The good news is the health care industry is changing and you don't have to be a doctor to earn a great living. This is an article I wrote for Insight Magazine titled "Recession Proofing Your Career"
Recession Proofing Your Career
The recession of 2009 has dramatically impacted Central Florida industries. From the home based small business run by a husband and wife team to the conglomerate giants with 20,000 employees, it seems everyone in Florida is taking a big hit. Well, almost every everyone.
Between 2007 and 2018, seven of the 10 fastest-growing jobs in the U.S. will be in healthcare.
In 2006 Orange County, Orlando and the Metro Orlando Economic Development Commission invested resources to build what is known as “Medical City” in Southeast Orlando. Today, we have the Burnham Institute for Medical Research and the UCF Medical School up and running. Nemours Children Hospital, the new VA Hospital, Florida Hospital Diabetes center and UF Medical Research are currently being built.
Right before our eyes, Central Florida is building a world class, recession proof industry in the life sciences and healthcare industries.
Why should you care? According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), between 2007 and 2018, seven of the 10 fastest-growing jobs in the U.S. will be in healthcare. Of the top 30 fastest-growing jobs, 17 are healthcare-related. And that just isn’t nurses and doctors, either. Medical technicians, physical therapists, technology professionals, administration personnel , food service employees, construction workers, drivers, scientists and many other occupations are included as well.
Medical City is projected to create 10,000 jobs and provide $1.5 Billion in economic impact over the next 5 years. Do I have your attention? Here are a few more stats to back up those claims:
1) The number of Americans older than 65 will reach 41 million by 2010 and 71 million by 2030.
2) Central Florida is expected to double in size in the next 20 years.
3) According to the BLS, healthcare jobs will grow by 30.3 percent through 2014.
4) To save costs, healthcare is creating new lower paying jobs like technicians that do not require 4 year degrees.
As for Central Florida, what healthcare jobs will be available you ask? Many of the jobs that are in high demand will require a minimum of a 4 year degree. Registered nurses, physical therapists, dentists, respiratory therapists, lab technicians, scientists, radiologists, pharmacists, cardiovascular technologists and many other disciplines need advanced education, but will always be in demand.
If you’re in a place in life you can’t go back to school for four years, don’t worry, you can still get a job in healthcare. The BLS indicates that 75 percent of high growth jobs that require an associate’s degree are medically related. Here are just a few suggestions:
1) Physical Therapist Assistant: $43,000. Assist physical therapists with patients rehab by helping with exercises and mobility. You can be trained and certified in about 20 months.
2) Medical Assistants: $23,000-$34,000. Duties include administration, assisting physicians, simple lab tests and overall patient service.
3) CT/Mammography/Ultrasound Technologists: $28,000-$57,900. Technology advancement in this area has grown tremendously. Get certified and trained within 12-24 months.
4) Nuclear Medicine Technologist: $49,000 to $71,000. Requires an associates’ degree and certificate. Duties include utilizing radioisotope equipment to help radiologists dispense and measure nuclear medicine.
5) Information Systems/Technology: $41,000-$90,000. Medical records and medical facilities all need updated and effective ways to digitally store and retrieve data. Billions will be spent in this area over the next 10 years.
One of the largest growing healthcare industry jobs in Central Florida will be home healthcare professionals including nurses, social workers and home healthcare aids that come into the home to take care of patients. Healthcare aids make an average of $20.00 per hour administering medications, checking blood pressure, temperature and overall health outlook. This is a huge business in Central Florida with the BLS predicting a 49 percent growth in this area throughout the next decade.
The bottom line? If you want to recession proof your career, get into the healthcare industry. Invest in the training and it will pay you back with a long, stable and financially rewarding career.
Looking for up to the second job updates in Central Florida? Follow OrlandoJobs.com on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/OrlandoCareers.
Article written by Roger Lear
OrlandoSchoolGuide.com has some schools that can provide the correct training for all types of Healthcare jobs.
1 comment:
Totally agree Roger, healthcare does have a big push. The problems that I've been seeing in the area of information technology is the ability to get into those types of positions. Trying to get healthcare organizations to outsource is extremely difficult. I was able to do some work for some healthcare organizations but they seem very slow to upgrading their systems and worse, slow to putting good solutions in place. So the combination of outsourcing and putting in good solutions is still going at a snails pace.
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