subject: Studying Supply And Demand For Health Care Professionals [print this page] This woman's story begins with a life changing decision to enroll in an eight month pharmacy technician course. She explained how badly she needed to change careers. She didn't realize that the whole health care industry has openings. Until she began school at a local institution of higher learning in Garden City, New York, this thirtysomething, former cashier says she didn't realize how big it had become. These types of occupations and corresponding training programs are drawing in more and more people, especially given today's recession. Many different kinds of people fall into the web, including those who want to upgrade their professions and those returning to the workforce. These fields of possibility and security draw in people searching for retirement careers, as well as the recently unemployed.
However, experts push students to explore each occupation carefully, because they should consider not only the number of job vacancies but also the supply of new graduates competing to fill them. It is apparent that the demand for health care professionals will continue to rise because of two primary considerations. The first is the need for assistance by the baby boomer generation, and the second is the dropping out of professionals who retire.
A labor market analyst for New York's state labor department says that as economic uncertainty continues to rise, people definitely look to fields they think have more stability. Although the health care industry is definitely reliable, even it may not be able to withstand every trial. Therefore, he urges people, in addition to reviewing department data, to examine the occupation of interest, looking at longer term prospects and measuring adequacy to personal needs.
The owner of a local higher education institution in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, announced that he would seek approval from both the state and the accrediting board for conversion to a branch of a local college specializing in allied health. In addition to current programs in fields like business, criminal justice, design and health care administration, health care courses would boost their enrollees. The company's talking head said as much.
The health care industry growing in this country has brought success even to schools such as this one. The reality is that people feel secure with health care jobs, because direct patient care cannot be outsourced, according to the president of the college. Established in 1866, this school is one of 19 campuses of the Garden City, New York school. Almost all 17 of the first pharmacy technician graduates landed jobs within two months of graduation.
