In considering a career in health care you also need to think about where you live or are willing to live.
If you live in a smaller or rural community, your job opportunities may be limited as well. There may only be a need for a few doctors, dentists, veterinarians, nurses, and maybe only one or two X-ray technicians.
If you have your heart set on becoming an ultra sound technician, you may need to move to a larger community where there are job openings and opportunities, otherwise you may have to sit and wait for the sole proprietor of that job in your community to retire or move on.
In 2006, the health care industry in the U.S. provided 14 million jobs. Of those, 13.6 million were wage and salary occupations and 438,000 were self employed workers or unpaid family workers such as caregivers for parents or children requiring health care assistance.
The largest communities and states have the most need for health care professionals and workers at all levels. California, New York, Pennsylvania, Florida and Texas provide the best opportunities for health care occupations.
Health care jobs include many ancillary positions such as office support personnel, business managers and administrators, medical records personnel, medical coders and billers and transcriptionists. There are also jobs for medical librarians, medical writers, illustrators and photographers.
There are roles for patient representatives and health advocates in clinics, hospitals and with insurance companies. Biomedical engineers help to design equipment, and devices to help practitioners diagnose and treat patients as well as to assist patients to have an improved quality of life.
The health field offers many career opportunities. Many jobs require little education beyond a high school diploma and some on-the-job training, while on the other end of the spectrum, physicians and other health care practitioners are some of the most educated professionals. Health care jobs are growing and will continue to do so at least well into the next decade.
