7 Reasons to Consider a Career in the Healthcare Industry

Pursuing a career in the healthcare industry offers a number of excellent benefits. This could include amazing career prospects, enviable job security, fantastic financial rewards and the opportunity to help people on a daily basis. A job in healthcare can offer a prosperous and rewarding career path for many people. With this in mind, here are 7 reasons to consider a career in the healthcare industry.

7 Reasons to Consider a Career in the Healthcare Industry

1. Diversity

The healthcare industry is hugely diverse and offers a wide range of job roles within a variety of settings. According to NHS Jobs, there are over 300 different careers on offer within the NHS alone. This allows healthcare professionals to find a role that they are truly passionate about and work within a setting that they’re interested in. Here are some popular job roles within the healthcare industry:

• Doctor – These highly trained medical professionals are responsible for diagnosing and treating a wide range of medical conditions and injuries. They have the unique opportunity to use their specialist skills to save lives on a daily basis and make a positive difference to the lives of others. To become a doctor, you must complete a graduate degree in medicine followed by a postgraduate training programme and further work based training.
• Nurse – Similar to doctors, nurses help people by treating a variety of different medical conditions. They use their specialist skills to help patients recover from illness and injury and return to optimal health. To become a nurse, you must complete a degree in nursing and become registered with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC). Nurses can then complete a number of additional qualifications to further advance their career. For instance, the online DNP program teaches all of the skills needed to apply for roles within the highest level of nursing practice.
• Dentist – Dentists are responsible for caring for people’s dental health by diagnosing and treating a range of dental issues; from cavities and chipped teeth to gum disease. They also encourage people to adopt good oral hygiene habits to improve and maintain their dental health. Dentists are required to complete a graduate degree in dentistry followed by supervised practice.

2. Job satisfaction

Many people working within the healthcare industry report getting a great sense of satisfaction and pride from helping to improve the lives of others. Healthcare professionals have a positive impact on people in a number of ways and every role plays some part in helping people. For instance, surgeons perform life changing operations that save lives and speech therapists help patients regain their speech and confidence. Even jobs that aren’t directly working with patients make a big difference. For example, administrative staff play an important role in improving the care that patients receive while using healthcare facilities.

Helping others can also effectively boost mood and reduce feelings of stress and anxiety. This is because doing good deeds releases endorphins which create feelings of happiness. For that reason, healthcare professionals often report higher levels of satisfaction and happiness in their job roles, when compared to employees in other occupations. 

3. Training and development

Many healthcare employers offer staff fantastic training and development opportunities. For instance, the NHS offer staff a huge range of interesting and informative workshops, volunteering opportunities and online courses which staff can complete for free. These courses allow staff to broaden their skills, advance within their career and enhance their salary. Many of these training courses and qualifications are also offered for free, meaning everyone has the opportunity to improve their professional development.

4. Career prospects

Healthcare professionals are in high-demand, meaning there are many exciting job roles available within the industry. According to reed.co.uk; “The NHS is the fifth largest employer in the world and employees approximately 1.7 million workers, not including jobs within the private healthcare sector.” Healthcare workers therefore benefit from excellent career prospects and enviable job security. The population is growing, which means the healthcare sector is expected to continue expanding year on year, thus opening up more job opportunities in the industry. What’s more, statistics show that jobs in the healthcare industry are expected to grow at a far quicker rate than the average across all other occupations.

5. Salary and benefits

Working for the NHS offers an excellent range of benefits which includes a fantastic pension scheme, increased pay for unsociable working hours, generous holiday scheme and an annual personal development review to support your career advancement. Some private health organisations offer other additional perks like free life insurance and private healthcare. There are also many opportunities to complete additional training and qualifications to advance your career and enhance your salary.

6. Exciting work

Every day will be different when you work in the healthcare industry. You are likely to be meeting different people, working on different tasks and performing different duties on a daily basis. This makes healthcare careers exciting and challenging. You will also have the responsibility to make important decisions and work within a fast paced and constantly evolving environment. 

7. Travel opportunities

Skilled healthcare professionals like doctors and nurses are in high demand all around the world. This opens up a huge range of travel opportunities and means that many healthcare professionals can choose to live and work pretty much anywhere in the world. Working abroad gives healthcare professionals the unique opportunity to experience exciting new parts of the world while earning a good salary and doing something they’re passionate about. With the outlook for healthcare jobs being so good, there’s likely to always be a demand for healthcare professionals all around the world.

There are many amazing benefits to working in the healthcare industry. Some of the best advantages of pursuing a career in healthcare include good salary and benefits, fantastic career prospects and job security, job satisfaction, and the chance to make a positive difference to the lives of others. The healthcare industry also offers a hugely diverse range of job roles within a variety of different settings. This gives the opportunity to find the perfect role that suits your particular interests and skills.