While being a doctor may seem like the best position to be in as long as you are working in healthcare, the added tension, responsibility, and stress may not always be worth it. Besides, not everyone has the means to pay or even qualify for huge student loans that have become a necessity these days for aspiring medical students. Maybe you can only afford to work your way up by enrolling in a reputable medical assistant program so that you have a job that can give you experience to work your way up to pursuing an advanced degree. On that note, let us now take a look at the top ten professions which will let you work in healthcare even if you don’t go through medical school.
Pharmacist
The road to becoming a pharmacist is not an easy one, but the years of effort are well worth it, as the annual average income comes to almost $120,000 in the US, not to mention the legal permission to actually help people with their medical regimen.
Radiation Therapist
After four years of education, a radiation therapist works with not just X-ray machines, but pretty much anything and everything to do with radiation treatment, which includes cancer treatments of course. The average US salary comes to roughly $80,000.
Medical Scribe
The most approachable paramedical profession serves the crucial function of documenting and charting all the doctor-patient conversations, medical records, dictations, and patient history. You can check out the medical scribe job requirements to decide if it’s the right profession for you.
Physical Therapist
A physical therapist helps people with disabilities and injury/stroke patients in their rehabilitation. The course can be completed in just 2 – 3 years and the average income almost touches the $90,000 mark.
Audiologist and Speech-Language Pathologist
Although audiologists and speech-language pathologists are not the one and the same, they do often work in similar fields that involve helping patients with speech and fluency problems.
Health and Safety Specialist
The job involves designing and modifying health and safety protocols, along with inspecting, certifying, reporting and advising medical facilities within any given state of jurisdiction.
Diagnostic Sonographers
Everything from detecting blockages and abnormal growths, to imaging the condition of the baby inside the womb is made easy these days, thanks to the ultrasound technology and the sonographers who operate them.
Clinical/Medical Lab Technologist
The lab results which allow physicians to decide on a course of treatment for the patient are prepared by medical lab technologists, but in an experimental setup, they could also be working towards developing a cure, vaccine, or a new medicine for the future.
Dietician/Nutritionist
Along with providing individual consultation and guidance to patients, dieticians and nutritionists may also work in corporate/government/medical organizations for large scale projects designed to improve employee/patient health.
Physician Assistant
The job of the physician’s assistant involves a lot of things and what it will involve depends on the professional’s experience. For example, it may include something as simple as only providing routine, prescribed medication to the patients, but could later require you to assist physicians in serious medical procedures. The average salary of the physician’s assistant exceeds the $100,000 mark comfortably. Moreover, considering joining a healthcare talent agency can offer opportunities for career growth and access to diverse job placements tailored to your skills and preferences within the healthcare sector.
The above list focuses on jobs that are less known yet are no less lucrative in the health industry. Perhaps it has inspired you to think outside the box when it comes to career choices?