According to the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), health care was the nation’s largest industry in 2004, providing 13.5 million jobs nationwide. About 411,000 of these health care workers were independent, self-employed professionals. 40% of the fastest growing occupations consist of careers in healthcare. Such healthcare management jobs include traditional fields such as nursing and physician’s assistant, but can also include medical secretaries and home and personal home health care aides.

Even if the U.S. finally joins the rest of the industrialized world by offering free, single-payer universal health care to all its citizens (by no means a foregone conclusion given the financial power of the insurance and pharmaceutical industries – but increasingly, a possibility with rising anger and frustration on the part of working Americans over a dysfunctional “for-profit” health care system), the job outlook should be unaffected. In fact, it is even likely to improve; contrary to corporate media propaganda, health care professionals in countries with socialized medicine enjoy a high standard of living and substantially greater job security as government employees than their U.S. counterparts.

Most healthcare management jobs are in hospitals (over 41%). Nursing homes and residential care facilities make up the second largest source of employment, with private medical and dental offices a close third.

In any event, the DOL now predict that most of the new wage and salaried jobs created over the next seven to ten years will be in healthcare management. Most of these workers have jobs requiring no more than an associate’s (two-year) degree; nonetheless, those with careers in healthcare are among the most educated in the nation.

Whatever shape health care takes in the U.S. during the coming decades, healthcare management jobs will be plentiful. If you are going to take advantage of the growing opportunities in careers in healthcare, you’ll want to make sure you are enrolled in, and receive a good quality health care management education.

Healthcare management education is offered at most major universities; there are also many schools that specialize in such courses of study. These train prospective students for careers in healthcare requiring no more than an associate’s degree, such as dental hygienist, or anesthetists, which require more advanced training but do not need a medical degree; health care marketing; and even physical education for young people. Some institutions offer healthcare management education online. Before starting on your healthcare management education, you’ll want to check out several of these institutions to find out which is the best for you.