Healthcare Job Opportunities Continue Positive Growth in Q3
Job opportunities and dual degrees on the upswing.
- Healthcare job opportunities continue to steadily increase in number and indicate the growing need for healthcare recruiting, according to a HEALTHeCareers report. The Healthcare Jobs Snapshot indicates that available positions increased by 65 percent from last year’s third quarter. There was significant growth in the demand for cardiology, women’s health/OBGYN, and pediatrics. The open positions posted for nurse practitioners increased 16 percent from the second quarter’s publication. The open positions posted for physicians and surgeons increased by three percent from last year’s third quarter.
Job openings for physicians, surgeons and nurses accounted for the largest percentage of open positions. The demand for nurses was the highest for the first time this quarter, but physicians and surgeons continue to account for the largest available opportunities.
Medical students seeking out these opportunities are more likely to participate in joint Medical Degree (MD) and Masters of Business Administration (MBA) programs in order to make a bigger impact in their careers than ever before, based on findings from the Carnegie Foundation’s Healthcare Policy and Research Center. The group reported that the number of joint MD/MBA programs in the United States increased from six to 65 in 20 years. Between 2011 and 2012, the number increased by 25 percent.
This jump in interest could be the result of job candidates with dual degrees having an upper hand when applying for hospital administration positions, which according to a New York Times article published in May, pay roughly $42,000 more than a clinical physician position. A Hospital CEO earns an average of $584,000 annually, versus the yearly salary of $306,000 for a surgeon. A Hospital Administrator earns $237,000 per year versus the yearly salary of $185,000 for a general medicine physician. Not only will a candidate with a dual MD/MBA degree have a hiring advantage, but they also may have the advantage of lowering the total cost of their education as many MD / MBA programs offer the degree to be completed within a five year timeframe rather than tacking on the additional time for a separate business school degree.
A study published in 2011, reflects that hospitals with dual-degree holding physician CEOs outperformed those with non-medical leaders. A more recent study reflects an expected percentage increase in numbers of MBA job opportunities from 2013 to 2014 from two percent to sixteen percent. The study also expects a steady growth of healthcare positions seeking candidates with an MBA as well as an MD due to changes to the healthcare system such as Obamacare and the increase in business-related problems encountered within healthcare, such as the many intricacies of the implementation of the Affordable Care Act. However, according to the quarterly publication from HEALTHeCAREERS, healthcare recruiting increased 60 percent quarter-over-quarter.
Additionally, Rock Health, a company that funds and supports startups building the next generation of healthcare technologies, reported that $1.9 billion in venture capital investment is going into predictive analytic projects. These projects utilize historic data to predict future developments and influence patient care and is anticipated to be an essential going forward.
