Why Pursue a Career in Healthcare? 7 Reasons to Consider

Why work in healthcare? This question has many potential answers. Each one can make pursuing a career in healthcare an option to consider. If you’re trying to decide whether working in this industry is the right choice for you, here are some reasons why a healthcare profession might be a good fit.

#1: Increasing Demand

Healthcare occupations are projected to grow much faster than average from 2023 to 2033 according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).¹ This would result in roughly 1.9 million openings each year during this time, on average.

Among the roles included in these statistics are dental assistant, medical assistant, and nursing assistant; although, there are several others. Do any of these careers in healthcare sound appealing to you?

#2: The Ability to Help Others

If you want a job that helps people, working in healthcare may satisfy this goal. Some positions enable you to do this on a one-on-one basis. If you work as a pharmacy technician, for example, you can help with each patient’s medications being correct and in the proper dose.

Healthcare professionals in more indirect roles, such as those in healthcare accounting, can help businesses in this industry keep an accurate record of their finances. This enables them to understand their financial standing when making important decisions that may affect their ability to offer products or services for years to come.

You can help larger populations when you work in healthcare, too. Health and human services roles offer this ability, particularly when you’re in a position focused on promoting public health.

#3: Flexible Work Hours

Another reason why healthcare may be a good fit: people can have medical issues at any time. To help meet these needs, many healthcare facilities are open outside of typical business hours. They serve patients at night, over weekends, and on holidays. Depending on where you work, this can mean more flexible work hours.

Maybe you’d prefer to work nights so you can be home with your children during the day. Or you like the idea of working weekends and having a day off during the week to take care of personal errands. Several careers in healthcare offer this flexibility.

#4: Continued Professional Growth

Professionals in the healthcare industry never stop learning and growing. They must keep up to date on the latest technology or patient recordkeeping software, for example. That makes this a good field for people who like to continuously pursue professional growth.

As an example, medical billing and coding requires the use of the most current diagnostic and procedural coding systems. If old, outdated codes are used, it can hold up the reimbursement process. Staying educated about medical coding changes helps healthcare providers bill insurance companies using the proper codes.

#5: Diverse Work Settings

Careers in the healthcare field can also offer the ability to work in diverse settings. If you like the idea of spending your days at the front desk in a doctor’s office, for instance, you can do this as a medical administrative assistant. Would you prefer to work in an exam or treatment room instead? Becoming a medical assistant could meet that interest.

There may also be a few remote healthcare career options. Medical billing and coding is one. Health information management is another. If your employer allows it and you meet the requirements, you could perform your work duties from your home,

Education and Training Options

Numerous educational institutions have programs that can prepare you for a healthcare career. Ultimate Medical Academy (UMA) provides learners with access to allied healthcare programs, offering the knowledge and skills needed to work in both clinical and non-clinical entry-level roles.

Some UMA programs are available online² and others are provided at our Clearwater campus. Our Clearwater programs are a blended training option, which means that part of the program is taken online with a certain number of pre-designated trips to campus for labs and on-site externships at a healthcare facility.

Opportunities for Upward Mobility

Another reason to consider a healthcare profession is that some may offer the ability to move up within these organizations. Depending on the position you want to move into, additional education and training may be required.

For instance, you could start as a medical assistant, helping healthcare providers by collecting and recording patients’ vital information and assisting with exams. Then you might decide to move into a nursing role, so you go back to school to obtain the education and training necessary to become a licensed practical nurse or registered nurse.³

Of course, if you enjoy the position you’re in, you don’t have to pursue advancement into a higher-level healthcare role. Working in this industry may simply offer this option. What you decide to pursue is entirely up to you.

UMA Can Help You Pursue a Career in Healthcare

These are just seven reasons why pursuing a career in healthcare could be a good fit for you. If so, Ultimate Medical Academy (UMA) is here to help! We offer several healthcare diplomas and degrees from which to choose, both online² and in a blended format. Each can help prepare you to pursue an entry-level healthcare position such as medical office and billing specialist, patient care technician, phlebotomy technician, and more.

Why choose UMA? We don’t stop at providing the education needed to pursue work in a particular healthcare role. We also offer teams of caring and compassionate professionals who can help determine if you might qualify for financial aid, assist with your studies, and even help with your job search.

Contact us to learn more about our allied healthcare programs or for information about how we can help you. We also offer a fun (and short) Healthcare Career Quiz you can take to help identify which healthcare professions may be a good fit based on your interests. At UMA, we’re here to support your educational journey in any way we can.

FAQs

• Is healthcare a good career path? There is no one-size-fits-all answer to this question. If you enjoy helping others and are interested in this field of work, you might enjoy a healthcare career. Consider where your passions lie and how you’d like to spend your days professionally. Then you can decide whether healthcare is a good career path for you.
• What do healthcare jobs pay? The wage information for each healthcare position is different. It can also vary based on your level of education and experience, geographic location, and more. UMA provides wage statistics by program on its website at https://www.ultimatemedical.edu/about/citations/. The Bureau of Labor Statistics provides wages for many healthcare roles. Based on self-reported data from UMA’s graduates, they typically work in entry level positions for which wages are approximately at or slightly lower than the BLS's lowest decile. You can also find healthcare job pay data on a variety of other online sites.
• How many jobs are available in healthcare? From 2023 to 2033, there are projected to be 1.9 million healthcare occupation openings each year, on average.¹ Enrolling in a healthcare program can give you the knowledge and skills needed to begin to pursue your desired healthcare profession.