Health Care Providers

From early medical practices, health care has evolved and continues to develop rapidly with the discoveries of new drugs, treatments, and cures. Modern technologies, such as computers, virtual reality, and artificial intelligence, are used by the medical community to perform tests, compile data, diagnose illnesses, and train professionals. Many surgeries are no longer performed with a scalpel, but with lasers. Disease, illness, and injury are now being treated and cured so successfully that the general population is living much longer and the number of elderly is increasing. The field of genetics is one area being researched by scientists with promising results.

The structure of the health care industry offers a wide variety of jobs to choose from and many different facilities in which to work, once the job is chosen. Health care providers are employed as physicians, nurses, nursing aides, technicians, technologists, therapists, and medical researchers, to name just a few. They are employed in settings that include private offices, hospitals, clinics, managed-care facilities, nursing homes, research facilities, and private homes.

Medical and health care has become one of the largest and most varied occupational areas in the United States. More than 21.5 million people were employed in some aspect of the U.S. health care system in 2023, according to the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL). Employment in the health services industry is projected to increase by 10.4 percent through 2033, adding about 2.2 million new jobs, according to the DOL. Employment opportunities are expected to be strong in the areas of gerontology, home health care, and residential care to meet the needs of America's aging population. Equally strong job opportunities will be available in nursing. As health care services expand, even more nurses will be needed. In May 2023, there were more than 3.1 million registered nurses and over 334,900 advanced practice nurses. Strong growth is expected for many other health care careers, including diagnostic medical sonographers, audiologists, emergency medical technicians, dietitians and nutritionists, health information technologists and medical registrars, massage therapists, home health and personal care aides, physician assistants, medical assistants, phlebotomists, physical therapists and assistants, radiologic technologists, respiratory therapists, speech-language pathologists, and surgical technologists.

Health care careers often rank high on "best job" lists. For example, U.S. News & World Report creates an annual list of the 100 best jobs in the United States. Occupations that rank high on its list offer a good work/life balance, low or manageable stress levels, excellent pay, and strong employment prospects with lots of jobs available. In 2024, U.S. News included 22 health care careers on its top 100 list. Top-ranking occupations included nurse practitioners (which was ranked #1 on the list), physician assistants (#5), speech-language pathologists (#10), occupational therapists (#19), nurse anesthetists (#25), and physical therapists (#30). Visit https://money.usnews.com/careers/best-jobs/rankings/the-100-best-jobs to learn more about these and other health care careers that made the list.