Health Care and Nursing Degrees
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that in 2008 health care was one of the largest industries in the country, employing over fourteen million workers. Half of the twenty fastest growing occupations nationwide are expected to be in the health care field. Mainly due to the increase in the older population, jobs in health care are expected to grow faster than in any other industry between now and 2018, with over three million jobs added. Workers with training or degrees in nursing and other health related specialties can expect to find employment in a wide variety of careers in the health care industry. Health care education and nurse education programs are available to fill the demand for these workers in the coming decade.
Health Care and Nursing Degrees
 |
Clinical Research |  |
Medical Assisting |  |
Public Health |  |
Dental |
 |
Medical Coding & Billing |  |
Radiology |  |
Forensic Medicine |  |
Nursing |
 |
Social Work |  |
Health Care Administration |  |
Parmacy |  |
Medical |
 |
Physical Therapy |
Health Care and Nursing Degrees Description
Many jobs in the health care field do not require a health care college degree, but most of the skilled nursing, physician, physician’s assistant and similar jobs that involve diagnosis and treatment of disease require a bachelor’s degree or higher education. Health care education covers the entire range of certificate and degree programs required to provide the millions of new skilled workers that the industry requires. These programs include various technician certificates and associate’s degrees, bachelor’s and master’s degrees in nursing, health care administration, public health, social work, medical coding and billing, and many other health related support specialties. Advanced degrees and doctoral degrees are offered in nursing, medicine, dentistry, medical assisting, optometry, chiropractic, physical therapy and other health care and nursing related fields.
Health care education programs include nurse education, medical school, and other specialized programs such as physical therapy and occupational therapy. Medical doctors attend four years of medical school and complete post-medical-school training in specialties such as forensic medicine, clinical research, radiology, family medicine, etc. Nurse education ranges from associate’s degrees to doctoral programs to prepare nurses for work in hospitals, physicians’ offices and public health care and nursing clinics. Licensure requirements for nurses vary from state to state. Some nurses go on from nursing school, usually after getting several years of on the job experience, to go into health care administration or to additional schooling to enter a medical assisting position such as nurse practitioner or physician’s assistant.
Other careers in the health care field also require specialized education. Degree programs prepare students to work in pharmacy, physical therapy, speech therapy and other health related fields. Some jobs in health related fields require only a certificate or associate’s degree for employment. Some of these are pharmacy technician, clinical research technician, radiology technician, and dental hygienist, all of whom are supervised by licensed professionals with appropriate degrees in pharmacy, medicine, dentistry, etc.
With a growing elderly population and corresponding growth in demand for health care and nursing services, a career in one of the many fields of health care should provide challenging and rewarding opportunities in the coming decade.