Top healthcare careers

Healthcare professionals are dedicated to helping people through science and they are compensated at the highest salary levels while enjoy high levels of job security. The U.S. healthcare industry employed more than 13 million people in 2004; the largest business sector in the country with 40 percent of those professionals working in hospitals. Most others work in: private practice, nursing and residential care centers, laboratories and home health care practices.

When it comes to educational backgrounds, the healthcare industry requirements range from a high school diploma to a medical degree. In more than 50 percent of the jobs in nursing homes and residential health care facilities require no specialized training. In other healthcare careers, such as social workers and therapists, they required a bachelor’s degree.

Nursing tops the list of most in-demand health care professionals. According to the American Health Care Association, there are 100,000 openings for nurses, on any given day in the U.S. Job opportunities for nurses are significant and many include lucrative signing bonuses even before finishing their two-year associate degree or four-year Bachelor of Science -- nursing degrees. In fact, government salary surveys report that most registered nurses earn about $60,000 annually.

Other top careers in health care include: Physician Assistants, with most completing a two-year degree and licensure, and earning about $70,000; Home Health Aides, with an expected growth of two-thirds over the next decade and salaries in the $9 per hour in addition to flexible hours; Dental Hygienists with job prospects expected to grow, and all states require licensing and school ranges from two to six years.