By 2022, it’s estimated that the healthcare industry could be worth over $10 trillion. As you can see, there’s lots of money being poured into this area.
If you’ve been unsatisfied with your current profession, then you might be thinking of switching to this lucrative field. To help you out, here are 7 key reasons why you should consider a job in the healthcare field.
1. There Are Plenty of Jobs
When you think of healthcare, you only think about doctors, nurses, and other related staff members. But the truth is, there are so many other amazing careers! For instance, there are athletic trainers, technicians, dieticians, genetic counselors, community health workers, medical transcriptionists, equipment sales, and more.
The point is, even if you’re not a medically-inclined person, there are still related jobs where you can get in on the healthcare industry without being so hands-on. For example, being a medical transcriptionist would be perfect in this case.
2. The Industry Is Stable and Growing
People will always need healthcare, which means jobs are pretty much guaranteed. In fact, in places like California and Florida, there is a growing population of baby boomers who are retiring, which means even more healthcare staff is needed.
If you’re feeling hesitant about letting go of your current profession, the security of the healthcare industry is one of the things you can get peace of mind about. So long as you follow through with the necessary training and certifications, you’re almost certainly going to find a stable job once you’re done.
3. There’s Lots of Flexibility
For many careers, once you’ve completed school and gotten your certifications, you’re locked into one type of job. This can create some discontent in your life if you’re stuck and don’t completely enjoy your work.
When you go into the medical field, there’s room for advancement and other types of jobs. For instance, if you become a certified nurse, you don’t always have to work in one specific department. Later on, you can transfer from emergency to intensive care, if you so wish.
Because of that, you can also choose from different types of work schedules. You might be ok with working night shifts early on, but after you start a family, you might want to work a regular 9-to-5. This is entirely possible with many healthcare jobs.
4. There Are Great Benefits
One of the main things you should be looking for in a job is what benefits come with it. In healthcare, many employers have excellent benefits to compensate for the workload. For example, you might get access to a concierge service, vegetable gardens, walking trails, and gym memberships.
You’ll also probably get other perks like insurance (health, dental, and life) and paid time off (sick leave and vacation). Some employers are so eager to get good staff that they’ll even pay for your training (both initial and continual), which means you may not even have to spend a cent to grow your career.
5. It Pays Well
When you look at the industry as a whole, healthcare has some of the highest salaries when compared to other industries. Not only that, but there’s huge potential for you to get paid for your skills.
In other industries, it’s easy to spend years at a company honing your skills, but for it to go unnoticed. This can become frustrating, and make you feel like you’re underappreciated by your employer.
In the healthcare industry, this isn’t the case. The more skilled you become at your job, the more your pay will be. If you pursue continuing education and training, this will be rewarded in pay too.
If you stick with a healthcare career path, it’s not uncommon for your salary to be double, or even triple of what you started out with. This can’t be said for professions in other fields.
6. You Can Do Courses from Home
Whether you’re already in a related field, or you need to switch completely, you’ll probably have to take courses and tests in order to get a new career. But when you have a full-time job, it can be hard to handle both work and school at the same time.
The good news is there are many reputable online courses and tests you can take. You can save both time and money by choosing online instead of physical classes. Of course, you’ll have to have a lot of self-discipline to see through the courses, but once you’re done with them and have your proper certifications, it’ll be all worth it.
Find out more through Scrubs CE about what types of home study courses and tests are available for you to take.
7. Help Those in Need
For those of you who want to make a difference in the world, healthcare is definitely the industry you want to be focused in. Whether you work directly with patients, or you supply equipment to doctors, your job will almost certainly change people’s lives for the better.
Choosing a career in healthcare means you can help people heal and offer them moral support as they get stronger. Knowing you’ve had an impact on patients can give you a sense of satisfaction that probably no other job can.
Take the Opportunity to Serve the Public
Certain groups of the population lack access to quality healthcare. They are the uninsured, rural populations, the elderly, racial minorities, and the economically disadvantaged as you’ll learn more once you have entered the industry as a healthcare professional.
Millions of people in the country lack access even to basic healthcare insurance coverage, and these are usually the dependents of averagely employed individuals. They cannot access state and government insurance programs. Not to mention that the cost of healthcare insurance is rising every year, so many employers can no longer afford to offer this employee benefit to new employees.
As a future healthcare worker, you’ll have an excellent opportunity to work with the underserved population by working tightly with private or government agencies to assess their health.
Check out these healthcare-related jobs:
- Medical Assistant: This involves completing clinic or hospital administrative tasks.
- Nursing Assistant: A certified nursing assistant (CNA) helps a registered nurse or a licensed vocational nurse, responsible for taking vital signs, administering sponge baths, organizing medical equipment, and more. Nurse aides usually work in nursing or retirement.
- Home Health Aide: This healthcare worker assists home-bound patients with daily tasks, such as dressing, housekeeping, and bathing. A home health aide usually travels between several patients every day or assigned to live and take good care of one patient full time.
- Licensed Practical Nurses: They are also called licensed vocational nurses (LPNs) who provide basic health care in clinics, nursing homes, hospitals, and other healthcare facilities.
- Physicians: Doctors diagnose and treat patients, working in hospitals, or running their own clinics. Specializations include pediatrics, gynecology, family care, intensive care, and oncology.
- Therapists: These healthcare workers are also called mental health counselors, helping patients overcome psychological disorders affecting their daily lives, such as anxiety, panic, social disorder, mood disorder, and depression.
Get a Rewarding Career in Healthcare
Based on our list above, you should see it’s fairly obvious that a career in healthcare can be highly rewarding. Not only will you have a stable and excellent paycheck, but you’ll also get the chance to help others out. No matter what job you have now, you can always go down a more satisfying life path by choosing healthcare instead.
If you’re thinking about going back to school to pursue a healthcare career, then please take a look at our scholarships section now.
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