Healthcare jobs have seen rapid expansion over time, which makes sense considering that Americans are living longer while also becoming sicker. Many sectors of the industry are currently facing shortages; some roles especially needing educated, motivated individuals. Therefore, health care is an ideal career choice with stable pay structures.
The exact number of jobs available in healthcare will depend on both type and location; however, general rules can help identify how many there are out there. Nurses, therapists, pharmacists and laboratory technicians tend to be in high demand because these roles directly impact people’s wellbeing and health.
Other highly sought-after healthcare jobs include physicians and physician assistants, physical therapists, respiratory therapists, as well as respiratory therapy assistants. These roles usually require a bachelor’s degree, four years of medical school studies and three to seven years of residency experience. Administrative support staff such as medical secretaries, office managers, and records technicians often fill this second largest category; yet still offer decent salaries and employment prospects.
An effective way to measure healthcare employment levels is to look at the overall total of health care jobs in existence. While certain sectors experienced a steep drop in employment during the COVID-19 pandemic, others have already returned to pre-pandemic levels due to people increasingly turning towards home health services and non-hospital settings as a source of healthcare delivery.
As healthcare jobs are expanding at an increasing pace, this bodes well for students looking for careers in this sector.
Healthcare is a complex industry because it encompasses various professions with their own specific practices and expectations. Affluence and uncertainty can be daunting for students when selecting their careers; patients when choosing providers; and policymakers when trying to regulate them. This article presents an objective method for placing health care professions along a two-dimensional continuum that allows students, consumers and policymakers to compare them more efficiently. This tool provides a valuable means of better comprehending the current state of New York’s healthcare workforce, with information that should facilitate targeting education, job training and incentive resources to the appropriate areas. Furthermore, it will guide decisions regarding expanding capacity within health professions education programs; eventually leading to more sustainable and equitable systems of delivering healthcare in New York State.