As a healthcare professional, this means you’ll enjoy more career opportunities—and find employment more easily—than job seekers in other industries. Your chances of finding employment and staying employed are also much greater than in other fields, thanks to advances in medicine and the dramatic growth of the aging U.S. population, which continues to increase at an unprecedented rate, boosting demand for medical professionals across the board. Also helping to increase the demand for healthcare workers was the passage and implementation of health reform legislation (the Affordable Care Act), which provided medical insurance to millions of additional Americans. Working in the healthcare industry allows you to nurture your desire to help others while earning a living—talk about a win-win. Indeed, there are few professions where you can touch the lives of others—and make a difference in them—the way you can in the healthcare industry. You could help save a life or help bring a new one into the world. You can care for patients as they recover, assist families through some of the most difficult times in their lives, or work behind the scenes to keep a medical facility running smoothly. Regardless of your specific role in the industry, you’ll play some part in helping people, or even entire communities, and positively affect their lives as a result. For instance, careers like pharmacy technicians require only a high school diploma. Dental hygienists, MRI technologists, and respiratory therapists—three careers with a “much faster than average” job growth outlook—require only a two-year associate’s degree.
