Best Job Prospects for Health Sciences Students
Everyone’s tired of talking about the tanking economy, and while the job market may brighten soon enough, there are still certain industries that are healthier than others. One of those industries is health care, due in part to President Obama’s recent stimulus package and also to the increase in baby boomers-as-patients over the next few years and into the next decades. Doctors, general practitioners, nurses, lab technicians, physical therapists, long-term caregivers and other health sciences professions are in desperate need of young, energetic, well-educated individuals to join the industry, but while colleges and universities are struggling with funding issues so that they can keep up with registration, employment remains unbalanced. If you’re thinking of going back to school because of a layoff or to pursue a more profitable career path, or if you’re a high school or college-aged student trying to decide on a major, consider these health sciences professions which are supposed to grow dramatically over the next several years, no matter how the economy stabilizes itself.
DailyFinance.com points out that "17 of the 30 fastest-growing occupations identified by the BLS are health-care related," and the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ own website reiterates that "healthcare will generate 3.2 million new wage and salary jobs between 2008 and 2018, more than any other industry." The facilities experiencing the highest job growth in health care are home healthcare services, health practitioner offices, medical and diagnostic laboratories, and outpatient care centers. Nursing homes are still expected to increase jobs by over 20%, and public and private hospitals by about 10%.
Many of these job openings will not require four full years of education and training, though the highest paying jobs will certainly pay more. Nursing continues to create the most new jobs in the health sciences, from entry level nurses and assistants to registered nurses. The actual health care occupations expected to expand through 2018 are: physician assistants, physicians and surgeons, registered nurses, licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses, clinical laboratory technologists and technicians, pharmacists, and dietitians and nutritionists.
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This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 18th, 2010 at 9:51 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
