If you’re a student planning your career, or even a working professional considering a change, there are all kinds of strong options to consider. For those seeking rewarding, stable, and accessible professions though, few options can top a career in healthcare.
Here are five reasons why you should consider such a career.
1. Rewarding Work
It is actually quite easy to think of a career in healthcare as a rewarding one because, in the most fundamental terms, it involves helping others! When considering this kind of career path, one can easily imagine the satisfaction at the end of an average day after helping others to be more comfortable, regain health, or even answer difficult questions about how they’re feeling. It is in a sense a very noble and giving profession.
Even beyond this general sense that healthcare work is rewarding though, there has been research done on the most satisfying jobs — certainly a related idea — that has come out looking quite strong for those in care. Among the top-15 jobs identified in this research are chiropractor, dentist, medical and health services provider, nurse, physical therapist, physician, surgeon, and even psychologist. These cover much of the spectrum of healthcare work, and demonstrate that many in the broader field have a strong overall sense of satisfaction with their work.
2. Competitive Salaries
This point almost goes without saying, because it’s well known that physicians earn some of the most competitive salaries in any mainstream profession. We should note however that the healthcare field also tends to provide strong salaries more broadly. While there are certainly some aspects of healthcare in which workers deserve more than they get (the adage that nurses can’t be paid enough is certainly accurate!), these are — by and large — stable jobs with competitive pay and reliable benefits.
3. Accessible Advancement Opportunity
Another excellent reason to pursue a career in healthcare today is that opportunities in the field have gotten increasingly accessible. In part, this is because there are versatile points of entry that help people to prepare themselves for any of a range of terrific careers. In other words, one doesn’t have to go through the grueling journey of medical school in order to work in healthcare. In particular, the Certified Medical Assistant Program stands out as a terrific alternative path, helping those who are interested to take the first steps toward becoming nurses or physicians’ assistants.
Accessibility in 2021 specifically also has to do with the ways in which aspiring healthcare professionals can pursue opportunity. In discussing what the pandemic has taught us about online learning in a previous post, one point we made is that there need to be more online classes, so that students have more options when it comes to remote (and sometimes more affordable) studies. This remains the case, but it’s worth mentioning that healthcare is near the forefront of online education when it comes to higher learning opportunities that are already available.
In some cases, online education leads candidates directly to some of the same jobs mentioned above regarding the Certified Medial Assistant Program, such as PAs, or hospital or private practice administrators. But there are other instances in which even those with existing qualifications in medical care can now advance their careers online. Most notable in this regard is the online RN-to-BSN degree path, which has opened up a world of new opportunities for practicing nurses to take specialist and/or leadership roles in their field.
Of course, there are still careers and roles in the healthcare world that require in-person instruction. But by and large this has become an extremely accessible field to those who would rather study online, or might not have any other option. Educational opportunity is there, more so than in many other prestigious fields.
4. General Flexibility
Flexibility is something people seem to value more and more in their careers, and it’s something a lot of people working in healthcare are able to enjoy. That’s not to say it’s true in all jobs and at all levels; in particular, those working their way up to being doctors or nurses often spend a few years with long hours in relatively rigid conditions. In many other situations within the healthcare industry though, people are able to enjoy vacation days, remote work or virtual care options, and some ability to shape their own schedules. And of course, at a certain point, many in healthcare even choose to open their own practices — which is a great deal of work, but also involves a degree of autonomy we all strive to enjoy in our careers.
5. Innovation
Finally, many might consider a career in healthcare simply because of the excitement of innovation to come. A lot of people value change and progress in their fields, and healthcare tends to advance more rapidly than just about any other sector. Just now we’re beginning to see the benefits of expanding remote care through digital means; in the near future, virtual and augmented reality are expected to play a much bigger role in care; and changes a few years further along may be all the more exciting. A recent piece on ideas that will shape the 2020s discussed professors’ predictions that gene editing will soon begin to alter care, for instance, and 3D-printed organs are on the verge of becoming viable in surgery.
Even these changes only scratch the surface of the innovation and advancement we expect to see in healthcare. For many, this makes for an exciting work environment and one more good reason to consider the field.
Post specially written for southcoastcollege.edu
Post by: JBridges
Photo Credit – Pixabay
