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| Article Listing | Search Articles | More Articles in Job Market | More Articles by IN THE NEWS |
THE JOB MARKET: Health care heats up |
| by IN THE NEWS - 03/24/2008 |
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| "Local career schools upgrade their offerings to serve growing demand in Health Care Job Market" |
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When she signed up for an eight-month course to prepare for a career as a pharmacy technician, Annice DeVore says, her plan was "to make a change in my life ... I wanted a career path."
It didn't dawn on her that health care overall is considered a hot growth industry. "I didn't realize it was so big until I went to school," at the Garden City campus of the Sanford-Brown Institute, says DeVore, 34, of Freeport, a former retail cashier. She signed up for the course last March and now is employed by LifeMed Pharmacy in Inwood. Such occupations - and the training programs that prepare people to work in them - are of particular interest in such challenging economic times. They appeal not only to people looking to upgrade professions, but also to those returning to the workforce after a hiatus, seeking "retirement" careers or, having just lost a job or fearing being laid off, looking for a field that seems to offer security and plenty of opportunities.
Experts encourage students to research each occupation carefully, looking not just at the demand for workers but also the supply of those newly trained who are, or will be, entering the field.
Clearly, the need for health care workers will continue to rise, largely because of two factors: Aging baby boomers will require more services, and current health care workers will retire, leaving their jobs to be filled.
Healthy job outlook
The New York State Department of Labor's list of the 25 jobs on Long Island projected to be the fastest growing through 2014 include medical assistant, home health aide, diagnostic medical sonographer, physical therapist, physical therapist assistant, physical therapist aide, physician assistant, medical records and health information technician, personal and home care aide. On its list of occupations expected to have the largest number of openings: registered nurse and home health aide.
"As economic uncertainty rises, people definitely look to fields they think have more stability," says Gary Huth, labor market analyst on Long Island for the state labor department. "There's no question that jobs in health care will be significant," he says, "[but] no field is immune to changes." So he advises relying on labor department figures as a guide - but doing further research into an occupation of interest to determine the nuances of its longer-term prospects, as well as just how much it meets your personal needs. Among indicators health care education is on the rise:
Sense of security
One element that feeds the sense of security around the health care job sector is the reality that "you can't outsource direct patient care," says James Swift, president of the Garden City location of Sanford-Brown Insitute. That's one of 19 campuses of Sanford-Brown Institute/Sanford-Brown College, which traces its roots to 1866.
OF INTEREST
The top five degrees from for-profit schools in 2006: business, health care, information technology, visual and performing arts, and education
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| More Details: http://www.newsday.com/services/newspaper/printedition/monday/business/ny-bzcov5624209mar24,0,4405788.story |
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