When you mention healthcare careers, most people think of doctors, nurses, X ray technicians, and perhaps phlebotomists. The field of healthcare provides much more diverse opportunities though than most people imagine. It provides something for everyone from the artistic to the scientific. Most require a college degree or degrees, but not necessarily medical school. They all pay well, too.
Cardiac Perfusionist
If you’d like to work in a surgical position, have laser-like focus and pay careful attention to detail, you may enjoy a career as a cardiac perfusionist. A cardiac perfusionist assists surgeons during open heart surgery by operating the machine that pumps the patient’s blood while the heart is stopped. It requires a Bachelor’s degree and a clinical cardiac perfusion accredited training program. Annual pay ranges from $70,000 to $90,000. The number of job openings continues to grow as the population ages and as surgeons develop new cardiac procedures.
Dance Therapist
If you’d like to work in the field of psychology or physical therapy, love to help people, enjoy personal interaction and you studied dance formally, you may enjoy a career as a dance therapist. You will lead group dance classes and conduct individual dance trainings. It requires a Master’s degree approved by the American Dance Therapy Association. Annual pay ranges from $44,000 to $67,000. First used in the 1940s, the field of dance therapy has grown slowly, but steadily.
Music Therapist
Another artistic healthcare career, music therapist, offers musicians interested in psychology an opportunity to help people develop cognitive skills and address speech or mobility issues and treat depression. You may lead group sessions or work with patients individually. A career in music therapy requires a Master’s degree. The Bureau of Labor lumps all types of recreational therapists together in its salary data, so the salary range for this position is the same as a dance therapist – from $44,000 to $67,000. The field remains strong with positions available in hospitals, nursing homes and rehabilitation centers.
Pharmacologist
In the pharmacology and science interest you, abd you enjoy a research environment, you may want to become a pharmacologists. You’ll work to research and develop new drugs. The field requires a Ph. D. in PharmD. That means you’ll earn multiple degrees, since you’ll need at least a Bachelor’s degree, usually a Master’s, to enter a doctoral program. have a different role than pharmacists. Salaries range from $80,000 to $100,000. The field continues to grow since healthcare requires medicines.
Dosimetrist
If you love people, pay close attention to detail and enjoy hard science, the position of dosimetrists might be for you. As a part of the radiation oncology team, you will help treat cancer patients using radiation therapy. This position designs and tests radiation treatments, documents treatment plans and consults with patients, doctors and other members of the radiation oncology team. A good first step in pursuing this career path is to attend one of the many schools for radiation therapy, though you will then have to enroll in a dosimetrist certificate program. The position requires close proximity to radioactive materials and requires safety protocols. Annual pay ranges from $81,000 and $112,000. Both hospitals and cancer treatment centers employee dosimetrists.
The healthcare field boasts many more choices than doctors and nurses. Whether you’re a performing artist, a problem solver or a documentarian, healthcare offers a career for you. You probably had not heard of most of these careers before, but these fun, exciting choices offer unique ways to help heal people using your special talents. Most require the same education commitment as becoming a nurse or doctor, but offer great work perks like dancing or singing throughout the day, leading a drum circle, saving a life, or developing a cutting-edge drug treatment. Many will even allow you to work while you pursue an online nursing degree. They also provide job security and great pay.
