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| © Joe Raedle/Getty Images Some high-paying medical jobs don’t require a medical degree. |
By Andrew Keshner, MarketWatch
Want to pull in a nice salary in the fast-growing medical field — but do it without medical school student loans?
Some good options were tucked inside new employment projections the Bureau of Labor Statistics released Wednesday.
Between an aging population and rising demand to treat people with
chronic conditions, the health care field will keep growing, the agency
said in its job market outlook for 2018 to 2028. In fact, 18 of the 30
fastest-growing jobs from 2018 to 2028 are expected to be in the medical
field, it said.
While the average growth rate for all occupations
will be an estimated 5.2% through 2028, health care support occupations
are expected to grow at 18.2% and health care practitioner jobs could
expand almost 12%.
Here are four medical jobs that don’t require an M.D., but still make a six-figure median annual salary.
- Physician assistants made $108,610 in median annual wages in 2018 and have a 11.5% growth projection.
- Nurse anesthetists made $167,950, with a 17% growth rate.
- Nurse midwives made $103,770, with a 15.7% growth rate.
- Nurse practitioners made $107,030 with a 28.2% growth rate.
All
four jobs require master’s degrees, the agency noted. And, to be clear,
a master’s degree definitely doesn’t come cheap. One estimate says nurse practitioners emerge with an average of $149,000 in student loans.
But medical school bills can be even heftier.
Three-quarters of aspiring doctors take on debt to go to medical school, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges. Students graduate with a $200,000 median debt load, the organization said.
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