Healthcare professionals have always been essential workers. That’s apparent now more than ever. If you’ve ever considered a career in the medical field, here are some factors you’ll want to consider:

Skills and Traits that Healthcare Professionals Need

When you ask a Nurse or a Medical Assistant why they do what they do, you often hear the same answer: to help others. If you’ve always dreamed of a career where you get to help others every day, then you have the most important qualification to work in the industry. But you’ll also want to ask yourself if you are:

• Team player
• Compassionate
• A people person
• Detail-orientated
• Comfortable in fast-paced environments
• Calm in stressful situation
• Good at science
• A self-starter

Many jobs in medicine also require you to be hands-on with patients. Would you be comfortable drawing blood, collecting lab specimens, cleaning up after patients, and disinfecting rooms and medical equipment? Then you could reap the many benefits of a healthcare career.

Medical Careers Are in Demand in 2020

Healthcare is a multitrillion dollar industry that shows no signs of slowing down. Jobs in the field are expected to grow much faster than average through 2028. Why? Lots of reasons. First of all, there are more people using healthcare services than ever before. That’s partly because the Baby Boomers, those people born between 1946 and 1964, are getting older. That means they’re more likely to need healthcare services than younger people. And there are a lot of them! But the Affordable Care Act of 2010 also gave more people access to healthcare—which adds to demand, which requires more workers in the field. And then there’s the unfortunate fact that more than 100 million Americans suffer from chronic diseases. Those are conditions like diabetes and heart disease that need constant care and attention. All of those reasons mean the field is growing and in need of qualified workers.

What You’ll Need for a Healthcare Career

If you want to excel in your healthcare career, you need to start with a great foundation. And that begins with your education. That doesn’t mean you need to spend years and years at a four-year college and more. There are many entry-level careers you can train for in less than two years; some even less than 12 months.

Do you think a career in healthcare might be the right fit for you? At Porter and Chester Institute, you can train to become a Licensed Practical Nurse in as little as 15 months. Or you could train to become a Medical Assistant or Dental Assistant in as little as nine months. Get started today.