- Professional Organizations
- Job Listing Sites
Why Healthcare
A career in healthcare looks like it will be a very good choice for many years to come in the US. The US government believes that healthcare occupations will add more than two million jobs by 2024, which comes out to be an impressive 19% growth rate. It is thought that the growth in healthcare jobs generally will be driven by a rapidly growing and aging population, as well as federal healthcare reform that will increase the number of people who have health insurance. For people who want to work in healthcare, high job demand is just one of the big benefits. Another major factor in your favor is that the median annual wage for all clinical health care workers was more than $62,000 in 2012. This wage was much higher than the median annual wage for all occupations in the US economy – $36,200. These factors make choosing health care as a career a very attractive option.
Healthcare
One of the exciting aspects of working in a healthcare occupation is that there will always be many different roles and jobs to choose from. Which job you decide to get in healthcare will depend upon your career interests and your level of education. If you just earn an associate’s degree in a health care field, you still will usually be able to find a good job with a good salary. And after you obtain several years of work experience in your field, you can then get more education, such as a bachelor’s degree in an allied health field, or eventually even a master’s degree. There will always be plenty of exciting job options in health care that will be yours for the taking as you gain education and experience.
| Name | Salary Rank | Average Salary |
|---|---|---|
| Healthcare Analytics | 7 | $99,000 |
| Healthcare Informatics | 19 | $90,000 |
| Health Consulting | 28 | $84,000 |
| Biotechnology | 33 | $82,000 |
| Biostatistics | 36 | $79,000 |
| Health Information Systems | 44 | $74,000 |
| Health Communications | 46 | $73,000 |
| Healthcare Analyst | 50 | $70,000 |
| Genetic Engineering | 53 | $69,000 |
| Health Information Technology | 58 | $66,000 |
| Healthcare Administration | 59 | $66,000 |
| Healthcare Management | 60 | $66,000 |
| Gerontology | 73 | $63,000 |
| Epidemiology | 74 | $63,000 |
| Food Science | 80 | $61,000 |
| Data Analyst | 81 | $61,000 |
| Health Information Management | 82 | $61,000 |
| Infection Prevention | 86 | $60,000 |
| Public Administration | 87 | $60,000 |
| Community Health | 88 | $60,000 |
| Public Health | 93 | $59,000 |
| Virology | 97 | $58,000 |
| Occupational Safety | 112 | $54,000 |
| Public Policy | 118 | $52,000 |
| Emergency Management | 119 | $52,000 |
| Health Promotion | 123 | $51,000 |
| Health Policy | 124 | $51,000 |
| Environmental Health | 125 | $51,000 |
| Biochemistry | 131 | $50,000 |
| Nutrition Consulting | 141 | $49,000 |
| Food Inspection | 218 | $27,000 |
Medical
In the field of healthcare, there are many occupations that fall under the general category of ‘medical.’ Modern medicine usually refers to the clinical practice of medicine, which includes the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of diseases, often by a physician, but also by other types of medical professionals. The general scope of medicine can be broader than that though. It also may include allied health and health care sciences. Further, the medical field can encompass how science and technology is used to improve how care is delivered. Also, there are many medical technician career fields that fall under the purview of a medical career. Many of these medical technician career areas can be done with just an associate’s degree or bachelor’s degree, and can lead to even brighter career prospects later.
| Name | Salary Rank | Average Salary |
|---|---|---|
| Lactation Consulting | 2 | $112,000 |
| Sonography | 20 | $89,000 |
| Vascular Sonography | 21 | $89,000 |
| Diagnostic Medical Sonography | 22 | $89,000 |
| Cardiac Sonography | 23 | $89,000 |
| Sonogram Technician | 24 | $89,000 |
| Forensic Pathology | 26 | $88,000 |
| Occupational Therapy | 29 | $83,000 |
| Speech Therapy | 34 | $82,000 |
| Nuclear Medicine Technology | 37 | $78,000 |
| Pharmacology | 42 | $76,000 |
| Radiation Therapy | 47 | $72,000 |
| Audiology | 49 | $71,000 |
| Hospital Administration | 54 | $69,000 |
| Nutrition/Dietician | 67 | $64,000 |
| Surgical Technology | 83 | $61,000 |
| Radiology Assistant | 94 | $59,000 |
| Cytotechnologist | 95 | $59,000 |
| Dental Assistant | 98 | $58,000 |
| Mammography Technician | 104 | $56,000 |
| Radiology Technician | 113 | $54,000 |
| Dental Lab Technician | 114 | $54,000 |
| Dental Hygienist | 126 | $51,000 |
| Histotechnologist | 132 | $50,000 |
| EEG Technician | 152 | $46,000 |
| Hemodialysis Technician | 163 | $44,000 |
| Dialysis Technician | 164 | $44,000 |
| Emergency Room Technician | 165 | $44,000 |
| Anesthesia Technician | 173 | $43,000 |
| EMT Paramedic | 174 | $43,000 |
| Medical Assisting | 180 | $41,000 |
| Autopsy Technician | 183 | $41,000 |
| Medical Lab Technician | 184 | $41,000 |
| Mental Health Technician | 188 | $40,000 |
| Medical Transcription | 189 | $40,000 |
| Operating Room Technician | 193 | $38,000 |
| Endoscopy Technician | 194 | $38,000 |
| Medical Billing & Coding | 195 | $36,000 |
| Biomedical Technician | 200 | $36,000 |
| Sterile Processing Technician | 201 | $36,000 |
| Nurse Technician | 202 | $36,000 |
| Biomedical Equipment Technician | 203 | $36,000 |
| Sterile Processing Technician | 204 | $36,000 |
| Patient Care Technician | 205 | $36,000 |
| Medical Records Technician | 206 | $35,000 |
| Respiratory Technician | 209 | $33,000 |
| Behavioral Health Technician | 210 | $33,000 |
| Optometric Technician | 211 | $33,000 |
| Phlebotomy Technician | 213 | $31,000 |
| Medication Technician | 214 | $30,000 |
| Veterinary Technician | 215 | $29,000 |
| Pharmacy Technician | 216 | $28,000 |
| Health Aide | 217 | $28,000 |
| Veterinarian Assistant | 219 | $26,000 |
| Ultrasound Technician | 221 | $22,000 |
Mental Health
As there is a much higher demand for health care in the US, this is also being seen in the mental health arena. According to government statistics, employment of all kinds of mental health professionals, including mental health counselors and psychologists, will increase by 19% by 2023. Growth of jobs for marriage and family therapists also will increase by 15%, which is also a very healthy rate. It is thought that part of the driver of this growth is that more people will have mental health counseling services as part of their health insurance. Also, federal health care reform now requires most insurance plans to cover treatments for mental health problems, just as it does for chronic diseases. This is going to increase access to many mental health treatment and prevention services, which will drive demand for more mental health professionals.
| Name | Salary Rank | Average Salary |
|---|---|---|
| Psychiatry | 30 | $82,000 |
| Cognitive Neuropsychology | 35 | $79,000 |
| Clinical Neuropsychology | 38 | $77,000 |
| Neuropsychology | 39 | $77,000 |
| Marriage/Family Therapy | 51 | $69,000 |
| Comparative Psychology | 61 | $65,000 |
| Forensic Psychology | 62 | $65,000 |
| Analytical Psychology | 68 | $63,000 |
| Biological Psychology | 84 | $60,000 |
| Pediatric Psychology | 89 | $59,000 |
| Healthcare Social Work | 90 | $59,000 |
| Political Psychology | 99 | $57,000 |
| Prison Psychology | 100 | $56,000 |
| Correctional Psychology | 105 | $55,000 |
| Clinical Social Work | 110 | $54,000 |
| Pastoral Counseling | 111 | $54,000 |
| Conflict Resolution | 115 | $53,000 |
| Abnormal Psychology | 116 | $53,000 |
| Trauma Psychology | 120 | $51,000 |
| Occupational Health Psychology | 121 | $51,000 |
| Physiological Psychology | 127 | $50,000 |
| Humanistic Psychology | 128 | $50,000 |
| Clinical Psychology | 129 | $50,000 |
| Cultural Psychology | 133 | $49,000 |
| Substance Abuse Social Work | 134 | $49,000 |
| Medical Social Work | 135 | $49,000 |
| Career Counseling | 136 | $49,000 |
| Experimental Psychology | 137 | $49,000 |
| Guidance Counseling | 138 | $49,000 |
| Mental Health Counseling | 139 | $49,000 |
| Human Services | 142 | $48,000 |
| Rehabilitation Psychology | 143 | $46,000 |
| Performance Psychology | 144 | $46,000 |
| Investigative Psychology | 145 | $46,000 |
| Applied Psychology | 146 | $46,000 |
| Military Psychology | 147 | $46,000 |
| Rehabilitation Counseling | 148 | $46,000 |
| Cognitive Psychology | 149 | $46,000 |
| Community Counseling | 150 | $46,000 |
| Counseling Psychology | 151 | $46,000 |
| Family Counseling | 153 | $45,000 |
| Substance Abuse Psychology | 154 | $45,000 |
| Mental Health Psychology | 155 | $45,000 |
| Business Psychology | 156 | $45,000 |
| Adolescent Psychology | 157 | $45,000 |
| Mental Health Social Work | 158 | $45,000 |
| Addiction Counseling | 159 | $45,000 |
| Economic Psychology | 160 | $44,000 |
| Organizational Psychology | 161 | $44,000 |
| Psychology | 162 | $44,000 |
| Health Psychology | 166 | $43,000 |
| Social Psychology | 167 | $43,000 |
| Educational Psychology | 168 | $43,000 |
| Substance Abuse Counseling | 169 | $43,000 |
| School Counseling | 170 | $43,000 |
| Social Work | 171 | $43,000 |
| Media Psychology | 175 | $42,000 |
| Criminal Psychology | 176 | $42,000 |
| Consumer Psychology | 177 | $42,000 |
| Child Welfare | 178 | $42,000 |
| Behavioral Psychology | 179 | $42,000 |
| Engineering Psychology | 181 | $41,000 |
| Child Psychology | 182 | $41,000 |
| Medical Psychology | 185 | $40,000 |
| Legal Psychology | 186 | $40,000 |
| Developmental Psychology | 187 | $40,000 |
| Quantitative Psychology | 190 | $39,000 |
| School Psychology | 191 | $39,000 |
| Global Psychology | 192 | $38,000 |
| Vocational Psychology | 196 | $36,000 |
| Food Psychology | 197 | $36,000 |
| Hospital Psychology | 198 | $36,000 |
| Sports Psychology | 208 | $33,000 |
| Advertising Psychology | 212 | $32,000 |
Nursing
A career in nursing is one of the best options in the health care industry today. Nursing is a great example of a career that can be entered with a limited amount of education, and can eventually turn into a high paying career with more education. For example, many nurses choose to enter the field with an associate’s degree in nursing, or possibly a diploma of nursing. This education takes only one or two years to obtain, and then you can work in the field for a few years. After that, you can eventually earn your bachelor’s degree in nursing and work as a full RN. And after that, you may eventually decide to get your master’s degree so that you can work as a highly paid, advanced practice nurse. For all nurses, the demand for jobs will increase 16% by 2024, but for advanced practice nurses such as nurse practitioners, you will see demand increase by as much as 30% by 2024. Nursing truly is one of the best health care fields to consider for job growth, salary and general career potential.
| Name | Salary Rank | Average Salary |
|---|---|---|
| Nurse Anesthetist | 1 | $138,000 |
| Cardiac Nurse Practitioner | 3 | $111,000 |
| Oncology Nurse Practitioner | 4 | $108,000 |
| Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner | 5 | $102,000 |
| Palliative Care Nurse Practitioner | 6 | $102,000 |
| Geriatric Nurse Practitioner | 8 | $97,000 |
| Adult Health Nurse Practitioner | 9 | $97,000 |
| Pediatric Nurse Practitioner | 10 | $97,000 |
| Long Term Care Nurse Practitioner | 11 | $97,000 |
| Nurse Practitioner | 12 | $95,000 |
| Family Nurse Practitioner | 13 | $94,000 |
| Emergency Nurse Practitioner | 14 | $94,000 |
| Critical Care Nurse Practitioner | 15 | $94,000 |
| Acute Care Nurse Practitioner | 16 | $94,000 |
| Mental Health Nurse Practitioner | 17 | $93,000 |
| Home Healthcare Nurse Practitioner | 18 | $92,000 |
| Nursing Informatics | 27 | $87,000 |
| Certified Nurse Midwife | 31 | $82,000 |
| Public Health Nurse Practitioner | 32 | $82,000 |
| Neonatal Nurse Practitioner | 40 | $77,000 |
| Occupational Nursing | 41 | $76,000 |
| Rehabilitation Nursing | 43 | $75,000 |
| School Nursing | 45 | $73,000 |
| Clinical Nurse Specialist | 48 | $71,000 |
| Endocrinology Nursing | 52 | $69,000 |
| Registered Nursing | 55 | $67,000 |
| Travel Nursing | 56 | $67,000 |
| Respiratory Nursing | 57 | $66,000 |
| Dialysis Nursing | 63 | $65,000 |
| Nursing Administration | 64 | $65,000 |
| Perioperative Nursing | 65 | $64,000 |
| Radiology Nursing | 66 | $64,000 |
| Ambulatory Care Nursing | 69 | $63,000 |
| Nursing Educator | 70 | $63,000 |
| Transplant Nursing | 71 | $63,000 |
| Endoscopy Nurse | 75 | $62,000 |
| Urology Nursing | 76 | $62,000 |
| Fertility Nurse Practitioner | 77 | $62,000 |
| Orthopedic Nursing | 78 | $61,000 |
| Correctional Nursing | 85 | $60,000 |
| Parish Nursing | 91 | $59,000 |
| Holistic Nursing | 101 | $56,000 |
| Forensics Nursing | 102 | $56,000 |
| Addiction Nursing | 106 | $55,000 |
| Nursing Case Management | 107 | $55,000 |
| Certified Nursing Assistants | 108 | $55,000 |
| Military Nursing | 109 | $55,000 |
| Infection Control Nursing | 117 | $53,000 |
| Licensed Practical Nursing | 122 | $51,000 |
| Legal Nursing | 207 | $34,000 |
| Clinical Nurse Leader | 220 | $22,000 |
Physical Health
A career in physical health is also an excellent career option in the general field of health care. As the focus is more on preventative medicine and preventing diseases from occurring in the first place, more people want to stay fit and healthy throughout their life. This means that there will be more demand for many types of professionals who focus on physical health, such as fitness trainers, nutritionists, physical education teachers, exercise science experts and even physical therapists. You also should find that there will be many companies in the coming years who will want to hire fitness and nutrition experts to work with their employees; by keeping employees more healthy generally, this can lead to lower health costs and higher profitability.
| Name | Salary Rank | Average Salary |
|---|---|---|
| Physical Therapist | 25 | $88,000 |
| Sports Nutrition | 72 | $63,000 |
| Exercise Science | 79 | $61,000 |
| Physical Therapy Assistant | 92 | $59,000 |
| Kinesiology | 96 | $58,000 |
| Certified Nutritionist | 103 | $56,000 |
| Physiology | 130 | $50,000 |
| Nutritionist | 140 | $49,000 |
| Physical Therapy Technician | 172 | $43,000 |
| Holistic Nutritionist | 199 | $36,000 |
Internship Listings
Looksharp.com: This website offers comprehensive internship opti8ons in health care positions both in the US and abroad. Users have the option of searching for healthcare internships in various cities across the US and world.
Internships.com: If you are looking for an internship in the healthcare industry to further your career, one of the best options is internships.com. According to this website, seven out of 10 internships eventually lead to a full time job, so you would be advised to look for a healthcare internship on this site in your city.
Careerrookie.com: This is a good comprehensive internship and job website, with many healthcare related options.
Baxter.com: A healthcare internship at Baxter is an excellent way for potential employees to learn about this healthcare leader in the world. Baxter is strongly committed to developing employees and giving them work that will challenge them professionally and personally. The internship program that Baxter offers allow healthcare students to get more hands on experience in the development and support roles that are vital in a major healthcare company.
Gooverseas.com: If you are interested in a healthcare career but may be interested in working abroad, you should consider getting an internship with a foreign corporation. This website has many medical and healthcare internships available, both for companies and government agencies.
Projectsabroad.com: This website also offers healthcare students with many exciting opportunities to apply for internships in foreign countries. There are internships available around the world in medicine, nursing, midwifery, dentistry, public health, physical therapy, occupational therapy, nutrition and more.
Redcross.org: If you are either an undergraduate or graduate student who wants to get involved in a highly demanding and meaningful internship experience, the national Red Cross offers you many exciting internships in all kinds of areas. Internships are available in Washington DC and at regional chapters around the US.
Professional Organizations
Jointcommission.org: The Joint Commission is one of the most respected accreditation organizations for health care. Joint accreditation can be earned by many health care related organizations, including hospitals, doctor’s offices, nursing homes, and providers of home care.
AHcancal.org: This is the American Health Care Association, the largest and most influential health care assocation in the US. This organization is focused on improving lives and delivering solutions for high quality health care.
HCAA.com: The Health Care Administrators Association offers health care administrators around the US and world with many powerful connections via events, relationships, networking and much more. The members of this organization are insurance carriers, underwriters, brokers and agents and HR managers, among many others.
NAHQ.org: The National Association for Healthcare Quality provides health care leaders and stakeholders with education, leadership development, products to support health care professionals across the US. This association is committed to improving health care quality for all Americans and residents of America, including underserved populations.
Nhcnnetwork.com: The National Healthcare Career Network is the hub and portal for more than 300 professional associations and groups in healthcare across the US and in all 50 states.
ACHC.org: The Accreditation Commission for Healthcare is a national organization that specializes in home care and alternate site health care industry providers.
Ahcap.org: The Association for Healthcare Administrative Professionals is the top organization for all types of healthcare professionals who are dedicated to supprting the top health care companies and leaders in the US. This group supports and provides many leadership opportunities for health care leaders in its many groups and committees.
RAND.org: This large healthcare organization is dedicated to the effective administration and organization of health care systems, hospital networks and many other health care groups, services and issues.
Job Listing Sites
CareerBuilder.com: If you are looking for any type of healthcare job, CareerBuiilder.com is a great resource. CareerB uilder.com features full time, part time and contractor positions that can appeal to health care professionals at any stage of their career.
Indeed.com: This excellent job listing website also provides many great leads to health care jobs around the US. One of the nice things about this website is that it is very easy to use and has jobs broken down according to city and salary. It also has categories for people who are entry level, mid level and senior level. Another very useful aspect of Indeed is that you can very easily look up salary information for any type of job in the US, and also for that type of job in each city.
Snagajob.com: This is a relatively new player in job listing webistes online. There are many ways to search on this comprehensive jobs website: by state, industry, company category, salary, city and state.
Monster.com: Monster.com is one of the biggest job listing websites in the world, and by doing a simple search for ‘nurse,’ you can easily find more than 1,000 jobs posted in the last few weeks.
Resumerabbit.com: If you want to post your health care related resume to a single website and have it go up on more than 80 job sites, this is a good option to consider. When you post your resume, you have the choice of several career site categories to post your site. This website has more than 10 healthcare related websites when it will post your resume.
Additional Resources
- How to Become an Electronic Health Records Specialist
- How to Become an Optician Technician
- What Is the Job Description of An Optician?
- Optician vs Optometrist Differences & Similarities
- What Is a Certified Paraoptometric Technician?
- Salary Outlook for Optometric Technician
- What is an Epidemiologist and How Much Do They Make?
- 17 Things You Can Do with a Pharmacology Degree
- How to Get Training as a Medical Billing & Coding Specialist
- How to Get Dental Assistant Training
- Why Get Certified as a Medical Administrative Assistant
- How to Get a Medical Terminology Certificate
- How to Get Pharmaceutical Sales Certification
