Exploring Health Care Careers
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics the health care industry will have the largest growth in jobs compared to all other industries. In the next few years 26% of all new jobs will be created in the health care and social assistance industry. This includes jobs in public and private hospitals, nursing and residential care facilities, individual care, and family services. That equals an estimated 4 million new job opportunities.
Below is a short list of some of the many health care occupations that will experience growth. Using your Interest code from Assess Yourself, you can begin exploring some of these occupations.
| Occupation |
Interest Code |
Education |
Average Annual Salary |
Average Annual Job Openings |
|
Ambulance driver and attendants |
SRE | High school diploma plus training | $28,812 | 70 |
|
Medical and clinical laboratory technicians |
RIE |
Bachelor’s degree in science plus training |
$70,101 | 390 |
| Dental assistant | SRE |
High school diploma and dental assisting certificate |
$34,389 | 2170 |
| Dietetic technician | SRI | Associate of Arts degree | $30,128 | 90 |
|
Emergency medical technician and paramedic |
SRI |
High school diploma, EMT training and license |
$32,354 | 410 |
| Medical coder | CEI |
High school diploma plus certification courses in medical coding |
$55,000 | 630 |
|
Medical equipment repairers |
RIC | High school diploma plus training | $53,431 | 220 |
|
Home health aide |
SRC |
High school diploma plus home health aide certificate |
$22,164 | 2200 |
|
Dental laboratory technicians |
RIC | Two-year course in dental laboratory technology | $40,558 | 190 |
|
Medical assistants |
SCR | High school diploma plus medical assisting training | $31,960 | 2570 |
|
Medical transcriptionist |
CRI |
Medical Transcriptionist training program or a two-year associate degree or one-year certificate program |
$40,824 | 170 |
|
Occupational therapist assistant |
SRA |
Associate’s degree or certificate from a college accredited by the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education and passing of an exam |
$54,667 | 70 |
|
Pharmacy technician |
CRI |
Two-year associate degree in health, biological, physical or natural sciences. Or, completion of a State board approved Pharmacy Technician training program. |
$36,353 | 1550 |
|
Physical therapist assistant |
SRC | Associate degree in physical therapy assisting from an accredited school. | $54,975 | 180 |
For a listing of 48 health care occupations that will experience growth, you can go to the California EDD page for Health Care Careers. This site will provide educational requirements, a description of the occupation, average annual salary, and expected job growth for each occupation.
To continue to explore health care occupations based on your Interest code, you can go to the industry list at California CareerZone. This site will provide you with occupational descriptions, tasks, required education, average annual salary, and in some cases a short video of a day in the life of that occupation.
Health Jobs Start Here is a site dedicated to providing information about careers in health care.
After exploring careers that fit who you are, you are now ready to Create a Plan & Set Goals.
