Don’t want to spend the next four years in school getting a bachelor’s degree? You don’t have to. If interested in healthcare, there are some great careers to choose from that only require a certificate up to a two-year associate’s degree. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, these five career fields have great job potential through 2024:
- Veterinary Technician
- Dental Hygienist
- Pharmacy Technician
- Critical Care Nurse
- Laboratory Technician
Veterinary Technician
Veterinary technicians, or vet-techs as they are known in the industry, are equivalent to nurses for veterinarians. They perform laboratory tests, administer anesthesia and medications, take x-rays and monitor animals recovering from surgery, just to name a few of the routine tasks. Schooling generally consists of a two-year program at a vocational school.
Some veterinarians specialize in domestic small animals, such as dogs and cats, so most of their work is done inside a building. However, other veterinarians specialize in large animals, traveling on a daily basis out to farms and ranches to assist in the medical care of cattle, horses or sheep either outside or in a barn. If you love working with animals, being a vet-tech can be a very fulfilling career.
– Projected growth: over 14%
– Median Salary: $31,070
– Projected job openings: 27,400
Dental Hygienist
Routine tasks include taking dental x-rays, performing preventative maintenance tasks, such as teeth cleaning, instructing patients on oral hygiene procedures, and recording patient dental history. Schooling required varies from a vocational training program up to an associate’s degree. Work is usually performed in a dentist’s office, however, some dental hygienist assists dentists that work out of mobile vans.
– Projected growth: over 14%
– Median Salary: $71,520
– Projected job openings: 70,300
Pharmacy Technician
Pharmacy Technicians assist with the preparation and filling of drug prescriptions, such as counting, pouring, weighing, measuring and pricing, along with providing customer service and performing various administrative duties. Work is normally performed in a retail pharmacy, but jobs also exist in mail-order houses, hospitals, nursing homes and assisted care facilities. Schooling varies by program, but normally ranges from 6 months to two-years. As the population grows older, the need to fill these jobs will increase.
– Projected growth: up to 13%
– Median Salary: $29,810
– Projected job openings: 71,600
Critical Care Nurse
This type of nurse provides care for patients in critical care or coronary care units. In hospitals, bedside care includes taking and evaluating patient’s vital signs, monitoring changes in condition, setting up and operating medical equipment, such as cardiac monitors, ventilators and oxygen delivery systems. Other duties include giving injections, assessing and addressing pain levels and can include supervising unit nursing staff. Forty-five percent of critical care nurses hold associate’s degrees.
– Projected growth: 14%
– Median Salary: $66,640
– Projected job openings: 1,088,400
Laboratory Technician
Typical duties include performing various tests on body fluids and cells looking for bacteria, parasites and chemicals that can cause illness or disease. Lab-techs also frequently type-match blood for transfusion purposes. Schooling usually consists a two-year program ending with an associate’s degree from a community college.
– Projected growth: 14%
– Median Salary: $38,370
– Projected job openings: 68,100
These five healthcare fields make great entry-level positions, if planning to continue on to earn a bachelor’s or higher degree, or as careers themselves. All have great job potential and make rewarding careers two years of post-secondary schooling or less.
