Medical: Schools and Careers

Medical - Career Information

Medical Career Overview

The field of Health Care encompasses the prevention, treatment, and management of disease and illness to those injured, sick, disabled, or infirm. Preserving and maintaining mental and physical health of patients is a very important part of the field of Health Care as well. Patients receive these services through the medical, nursing, and allied health professions in a variety of settings including hospitals, doctor's offices, nursing homes, outpatient care centers, or in patient's homes. The field of Medicine is rapidly changing and technological advances have made many new methods of diagnosis and treatment possible. Healthcare providers continue to stress preventive care which helps to reduce potential costs for untreated medical conditions. The changes in the way patients are treated will reshape the nature of the workforce and also how health care is provided.

Technological advances continue to change the way health care is administered, however, the main categories of medical care providers historically falls into these categories:

• Professional occupations - Physicians and surgeons, dentists, ophthalmologists, registered nurses, social workers and counselors, and physical and occupational therapists
• Health Professionals and technicians - medical records and health information technicians, radiologic and lab technologists, dental hygienists, emergency medical technicians and paramedics, dispensing opticians
• Support Providers - nursing aides, home health/care aides, dental and medical assistants, and ambulance drivers/attendants

An individual who works in the medical field can hold a variety of positions and progress in their career with training and additional education. While each occupation has its own requirements below are some of the more commonly needed characteristics or requirements for someone interested in a career in health care:

• Interest in science and health
• Passion for serving people
• Aptitude for rapidly-changing technology
• Ability to maintain flexible schedule
• Strong communication and language skills
• Desire to work in fast-paced, often stressful environments

Medical Career Education

Individuals interested in starting a career in the medical field must possess a minimum of a high school diploma or GED. Further education requirements will vary depending on the position an applicant is interested in. Professional occupations such as a physician or surgeon will require a bachelor's degree in a related field and then successful completion of a multi-year program in medical or dental school then practical experience gained at an internship and residency program at a hospital or medical center. Nurses can complete a bachelor's degree in nursing from an accredited college but also enter the profession with an associate degree from a community or junior college or diploma program offered by many larger hospitals. Physical and mental health therapists must have a bachelor's degree and additional targeted training depending on their specialty.

Other health professionals and technicians such as lab technologists, paramedics, and dental hygienists operate sophisticated technical equipment and assist practitioners in treating patients. These positions require 1- or 2-year training programs from technical schools or community colleges resulting in a certificate or associate degree after successful completion of the program.

Those interested in working as support providers such as nursing or home health aides must complete a state-approved training program that varies in length but is offered by a community college or area technical school.

Schools for Medical are listed in the column to the left.

Careers and Salary Data

This table shows summary data on occupations in the US. Clicking on any occupation name brings you to a page showing job prospects and salaries for that occupation in hundreds of metro areas across the country, with data updated through 2008.(Where data is denoted by an asterisk (*), summary info was not available.

The green bars in the table below indicate the relative salary levels and growth rates of each occupation, compared to the others. The levels are determined by sorting the occupations (by salary or growth rate, separately) and then dividing them into ten groups corresponding to the the ten possible green bar levels. So a single bar means the occupation is in the bottom 10% for that characteristic compared to others on this page.

Click each Occupation title for more details.

 

Medical

Occupation	Jobs	Median Pay	% Growth 2006-2016	Video
Anesthesiologists	*	*	*
Clinical Psychologists	97,880	$64,140	15.8%
General Practitioners	*	*	*
OBGYN	*	*	*
Organizational Psychologists	1,460	$77,010	21.3%
Pediatricians	*	*	*
Psychiatrists	*	*	*
Psychologists	9,870	$86,120	7.9%

Schools for Medical (including online schools)

Medical Schools by State

We have some additional detailed pages at the state level for Medical.

Numbers in parentheses are counts of relevant campus-based schools in the state; online schools may also be available.

• Alabama (2)
• Arizona (2)
• Arkansas (1)
• California (3)
• Colorado (2)
• Connecticut (1)
• Delaware (1)
• District Of Columbia (1)
• Florida (4)
• Georgia (4)
• Hawaii (2)
• Idaho (1)
• Illinois (3)
• Indiana (1)
• Iowa (2)
• Kansas (1)
• Kentucky (1)
• Louisiana (1)
• Maryland (1)
• Massachusetts (1)
• Michigan (1)
• Minnesota (3)
• Missouri (1)
• Nebraska (1)
• Nevada (1)
• New Hampshire (1)
• New Jersey (1)
• New Mexico (1)
• North Carolina (1)
• Ohio (1)
• Oklahoma (1)
• Oregon (1)
• Pennsylvania (1)
• South Carolina (2)
• Tennessee (2)
• Texas (2)
• Utah (2)
• Virginia (2)
• Washington (2)
• Wisconsin (1)
• Wyoming (1)

Data Sources and Career Resources

• Bureau of Labor Statistics
• O*NET OnLine Occupation and Career Analysis