Wednesday, June 17, 2009

5 High Paying Medical Careers That Don't Require A 4+ Year Degree

This is a guest post written by: Thomas Rheinecker

5 High Paying Medical Careers That Don't Require A 4+ Year Degree

Not everyone wants to spend the next four years of their life working toward a better career, especially when you can have a high paying career in the medical field in less than four years. Any one of the careers that follow will get you the salary you need without taking four years of your life just to get started.

Dental Hygienist

The training required to work as a dental hygienist is usually an associate's degree from any school accredited by the American Dental Association Commission of Dental Accreditation. This job is expected to have employment numbers that grow faster than average through 2014 according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The median annual earnings for all careers depend on your place of employment and your region, but the median annual earning for a dental hygienist is estimated at over $58,000.

Ultrasonographer

This career will also require an associate's degree and allows you to focus on areas such as obstetrics and gynecology or neurosonography. It will require a strong grasp of anatomy, physiology, and physics. This profession involves the used of tact and general people skills to explain testing procedures to patients who may fear what these tests could reveal. The median annual earnings are estimated to be over $52,000.

Physical Therapist Assistant

A physical therapist assistant assists the physical therapist. That's simple enough. Duties may include clerical tasks, transporting clients, patient monitoring, and routine treatments. This career path requires only an associate's degree and earnings are estimated as being at least $35,000 annually.

Registered Nurse

Getting your associate's degree in nursing can pay off big time. Two years can have you earning as much as $60,000 a year. Your earnings will depend on your region, your place of employment, and your experience, but this is an extremely lucrative career with only an associate's degree. It has been estimated that 587,000 new registered nurses will be needed in the field through the year 2016. This means that not only will you have training for a job that pays well, but you will probably not have trouble finding a company or hospital that will be eager to hire you.

Radiologic Technologist

This profession, too, requires only a two year degree. In this career you will be administering X-rays, MRIs, and CT scans. You may be performing these duties in a hospital or in a laboratory. The need for radiologic technologists will continue through the coming years, and annual earnings can often exceed $50,000.

The medical profession continues to demand new workers in all of its fields in part because of the growing numbers of elderly individuals in the population. Highly skilled workers are always in demand. The fact that many of these careers can be entered into with less than a four year degree allows you to enter the medical field to enjoy a high paying career and to help people in less time than you might think. Consider this. In only two short years, you could be in a brand new high paying career in the medical field.

Thomas Rheinecker is a freelance writer and covers topics such as nurses assistant and medical careers, healthcare topics, and more.

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