To be healthy, wealthy, and wise, as the old saying puts it, is the goal of nearly everyone. Perhaps it's no accident that health comes first, for getting and staying well is the basis for enjoying everything else life has to offer. Health care workers in the United States have the privilege of providing Americans with the most valued kind of care, that which preserves and prolongs their ve…
Good jobs do not magically appear. Anyone who has been in the job market knows that landing the right job takes planning, preparation, perseverance, and patience. This is true whether you are looking for your first job, reentering the job market, trying to get a new job, or planning a mid-career change. This essay is designed to guide you through the process of finding a job, from helping you defi…
Education and Training: High school Salary: Median—$11.94 per hour Employment Outlook: Good Admitting interviewers are also known as admitting clerks or patient representatives. They are usually the first employees that patients meet when entering a hospital. Admitting interviewers gather information that is required for patients' admission to the hospital and sign patients in to the…
Education and Training: High school or dental assisting program Salary: Median—$13.62 per hour Employment Outlook: Excellent Dental assistants perform a number of duties in a dentist's office. Some of their tasks may be clerical. Dental assistants with office duties schedule appointments, keep records, receive payments from patients, and order supplies. When patients come to the offi…
Education and Training: High school Salary: $25,682 to $32,413 per year Employment Outlook: Very good Dialysis technicians work with people whose kidneys no longer work properly or at all. These technicians, who are sometimes called hemodialysis technicians or patient care technicians (PCTs), operate machines that remove wastes, salt, and extra water from patients' blood while keeping safe …
Education and Training: Varies—see profile Salary: Median—$8.81 per hour Employment Outlook: Excellent Home health aides provide health care services in homes. Their clients include the elderly or people with long-term illnesses or disabilities. Home health aides work for hospitals and health care agencies. Health aides provide a variety of services for their clients. They give them …
Education and Training: High school Salary: Median—$7.86 per hour Employment Outlook: Very good Laboratory animal care workers take care of animals that are used in scientific research. Laboratory animal care workers include assistant laboratory animal technicians, laboratory animal technicians, and laboratory animal technologists. Scientists use laboratory animals for a variety of purposes…
Education and Training: High school Salary: Average—$10.09 per hour Employment Outlook: Very good Nursing aides and orderlies help nurses care for patients by doing routine tasks. They help keep patients comfortable and tend to their basic needs. Aides and orderlies generally spend most of their time with patients, carrying meal trays to them, answering call lights when patients signal for …
Education and Training: High school Salary: $12,000 to $30,000 per year Employment Outlook: Excellent Optometric assistants perform routine tasks in optometrists' offices. Their work enables optometrists to devote their time to patient care that requires specialized training. Optometric assistants do clerical work, such as bookkeeping and scheduling appointments. They also help the optometr…
Education and Training: High school and on-the-job-training Salary: Median—$11.19 per hour Employment Outlook: Fair Psychiatric aides provide routine care for mentally impaired or emotionally disturbed patients. Psychiatric aides are also called mental health assistants or psychiatric nursing assistants. They work under the supervision of a mental health team that may include psychiatrists,…
Education and Training: High school Salary: Median—$32,960 per year Employment Outlook: Very good Substance abuse counselors help people who have problems related to alcohol and other drugs. They counsel addicts as well as those who are afraid they might become addicts. They also help former addicts. Sometimes they counsel the families, friends, and loved ones of addicts, whose lives are in…
Education and Training: High school Salary: $24,320 to $28,167 per year Employment Outlook: Good Ward clerks perform clerical work at the nurse's station of a hospital or nursing unit. Ward clerks are also referred to as ward, unit, or floor secretaries, assistants, or administrative assistants. Ward clerks are usually supervised by a registered nurse. Their work allows nurses to spend more…
Education and Training: Varies—see profile Salary: Median—$34,820 per year Employment Outlook: Varies—see profile AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) is a disorder of the immune system caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). There is no cure for AIDS. Although research is ongoing, there is no vaccine that can protect people from infection. HIV is…
Education and Training: License and training Salary: Median—$24,722 per year Employment Outlook: Excellent Ambulance drivers and other ambulance personnel are often the first members of the medical team to reach a person in need of medical attention. Ambulance drivers operate vehicles that carry sick people and accident victims to hospitals. Ambulance drivers work for hospitals and for poli…
Education and Training: High school plus training Salary: Median—$17.90 per hour Employment Outlook: Good Biomedical equipment technicians specialize in the use, maintenance, and repair of medical equipment such as heart-lung machines, dialysis machines, medical imaging machines, and defibrillators. Unlike electrocardiograph and electroencephalograph technicians, who specialize in one type …
Education and Training: High school plus training Salary: Median—$26,513 per year Employment Outlook: Poor Cardiac monitor technicians check the heart rhythm patterns of patients to detect abnormal pattern variations. They usually work in the intensive care or cardiac care units of hospitals. These technicians are responsible for reviewing patients' records to determine normal heart …
Education and Training: High school plus training Salary: Median—$38,690 per year Employment Outlook: Excellent Cardiology technologists work in hospital cardiology departments, cardiac rehabilitation centers, clinics, doctors' offices, or medical schools. They help doctors diagnose and treat disorders of the heart and blood vessels. Cardiology technologists specialize in invasive pr…
Education and Training: High school plus training Salary: Median—$30,840 per year Employment Outlook: Excellent Clinical laboratory technicians are also known as medical technicians or medical laboratory technicians. They conduct laboratory tests that aid in the detection, diagnosis, and treatment of disease. Clinical laboratory technicians are supervised by clinical laboratory technologist…
Education and Training: Two-year college; license Salary: Median—$28.05 per hour Employment Outlook: Excellent Dental hygienists are licensed professionals who help dentists provide treatment and care of the mouth, teeth, and gums. State laws limit the duties that hygienists may perform. Hygienists examine patients' teeth and gums. They remove stains and tartar, a hard, yellow deposi…
Education and Training: High school plus training Salary: Median—$14.93 per hour Employment Outlook: Fair Dental laboratory technicians fill prescriptions from dentists. They construct and repair dentures (false teeth), bridges, crowns, and other artificial tooth replacement devices (prosthetics) that dentists order for patients. They work from the dentist's written instructions and …
Education and Training: High school plus training Salary: Median—$26,540 per year Employment Outlook: Good Dental secretaries and medical secretaries perform clerical and secretarial duties for dentists and physicians, respectively. They take shorthand, type, and file patients' records. To do their jobs, they must have an understanding of the procedures and terms that physicians and …
Education and Training: High school plus training Salary: Median—$27,950 per year Employment Outlook: Good Dispensing opticians, sometimes called prescription opticians or ophthalmic dispensers, examine written prescriptions to determine the specifications of lenses. They recommend eyeglass frames, lenses, and lens coatings after considering the prescription and the customer's occupa…
Education and Training: High school plus training Salary: Median—$44,621 per year Employment Outlook: Fair Electroneurodiagnostic (END) technology enables health care professionals to record and study the electrical activity of the brain and nervous system. END technologists use a variety of techniques and instruments to record electrical activity arising from a patient's brain, spin…
Education and Training: High school plus training Salary: Median—$25,310 per year Employment Outlook: Excellent Emergency medical technicians (EMTs) offer immediate aid to victims of accidents or critical illnesses. They may provide their services at the scene of the crisis, en route to the hospital, and in the emergency room. Usually an EMT's first contact with a victim is at the sc…
Education and Training: Varies—see profile Salary: $37,300 to $57,551 per year Employment Outlook: Good Environmental health specialists monitor health and safety conditions in residential, industrial, commercial, and recreational settings. A person who works as an environmental health specialist may also be called an environmental health or safety inspector, or a health and safety speciali…
Education and Training: High school plus training; license Salary: Median—$33,970 per year Employment Outlook: Good Licensed practical nurses (LPNs) help physicians and registered nurses (RNs) care for patients. They have the technical knowledge to perform routine nursing duties, but they may also make appointments, maintain patient records, and perform basic clerical duties. Their work all…
Education and Training: High school plus training Salary: Median—$24,610 per year Employment Outlook: Excellent Medical assistants aid physicians by performing administrative duties and handling basic clinical tasks. They work in doctors' offices, hospitals, and medical clinics, helping to keep operations running smoothly and efficiently. The job description of a medical assistant va…
Education and Training: Community college Salary: Median—$25,590 per year Employment Outlook: Very good Most medical records and health information technicians work in hospitals, clinics, and nursing homes. They most often work with computerized record systems and maintain hospital reports on patients. Medical records and health information technicians keep track of patients' medical…
Education and Training: Varies—see profile Salary: Median—$56,450 per year Employment Outlook: Fair Nuclear medicine technologists help in the diagnosis and treatment of certain diseases. They administer radiopharmaceuticals (radioactive drugs) to patients and monitor the concentration levels of the drugs in the patient's body. Technologists work directly with patients under t…
Education and Training: Varies—see profile Salary: Median—$38,430 per year Employment Outlook: Very good Occupational therapist assistants, also known as occupational therapy assistants, provide rehabilitative services to people with mental, emotional, physical, or developmental impairments. They work under the supervision of occupational therapists. Many occupational therapist assis…
Education and Training: High school plus training Salary: Median—$11.40 per hour Employment Outlook: Fair Ophthalmic laboratory technicians prepare eyeglass lenses or contact lenses from an eye doctor's (optometrist's or ophthalmologist's) prescription. Some make precision lenses for cameras, microscopes, telescopes, and military equipment. Ophthalmic laboratory technic…
Education and Training: Two to four years of college and on-the-job training Salary: Median—$60,130 per year Employment Outlook: Good Pharmaceutical sales representatives are employed by drug companies. They distribute information about their companies' products to physicians, hospital nurses, and medical technicians. They do not take drug orders from these health care practitioners …
Education and Training: High school and associate degree Salary: Median—$37,890 per year Employment Outlook: Very good Physical therapist assistants work under the supervision of physical therapists. They use physical treatment procedures to help improve mobility and relieve pain and disability caused by disease or injury. Physical therapists and their assistants usually work in hospitals, …
Education and Training: Two-year or four-year college Salary: Median—$43,350 per year Employment Outlook: Good Radiologic technologists, who are also called radiographers, take X-rays (radiographs), which are images of the inside of the human body. To take X-rays, radiographers position the patient, position the X-ray machine and other equipment, set controls, position the X-ray film, and r…
Education and Training: Two-year or four-year degree Salary: Median—$43,140 per year Employment Outlook: Very good Respiratory therapists are also known as inhalation therapists. They treat patients who have difficulty breathing and work with all types of patients, from premature infants to stroke victims to elderly patients with lung disease. They operate equipment such as respirators and …
Education and Training: Community college or vocational/technical school Salary: Median—$34,010 per year Employment Outlook: Very good Surgical technologists, also known as operating room technicians, are part of the surgical team. They assist the doctors, nurses, and other operating room workers. They help prepare patients for surgery by washing, shaving, and disinfecting the intended area…
Education and Training: Minimum of some college plus additional training Salary: Median—$50,000 per year Employment Outlook: Good Acupuncturists are alternative health care providers who use procedures that originated in China more than two thousand years ago. American acupuncture incorporates medical traditions from China, Japan, Korea, and other countries. Acupuncture includes procedures …
Education and Training: College, medical school, and specialized medical training Salary: Median—$321,686 per year Employment Outlook: Very good Anesthesiologists are physicians who focus on surgical patients and pain relief. They administer anesthetics, which are medicines to prevent patients from feeling pain and sensations; closely monitor patients' vital signs during surgery and …
Education and Training: Master's or doctoral degree Salary: Median—$51,470 per year Employment Outlook: Good Audiologists help people who have hearing, balance, and related ear problems. These problems may be a result of trauma at birth, viral infections, genetic disorders, exposure to loud noise, certain medications, or aging. Using various types of testing equipment, audiologists m…
Education and Training: College degree plus specialized training Salary: Median—$96,144 per year Employment Outlook: Excellent Cardiac perfusionists set up and operate heart-lung machines, which take over the functions of a patient's heart and lungs during heart surgery. The word "perfusion" means to pump a liquid into an organ or tissue, usually via blood vessels. In t…
Education and Training: Advanced degree and license Salary: Median—$69,910 per year Employment Outlook: Good Chiropractors are alternative health care practitioners who diagnose and treat health problems associated with the muscular, nervous, and skeletal systems. Chiropractic philosophy holds that interference with these systems impairs the body's normal functions and lowers its res…
Education and Training: Bachelor's degree plus training Salary: Average—$45,730 per year Employment Outlook: Excellent Clinical laboratory technologists perform laboratory tests that are crucial to the detection, diagnosis, and treatment of disease. They look for evidence of the presence of illnesses and parasites, identify allergic reactions and changes in body chemistry, and type a…
Education and Training: College and dental college Salary: Median—$129,920 per year Employment Outlook: Good Dentists are health professionals who take care of the teeth, gums, and supporting bones of the mouth. They help their patients keep their teeth and gums healthy. They also treat diseased teeth and gums. Dentists sometimes detect general diseases of the body that can affect the condi…
Education and Training: College, medical school, and specialty training Salary: Median—$193,870 per year Employment Outlook: Excellent Dermatologists are physicians who diagnose and treat conditions and diseases of the skin, hair, and nails, such as fungal infections, acne (pimples), birth-marks, skin cancer, eczema (itching, scaling skin), warts, and psoriasis (red patches of skin covered …
Education and Training: College, graduate degree, and possibly medical school Salary: Median—$54,800 per year Employment Outlook: Good Epidemiologists are medical scientists who investigate and describe factors that influence the development of disease, disability, and other health outcomes. They formulate means for prevention and control. Epidemiologists focus either on research or on clin…
Education and Training: Associate's, bachelor's, or master's degree Salary: Median—$40,080 per year Employment Outlook: Excellent Social workers help people function in their environments, deal with their relationships, and solve personal and family problems. Geriatric social work is a division of social work concerned with the welfare of the elderly. Geriatric social w…
Education and Training: College, medical school, and specialty training Salary: Median—$166,420 per year Employment Outlook: Excellent Geriatricians are physicians who work primarily with the elderly. Although they address their patients' multiple medical problems and chronic illnesses, geriatricians focus primarily on quality of life and functional ability. Geriatricians also determ…
Education and Training: Master's degree or higher Salary: Median—$52,639 per year Employment Outlook: Very good Health educators plan, organize, and direct health education programs for communities and groups such as civic organizations and labor unions. They work with other health professionals, civic groups, and community officials to determine health needs, develop desirable healt…
Education and Training: College plus graduate degree Salary: Median—$67,430 per year Employment Outlook: Good Health care is one of the largest sectors of the American economy, and it is undergoing radical changes in order to meet the needs of a growing and aging population. Like other complicated businesses, health care institutions require skilled managers. Currently, more than one-half o…
Education and Training: Master's degree Salary: Median—$59,000 per year Employment Outlook: Good Medical illustrators are artists who work in the field of medicine. They make detailed drawings for textbooks and other publications used by physicians and students. They may illustrate the steps surgeons take during operations or draw pictures of both healthy and diseased body parts to s…
Education and Training: Advanced degree Salary: Median—$124,532 per year Employment Outlook: Good Medical physicists apply the principles and theories of physics to all aspects of medicine. In hospitals, they help plan radiation treatments for cancer patients using external radiation beams or internal radioactive sources. They provide images of internal organs and determine metabolic rates …
Education and Training: Master's degree Salary: Median—$54,660 per year Employment Outlook: Excellent Occupational therapists (OTs) help people who have physical, mental, or emotional impairments improve their ability to perform routine tasks at both home and work. They help patients improve their basic motor functions and reasoning abilities or compensate for permanent loss of funct…
Education and Training: College, medical school, and specialized medical training Salary: Median—$199,423 per year Employment Outlook: Very good Ophthalmologists are physicians who diagnose and treat diseases of the eye, including glaucoma and cataracts; vision problems such as nearsightedness; and eye injuries. Optometrists and family doctors often refer patients with serious eye condition…
Education and Training: College plus optometry school Salary: Median—$88,410 per year Employment Outlook: Good Optometrists examine eyes and treat vision problems, usually by prescribing eyeglasses or contact lenses, vision therapy, or rehabilitation programs. They also prescribe medicines to treat some eye diseases and allergies. Optometrists examine patients' eyes with several inst…
Education and Training: Bachelor's degree plus training Salary: Average—$45,000 to $50,000 per year Employment Outlook: Excellent Orthoptists treat imbalances of the muscles of the eye or the nerves that serve those muscles. Many of their patients have amblyopia—commonly called lazy eye—or strabismus—known as cross-eye. Orthoptists also treat vision problems that…
Education and Training: Bachelor's degree Salary: Median—$59,540 per year Employment Outlook: Good Orthotists and prosthetists help patients use damaged parts of their bodies or replace parts that patients have lost to accidents or illnesses. Orthotists fit braces to help support parts of the body or to correct malformations. Prosthetists fit artificial limbs. Working with doctors&#x…
Education and Training: College, osteopathic medical college, and specialized training Salary: Median—$156,010 per year Employment Outlook: Very good Osteopathic physicians practice a system of health care known as osteopathy, which is based on the idea that health is closely related to the structure of the body. They specialize in a treatment called manipulative therapy in which they use t…
Education and Training: Advanced degree Salary: Median—$84,900 per year Employment Outlook: Very good Pharmacists are health practitioners who specialize in dispensing drugs prescribed by physicians and providing information to patients about their side effects and use. Pharmacists must understand the composition of medicines, as well as the laws that regulate their manufacture and sale. Th…
Education and Training: Advanced degrees Salary: Average—$91,407 to $118,828 per year Employment Outlook: Very good Pharmacologists are research scientists who develop, identify, and test drugs to cure, treat, and prevent disease. They also test substances, such as gases, dusts, or food colorings, to determine if they are harmful. They often study the effects of drugs and other substances o…
Education and Training: Advanced degree Salary: Median—$60,180 per year Employment Outlook: Very good Physical therapists help patients suffering from injury or disease to restore function, improve mobility, relieve pain, and prevent or limit permanent physical disabilities. In addition, they promote patients' overall fitness and health. Physical therapists work with health-care team…
Education and Training: College and medical school, possibly with specialty training Salary: Varies—see profile Employment Outlook: Good Physicians, or medical doctors (MDs), diagnose and treat diseases, injuries, and other disorders. They also work to promote good health and prevent illness. Physicians often supervise other health-care workers, such as physician assistants, nurses, and tec…
Education and Training: Some college and additional training Salary: Median—$69,410 per year Employment Outlook: Excellent Physician assistants (PAs) relieve doctors of routine chores, allowing them to devote more of their time to patient care that requires highly specialized training. Although they are not doctors, physician assistants practice medicine and do many of the jobs doctors do. …
Education and Training: Advanced degree Salary: Median—$94,400 per year Employment Outlook: Good Podiatrists are medical practitioners who specialize in the treatment of sore, badly shaped, diseased, or injured feet and ankles. Podiatrists were formerly called chiropodists. They order X-rays and laboratory tests to diagnose patients' problems, which they treat by manipulation, massag…
Education and Training: College, medical school, and specialized training Salary: Median—$180,000 per year Employment Outlook: Very good Psychiatrists are physicians who specialize in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of mental disorders. They treat patients with mild cases of anxiety as well as those with severe disorders that can cause dangerous and bizarre behavior. Psychiatrists …
Education and Training: Master's degree or doctorate Salary: Median—$54,950 per year Employment Outlook: Good Psychologists are scientists who study behavior. Their work usually involves teaching, research, or social service in schools, clinics, government agencies, and private industry. About forty percent are in private practice. To learn about behavior, they may conduct tests and …
Education and Training: Bachelor's degree, additional training Salary: Median—$32,900 per year Employment Outlook: Fair Recreational therapists devise programs in art, music, dance, sports, games, and crafts for individuals with disabilities or illnesses. These activities help to prevent or to alleviate physical, mental, and social problems. They improve self-confidence and self-cont…
Education and Training: College and possibly advanced degree Salary: Median—$52,330 per year Employment Outlook: Excellent Registered nurses (RNs) work to promote good health and prevent illness. They educate patients and the public about various medical conditions; treat patients and help in their rehabilitation; and provide advice and emotional support to patients' families. RNs us…
Education and Training: Master's degree Salary: Median—$52,410 per year Employment Outlook: Good Speech pathologists, sometimes called speech therapists, work with people who cannot speak or cannot speak clearly; have speech problems, such as stuttering, an unwanted accent, or an inappropriate pitch; have problems understanding language; or have communication impairments, such as att…
Education and Training: College, medical school, and specialized training Salary: Median—$282,504 per year Employment Outlook: Very good Surgeons are physicians who operate to repair injuries, correct deformities, prevent diseases, and generally improve the health of patients. They examine patients to determine if surgery is necessary, evaluate the risks involved, and select the appropriate…
