Health and Medical Careers -- From Aide to MD, Part I

The Healthcare Industry, from Health Aides to Nurse Practitioners to MDs and DOs, is one of the fastest growing industries in the United States.

The American Healthcare Industry offers many jobs and career opportunities, ranging from home health aide or personal care health aide, which require only on-the-job training in many states, all the way up the education and career ladder to physician and various specialists. These jobs are pay very well and offer substantial benefits and promotion opportunities. They offer the chance for business ownership as well, as doctors form their own practices along or with associates.

Even though the education, training, and expenses of progressing up the Healthcare Industry ladder can seem daunting, individuals can take advantage of a number of innovative training programs, some of which are connected to actual employment that offers paid time off from the job in order to attend college or vocational school classes and other medical and health care training.

Learn about America's nursing shortage here:

Nursing Shortage Fact Sheet

101 Facts About Nursing

Top 10 Qualities of an Excellent Nurse

You can start as a volunteer in a hospital or medical clinic in high school, become a healthcare aide, and work your way up to becoming an RN, a nurse practitioner, a medical doctor (allopathic) or a DO (osteopathic doctor). Because teaching hospitals often waive tuition to college classes and even offer time off with pay to attend those classes during the workday, a medical education does not have to be so expensive as to be impossible.

One of my friends is in a nursing program at the state university here and works on a ward in the university hospital as a nursing assistant. She pays no tuition and received paid time off to attend two or three classes a quarter. Having had a baby, she can even take advantage of the low-cost daycare associated with the university hospital complex. In an emergency, she can have a certified RN assigned to babysit her child for only a few dollars an hour. Another woman I know with two children is in nurse's training at a Texas college and won a local scholarship with a one-page essay. That, sling with grants and other financial aid is allowing her to attend school fulltime while her children are in school. She pays only for books and supplies and has not needed to take out expensive student loans. The year she is to graduate from school as an RN, a new hospital is to open right beside her house. If she wants, she can then work two 12-hour weekend days and have Monday through Friday completely off to be with her children.

There is much opportunity for both men and women in the nursing filed as well as the whole of medical, dental, and the larger Healthcare Industry. This is true for a couple of reasons:

1) The average age of the US population is getting older, because people are living longer. Women 85 and older are the largest expanding part of the population, in percentage growth. The diseases of old age are becoming more prevalent, especially with female-dominated osteoporosis and other diseases and conditions of women. The older a person lives, the more likely he/she is to suffer form Alzheimer's as well. Thus, we have a lot of older people that need a lot of medical care.

2) The US continues to see steady immigration of international peoples that have had little or no access to healthcare and need medical attention,. They have had no immunizations and may suffer from diseases contracted at home that have been eliminated previously in America. Most critical among these populations are immigrant Somalians and individuals from Sudan, among others.

3) Despite Nationalized Healthcare in Canada, more and more Canadians are traveling to the United States in order to pay for medical care that they cannot obtain at home as a result of the waiting lists for care being too long.

4) Aerospace medicine, biomedical engineering and related healthcare are becoming important in light of plans to settle and inhabit the Moon and Mars, as well as considering the new era of Space Vacations and tourist astronauts. These technologies also provide the platform for culturing organs for transplant patients without destroying human embryos. In addition, certain combinations of elements for effective medications will combine only under zero-gravity in space. The possibilities are mind boggling.

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1. Harvard University
2. Johns Hopkins University
3. University of Pennsylvania
4. Washington University
5. University of California San Francisco
6. University of Washington
7. Stanford University
8. Duke University
9. Yale University
10. Baylor College of Medicine
11. Columbia University
12. University of Michigan
13. University of California LA
14. University of California San Diego
15. Cornell University
16. University of Chicago
17. University of Pittsburg
18. Vanderbilt University
19. U. of Texas Southwestern Medical Center-Dallas
20. University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill

According to statistical findings examined by the US News and World Report magazine and the US National Institutes of Health ranking systems, these are the Top 10 Medical Schools in America in research and Primary Care, considering numbers of successful graduates:

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Top 10 medical schools for Research

• 1. Harvard University
• 2. Johns Hopkins University (tie)
• Washington University in St. Louis
• 4. Duke University (tie)
• University of Pennsylvania
• 6. University of California San Francisco
• 7. Columbia U. College of Physicians and Surgeons
• 8. Stanford University (tie)
• University of Michigan Ann Arbor
• 10. Yale University

Top 10 medical schools for Primary Care

• 1. University of Washington
• 2. Oregon Health & Science University
• 3. University of California San Francisco
• 4. Mich. State U. Coll. of Osteopathic Medicine
• 5. University of Minnesota Duluth
• 6. University of California San Diego (3-way tie)
• University of New Mexico
• University of Wisconsin Madison
• 9. University of Iowa (Roy J. & Lucille A. Carver) (3-way tie)
• University of Minnesota Twin Cities
• University of Rochester

University of Washington School of Nursing.

Consistently ranked the top nursing school in the country, it offers global partnerships for nurses to study and work overseas, and a great research program.

UCSF School of Nursing.

University of California-San Francisco. Emphasis is on community outreach and its research program. It received the most research funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) nationally for two years 2003 - 2004.

University of Texas School of Nursing.

U of T has one of the most diverse student populations of all American nursing schools.

University of Virginia School of Nursing.

In this school, the Psychiatric/Mental Health and Adult/Medical-Surgical specialties are outstanding and highly ranked by NIH.

University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Nursing.

High-ranking specialties include internal medicine, women's health, geriatrics, pediatrics, and HIV/AIDS.

University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing.

Founded in 1740 by Benjamin Franklin. Lifelong free career support to graduates. At least 95% of its nursing students pass the board exam on the first try.

University of Michigan-Ann Arbor School of Nursing.

One of the most extensive libraries in the country. Next to the University of Michigan Medical Health Center. Strong clinical practice program.