High-quality healthcare is essential for maintaining the health and welfare of society. Healthcare service practitioners can now reach more people, prevent and cure sickness and other disorders, and improve people’s health at every phase of life, from pregnancy to old age. Nowadays, universities are offering a wide variety of educational courses for students to choose from.
Some Popular Health-Related Majors Worth Studying:
1. Registered nursing
Nursing is the second largest segment in the healthcare job market, with these professionals serving as the very foundations of this ecosystem. Registered nurses are in high demand as they can find employment in a wide variety of places, including healthcare facilities, nursing homes, educational institutions, or homes looking after senior citizens, to name a few.
According to statistics from the National Center for Education, registered nursing ranks first in terms of educational availability across the country. This means it has the highest number of schools offering degrees and relative specializations. Also, in the next decade, this field is expected to have the most growth in employment opportunities across the healthcare service industry.
2. Preventive medicine and community health
Community and public health have become popular in recent times to become one of the most favorable healthcare professions out there. Serving local communities is something that individuals are becoming increasingly passionate about. Like nursing, many universities are now offering an MPH online to offer people more convenience and flexibility in pursuing this career field.
In terms of earning potential, community health stands at 3rd place out of 60 potential fields in healthcare surveyed based on data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. With respect to employment opportunities, this segment is forecasted to stay at number 12.
3. Healthcare management and administration
When talking about healthcare, administration and management are typically overlooked fields. However, with the rising demand for physicians, nurses, clinical staff, and other professionals in the healthcare ecosystem, the popularity of management experts has also grown. The field has risen to second place on the list of the most popular health-related majors to pursue.
Healthcare management and administration courses focus on the business side of healthcare as a service industry. Students specializing in this field are prepared for lucrative and in-demand employment. The predicted growth in employment opportunities for health services managers in the next decade is greater than normal, at 28%, and the median compensation in 2022 was close to six figures. Fortunately, more than 400 universities offer this major.
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4. Administration in nursing
Administration roles are just as important in nursing as they are in the field of healthcare. It is amongst the top-ranked majors in the medical sector at present. With skills like organizational management and effective communication, administrative nurses usually oversee nursing teams in healthcare facilities.
5. Clinical research
Although clinical and medical research has always been a mainstream field with new diseases coming to light from time to time, ever since the COVID-19 pandemic, this field has become popular as a career option worth considering. The demand for professionals who can look after various research aspects continues to increase.
As a clinical research coordinator, people have the opportunity to organize, corroborate and deliver trials that are part of various research procedures. At present, the earning potential in the field is ranked as the 2nd highest in healthcare, while educational availability is low, ranking at 52 out of 60, which means that only a limited number of institutions offer a specialization in this area.
6. Medical technologists
Medical technologists work in the healthcare sector and also have lab-based careers. These specialists conduct blood and tissue tests in various medical laboratories to help doctors in their work. Medical technologists’ tests also aid in developing effective treatment strategies. Sometimes known as a clinical research scientist, a medical technologist’s job duties include basic test result interpretation and specializing in using advanced instruments to analyze specimens while abiding by infection prevention and safety procedures.
7. Surgeon or physician
Of course, when you are exploring a healthcare major to study, you can’t ignore the profession that the entire fabric of this segment rests on. Becoming a doctor, whether a physician or surgeon in any of the hundreds of specializations that exist today, is by far the most challenging but equally rewarding field to study.
Doctors who treat and care for patients are trained and licensed medical professionals. They may work as either general practitioners or in a particular area of medicine, such as pediatrics or internal medicine. Doctors evaluate patients, identify illnesses or injuries, write prescriptions, and offer preventive healthcare recommendations.
8. Critical care nursing
By far one of the most prominent specializations in nursing, critical care is also an excessively demanding profession. These nurses are among the most sought-after nursing professionals, with a predicted 19% increase in employment. They specialize in handling emergency circumstances. These nurses have the necessary training to deal with difficult situations as well as treat significant injuries and trauma cases.
9. Mental health nursing
The name speaks for itself. Nurses working in mental healthcare are qualified to provide high-quality treatment to patients with psychological problems or situations, whereas other nurses deal with physical illnesses, accidents, and trauma cases.
Creating connections with patients dealing with mental health issues is the focus of this discipline to give them all-encompassing care on several fronts. A master’s degree and a nursing license are prerequisites for enrollment in the program due to the more sophisticated nature of the position. Additionally, the expected job market growth has been forecasted at 31% due to the rise in mental health patients.
Conclusion
Healthcare is a broad and diverse field where there are almost countless opportunities to explore. If you are looking to pursue a certain subject to study in this segment, it is best to ask yourself where your passion lies and choose a relevant avenue to that. Once you’ve decided, look into academic and professional requirements and plan your roadmap.
