HEALTH SCIENCES

There are at least 53 job categories and nearly 10 million jobs in this category; this represents approximately 7.5% of all jobs in the United States. This job category is perhaps the fastest growing overall with no job groups declining and all but five growing at least as fast as average in our economy with 31 growing faster than our economy's growth. Again, education is critical in almost all of these occupations with state licenses, laws, etc. requiring certain licensing, certification, experience, etc. Virtually all the highest paying occupations require some type of advanced degree and because our educational system can't keep up with technological and scientific advances, many jobs have gone to requiring certificates rather than degrees. Future technology here will determine many future jobs including genetic therapy, nanotechnology, etc. The health, pharmaceutical and insurance industries will somehow need to form some type of partnership between the business side of health care costs and the human side of nurturing and caring for people. Issues in mental health appear to be one of the current dilemnas facing health care and insurance industries. There is a huge need for young people to consider occupations in this "caring for people" pathway; however, when most young people are surveyed, few show interest in many of these professions. It is also a pathway dominated by the female gender; on the bright side, more women are graduating from colleges and universities than men.