The US Is Still in Need of More Healthcare Professionals

The healthcare sector in the United States is constantly evolving. Given the centrality of healthcare in any functional country, it is not surprising to find out that the healthcare industry is growing and the demand for healthcare services and practitioners is on the rise. There are certain circumstances and challenges of the present day in the U.S. that are increasing the demand for healthcare professionals. Let us examine a number of them.

image by Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade from Flickr Creative Commons.

An Aging Population

There are around 10,000 people retiring every day in the U.S. today. These are part of the baby boomers generation – people born from 1946 to 1964. In total, there were 76 million Americans born in that period. This generation is fast reaching retirement age. Indeed, all of them will have retired by the year 2030. This has created an aging population in need of care.

This population will survive on Medicaid or Medicare for all their healthcare needs. The result: increased strain on current healthcare resources and an increased need of healthcare professionals. With the U.S. life expectancy on the rise, the strain on existing resources and personnel in the healthcare industry will only become worse.

Increasing Competition in the Healthcare Industry

Perhaps driven by the realization that the healthcare industry presents certain career opportunities that few other industries can match, many more people are heading to medical school. In a number of years, the number of healthcare professionals will be higher than what we have today. This will increase competition among healthcare professionals and cause many to specialize. With specialized healthcare practitioners, creativity in the sector will increase, bringing with it new job opportunities that may be hard to imagine at the present.

A Thriving Biopharmaceutical Industry

The pharmaceutical industry is currently growing at an annual rate of 6.3%. This is according to a report released by Evaluate Pharma. This growth is creating new demand and with it an increased demand for healthcare professionals to enter the pharmaceutical industry. Few sectors offer as lucrative opportunities as the biopharmaceutical industry.

On average, a professional in this industry earns a salary of $123,108 every year. This can tell you that there are still a relatively low number of qualified biopharmaceutical professionals in the country. Therefore, the industry still requires qualified people who will bring new skills that will drive healthcare growth into the next decade.

Changes in the Healthcare Sector Driven By Political Forces

As Republicans fight to do away with the Affordable Care Act, the healthcare landscape will change. Any changes the lawmakers make will have significant implications many years from now. For Americans, no other factor is as essential in influencing healthcare as politics, especially party affiliations. This is according to a Gallup Poll conducted in 2014.

The political shifts in policy and their implications will be difficult for the common person to decipher, requiring healthcare professionals to explain it to them. The changes in law will also require implementation in healthcare institutions by qualified healthcare professionals.

Today is the best time to join the healthcare industry as a healthcare professional. A good place to begin is bestmedicalassistanteducation.com where you can learn where to start in your journey into this thriving industry. Indeed, every industry indicator suggests that the future will bring even more opportunities for those who will strategically place themselves to take advantage of them.

Author: Carol Trehearn