The healthcare and medical fields are closely related and sometimes overlapping in terms of education and occupation, but they are not always mutually inclusive by any means. There is more to building careers in healthcare than becoming a nurse or a doctor, but these two are certainly among the most financially and professionally rewarding categories to consider first.
However, there’s an even more important aspect to deliberate on, before considering any of the various opportunities that are available in healthcare for qualified professionals today. A careful evaluation of one’s own personality, phobias, lifestyle, environment, education, work experience and the like are necessary. This would let them have a better understanding of whether they are indeed suitable for building a career in the specific field of healthcare or medical care that they wish to.
Pursuing a Career in Healthcare May Not be Suitable for Some
The primary reason why pursuing careers within the healthcare industry might not suit someone, often has a lot to do with their own ignorance. For example, if someone has a severe case of hemophobia, they might not find it ideal to work in direct medical care, but becoming a medical informaticist has nothing to do with blood or direct patient handling of any sort. It’s a high paying job with excellent growth opportunities as well, but not everyone is even aware that such a field could be perfect for them.
Yet, students often avoid pursuing a job in healthcare as a whole, because they falsely believe the field to be unsuited for them. In other words, it can rightly be said that for a majority of aspiring students, healthcare feels like a wrong career choice for them because they do not properly know about all the career opportunities that exist in this vast industry.
The Choice Must Be Made Carefully
The choice of career must still match the aforementioned aspects of the student though, and there should be a clear harmony between who they are and what careers they pursue in healthcare or elsewhere. For example, if you are a caring individual who does not mind looking after the ones who need your help, nursing or perhaps even starting your own in home healthcare franchise could open amazing career opportunities for you.
Gender is no longer a limiting factor in nursing, and anyone who feels that they have the will and power to help others should most definitely pursue nursing careers without any inhibitions. Having said that, women breaking barriers in the field of nursing is a far more common occurrence for sure, be it for the fact that they are naturally more caring and nurturing, or perhaps because of the fact that the number of women in nursing is much higher than the number of men working in the field.
Either way, from Florence Nightingale and Mary Breckinridge, to the everyday emergency nurse who is silently saving lives every single day, women have always set the bar high when it comes to nursing careers. The Marymount University Online provides present nursing professionals the opportunity to take their careers a step further and join the ranks of present day women breaking barriers across healthcare. Complete an MSN – FNP online program and you could become one of the highest paid and most respected nursing professionals in the entire sector. It will open new opportunities for your career, as you slowly gain more power by assuming administrative roles, bringing about the changes in healthcare that are needed.
Even if you have an excellent typing speed and no medically relevant skills whatsoever, there is the option to become a medical transcriptionist. You will still need to complete a year of medical transcriptionist’s training though. It will help your employability immensely if you pursue a certificate in EHR alongside the transcription training. As it happens, any medical scribe’s chances of landing a high-paid job will also increase if they are comfortable with handling compliant EHR policy making and adequate data formatting. However, in order to be a medical transcriptionist only, EHR degrees are not considered as essential, unless it is mentioned as such in a job posting.
What Options Are Available?
Becoming a doctor by going to medical school is the default medical career and it pays better than any other career in healthcare, unless of course, you actually become an entrepreneur and launch your own business in the sector. However, medical school is by far the most well-known career path within the healthcare industry, which is why there is little point in discussing how prosperous a specialist doctor’s career can be.
The second most obvious career choice is nursing, and we have covered that already of course. As far as options are considered though, there are still so many left that we would not be able to discuss them all here. Instead, let’s focus on a few particular careers in healthcare which are varied in their job descriptions. It should provide aspiring students and present medical professionals a wider view over the field as a whole.
Medical Billing and Coding
In order to become a medical biller and coder, you don’t really need to be a software coder, because medical coding is a completely different process altogether. Qualifications expected and/or necessary for the job include:
- Proficiency with EHR (electronic health records), with certified training
- Proper training and/or experience in medical recordkeeping and AR processes
- Adequate knowledge of medical codes and terms, as is necessary for the job in question
- A good understanding of medical insurance policies and associated billing details
- Helpful soft skills in communication, organization and time management
- A clear understanding of the associated billing and coding software solutions
Healthcare informatics would be what a medical biller and coder should aspire to pursue down the line, because it pays significantly more, with higher employability.
Phlebotomists
Those with hemophobia will find the job of a Phlebotomist to be particularly out of their comfort zone, given that these are the trained professionals who collect blood for medical diagnostics, research, donation or transfusion. While they are not the highest paid professionals in healthcare, they are lucrative opportunities for students in particular to get acquainted with the medical field, before taking up a higher position, post completing their graduation.
Individuals who possess ideal hand-eye coordination and a degree of dexterity can become phlebotomists by completing a short course that usually lasts only about a year or so. No particular qualifications other than a high-school degree might be necessary to join this profession, which makes it a more accessible entry point into healthcare for a lot of students and even older individuals without a college degree.
Physiotherapist
A physiotherapist can help in ways that even the best doctor in the world might not be able to, which is why they are highly respected and well-paid healthcare professionals. Physiotherapists work closely with patients who have developed some sort of a physical disability, be it after a stroke, due to arthritis or post an accident. These are essential professionals who help patients recover, rehabilitate and accustom themselves to their new condition.
In order to become a physiotherapist in the United States, a professional must possess a Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education, or CAPTE accredited certificate first. In order to acquire the professional training, they must also hold a bachelor’s degree from any field of choice. Depending on the physiotherapy school in question, they may have further requirements as well, but that’s usually the standard. Further requirements, if any, would make it necessary for the applicant to have either prior experience in the healthcare industry or a bachelor’s degree in a field that is related to medical science/healthcare. On an average, a physiotherapist in the States is expected to earn roughly $89,000 per year on an average, with senior physiotherapists even going past the $100,000 per year mark.
It is true that if you have the skills, the patience and the aptitude for it, no other job in healthcare can make you a millionaire faster than being a doctor in the United States. After all, orthopedists and plastic surgeons earn nearly or over half-a-million dollars every year on an average, while family physicians were among the lowest paid doctors with the average income of $231,000 per year! On the other hand, if you are dedicated towards helping patients but do not have the opportunity/time to attend medical school, highly qualified nurses such as family nurse practitioners and nurse anesthetists are among the highest earners in the entire field of healthcare service.
For those that just wish to join a segment with massive growth potential, greater employability and stable career opportunities, without having to treat or care for patients directly, we have listed some of the best fields here that allow professionals and aspiring students to take a more hands-off approach to serving in healthcare. Now that you have access to all the information you need to make a preliminary decision, it’s all about what appeals to you, your skills and your personality the most.
