By Patricia A. Gabow, M.D., Chief Executive Officer and Medical Director
Being a player in the National Football League is a dream job for many young high school students. However, there are only about 1,700 players in the National Football League. The real opportunities for secure and satisfying jobs lie in health care.
There will be 21 million new jobs in health care by the year 2012. This astonishing fact is one Denver Health is sending to thousands of high school students throughout the metropolitan Denver area and to guidance counselors throughout the state of Colorado.
Many of these 21 million new jobs come with high salaries. The jobs will be available in many fields, including those for students who do not necessarily want to be a doctor or a nurse, but who would still like to be part of the health care industry.
Already, there are shortages of health care workers in almost every field. In the next few years, as a large portion of the U.S. population reaches retirement age, the health care industry will grow even faster.
By 2012, there will be a need for 2.3 million nurses, nearly 200,000 engineers, 67,000 medical scientists, 73,000 technicians and 345,000 managers.
Computer systems analysts, database managers and programmers also will have countless opportunities for good jobs in health care, as the industry becomes an increasingly sophisticated user of information technology.
Here are some examples of jobs and their projected 2012 salaries:
- Medical transcriptionist - $45,000
- Assistant financial officer - $170,000
- Engineering director - $126,000
- Nurse practitioner - $104,000
- Physical therapist - $85,000
- Paramedic - $65,000
- Dental hygienist - $85,000
- Pharmacist - $118,000
- Optometrist - $135,000
- Radiation therapist - $84,000
- Family physician - $193,00
Students and their parents can visit www.coloradohealthcareers.org for up-to-date information on projected salaries for many health care fields.
There are several Colorado educational institutions that offer training or degrees in health care fields. Web sites for information on scholarships include: FindTuition.com, College-Scholarship.com, AllScholar.com, FinancialAidSupersite.com, and Scholarships.salliemae.com.
A special Denver Health brochure, published through a grant from The Colorado Trust and Siemens Medical Solutions USA (an information technology company) is available for distribution to high school students in all public and private high schools in the Denver area. Visit www.denverhealth.org/healthcareers to view the brochure. We hope that young people will review the information in the booklet and take it home to share with their parents. The health care industry needs them.
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