In the past few years, while manufacturing, construction, and finance were hit hard, with jobs in production dropping by almost 15% and finance by 33%, health care professions maintained there steady baby-boomer generation propelled growth.

Every year, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics reports their projected fastest growing  jobs. It was no surprise that this year, most of the fastest growing jobs were in health care. In this article, I will go over the fastest growing health care professions, their education requirement and expected salary, personal feedback on them as a health career student, and summary of the job outlook.

1) Home Health Aides

Growth: 5%  a year
Projected Openings: 35,000 per year
Education Required:  On-site training, no degree required
Salary: $9.84 an hour ($18892 a year)
My feedback: I don’t think the salary for this job is going to go up much because of the availability of labor since education is not an issue, but it’s a great job to have while in college or during a career transition.

Medical Scientist at work

2) Medical Scientists

Growth: 4.2%  a year
Projected Openings: 6,000 per year
Education Required:  Ph.D required
Salary: $72,250 per year
My feedback: Medical Scientists will be in very high demand in the next decade for a variety of reasons. Ph.D’s aren’t as common in health as they were 30 years ago so the few that graduate with a doctorate in any applicable field will be heavily recruited. Furthermore, medical scientists will be needed to work in growing drug companies to test new medicine.

3) Physician Assistants

Growth: 3.9%  a year
Projected Openings: 3,900 per year
Education Required:  Master’s equivalent (PA degree)
Salary: $81,000 per year
My feedback: Physician Assistants are become ubiquitous in hospitals around the nation. A Master’s equivalent is required to become a PA, thus there is going to be a limited shortage of PA’s. However, it won’t be as much as those health care jobs that require Doctorate’s (Pharmacists, Dentists, Ophthalmologists) so salary growth will be slightly above average.

4) Physical Therapist Aides

Growth: 3.6%  a year
Projected Openings: 1,700 per year
Education Required:  On-Job Training
Salary: $46,000 per year
My feedback: Physical Therapy is a very fast growing fields (number 28 fastest growing in the US), so naturally, the number of assistants needed will also be high. However, since the education requirement is limited, don’t expect job salary to skyrocket.

5) Dental Hygienists

Growth: 3.6%  a year
Projected Openings: 10,600 per year
Education Required:  Dental Hygiene Degree (2 Years + Requirements)
Salary: $66, 000 per year
My feedback: Dental Hygienists are a very important health care occupation and, from my experience, will become a big part of dentistry in the coming decade. Salary growth should be above average or superb depending on demand, which rests on the economy.

6) Veterinary Technologists & Technicians

Growth: 3.5%  a year
Projected Openings: 2,800 per year
Education Required:  Associate’s Degree
Salary: $28,000 per year
My feedback: Veterinarians are always in demand because of the lack of vet schools in the United States. I believe there are around 30 in the country at the moment, so in any year, only about 3,000 veterinarians graduate. With this in mind, its pretty safe to assume that there will always be a need for vet technicians to help out the outnumbered vets. Salary growth looks promising.

7) Medical Assistants

Growth: 3.4%  a year
Projected Openings: 16,000 per year
Education Required:  Some classes required, mostly on job training.
Salary: $29,000 per year
My feedback: With health care being the fastest growing industry in the nation, its no surprise that medical assistants are needed for every day jobs like keeping medical histories, clerical duties, or providing moderate health care aid. Medical assistants are always in demand but due to the limited education necessary, their salary is not really stellar. It will probably increase on pace with other health care jobs.

Since we are all ambitious people, I am going to list you the best jobs that are in demand for the current year. In demand means “where employees are needed.”

Do you know any websites that show job demand or would like to add to the list? Please let me know.

Here is how this list is broken down- since yearly job growth is hard to predict due to fluctuations, we have included the number of jobs that will be opening from 2008- 2018 (one decade). The education factoid shown is not the required education, but the level needed for good job prospects. Finally, the earning range is from the 25%-75% percentile. If you have questions about any of these, please let me know.

I. Biomedical Engineers
Job Growth in Next Decade: 72% (#1 in all jobs)
Education: Master’s Degree
Earnings: $57,000 – $77,0000

Most of the growth seen in this field will be caused by the aging baby boomer population, which will rely heavily on medical devices and other equipment designed by biomedical engineers. This is especially true in pharmaceutical manufacturing.

II. Computer Systems Analyst
Job Growth in Next Decade: 53.4% (#2 in all jobs)
Education: Graduate Preferred, Bachelor’s with Experience also Preferred.
Earnings: $77,000 – $89,0000

As the Internet and IT becomes more common in many households and offices, the demand for CSA’s will increase heavily as experts are needed for computer networking and intranet responsibilities.

III. Physician Assistants
Job Growth in Next Decade: 39.0% (#7 in all jobs)
Education: PA degree required (2 years plus prerequisite coursework)
Earnings: $68,000 – $97,0000, average is $81,000

Doctor offices, hospitals and other institutions will employ more PA’s to provide care and to assist with medical and surgical procedures because PAs are cost-effective.

IV. Biochemists
Job Growth in Next Decade: 39.0% (#9 in all jobs)
Education: Graduate Preferred
Earnings: $59,000- $108,000

Growth in the field is due to continued development and reliance on newer biotechnological research. Positions are available in private science firms, academia, and federal laboratories.

V. Dental Hygienist
Job Growth in Next Decade: 36.1% (#11 in all jobs)
Education: Post- undergraduate (2 + 3 years) Dental Hygiene certificate
Earnings: $55,000- $78,000, average is $82,000

The projected growth of dental hygienists is the highest in the dental field in response to increasing demand for dental care and more use of cost effective hygienists, similar to PA’s for physicians.

VI. Computer Software Engineer

Job Growth in Next Decade: 34.0% (#14 in all jobs)
Education: Bachelor’s Degree
Earnings: $67,000- $104,000

New job growth is propelled by the need for rapidly evolving technologies and the increasing use of the world wide web for marketing and sales.

VII. Veterinarians

Job Growth in Next Decade: 33.3% (#17 in all jobs)
Education: Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (D.V.M) + Undergraduate Degree
Earnings: $61,000- $104,000

There are only 28 vet schools in the country and admission is very competitive. With the low number of graduates every year and increasing demand, vet’s are becoming one of the fastest growing jobs in the United States.

VIII. Environmental Engineers

Job Growth in Next Decade: 30.6% (#21 in all jobs)
Education: Graduate Preferred
Earnings: $56,000- $94,000

As public awareness for the environment increases, more environmental engineers will be needed to help companies comply with environmental regulations and to develop methods of cleaning up environmental hazards.

IX. Survey Researchers

Job Growth in Next Decade: 30.4% (#25 in all jobs)
Education: Bachelor’s
Earnings: $43,000- $85,100

People with backgrounds in science or math related fields have the highest pay and overall better job prospects. Private research firms are the best employers for survey researchers.

X. Physical Therapists

Job Growth in Next Decade: 30.3% (#27 in all jobs)
Education: Prerequisite coursework followed by 2- 2.5 year PT program
Earnings: $50,000- $104,000

The rapidly increasing elderly population will require a need for PT’s and need for cardiac and physical rehabilitation.

This concludes my top ten list for most demanding jobs, if you are thinking about a career change, look more into these jobs to see if they fit you. The US Department of Labor website, http://www.bls.gov , is a vast resource that you can look for more jobs.

What do you think will happen with the job market in the upcoming years, join in the conversation…