You're right. Medical careers are not immune to problems. But right now the field looks pretty good.
Monday July 1, 2002
The American Hospital Association's Commission on Workforce for Hospitals and Health Systems recently issued a report with specific recommendations to help hospitals deal with current and future health care workforce shortages.
Personnel shortages are being reported in nearly every type of hospital job, what the commission labeled a potential "major national health care crisis."
The report's authors state that the current staffing crisisis a prelude to a longer-term shortage created by four major societal trends: the aging of the U.S. labor force; fewer potential workers replacing the aging "baby boomer" generation; the reduced appeal of health care careers; and high levels of job dissatisfaction among current health care workers. [excerpt]
Too Many Workers? Not for Long,By Aaron Bernstein in Washington
Employers face a wrenching manpower and skills shortagePeg Brubaker can't get relief--not from the spike in unemployment that began last year or even from the many layoffs in New York after September 11. She still can't find enough workers for the 15,000-employee New York Presbyterian Hospital, where she's vice-president for human resources. Skilled jobs are the toughest to fill. To hold on to $50,000-a-year ultrasound and X-ray technicians, she has hiked pay twice in the past year, a total of 7%, on top of annual merit-pay increases. Histotechnologists, who are paid about $43,000 to do tissue exams, got three extra salary adjustments totaling 13%.
So scarce are employees who can do such jobs that Brubaker recently threw in $10,000 in employee tuition assistance, up from $2,000, for anyone who will go back to college in these fields. Her hope: that even laundry and other low-skilled hospital workers will switch careers. "All the hospitals and pharmacies were stealing employees from each other, even in a recession, so I'm hoping this will stimulate the supply," says Brubaker.[excerpt]
Workforce Problems and Strategies
By Kimberly E. Applegate MD, Carol M. Rumack MD
[excerpt]
According to the American Hospital Association,[3] US hospitals in 2001 had vacancy rates of 21% for pharmacists, 18% for radiologic technologists, 18% for billing personnel and coders, 12% for laboratory technicians, 11% for registered nurses, and 9% for housekeeping and maintenance personnel.