Highest Paying Non-Physician Health Care Jobs

If you’re on the hunt for a job or looking into professions in the healthcare industry, we’re here to tell you that physicians are by no means the only high-paying position you can opt for! A source from the updated Bureau Of Labor Statistics US states that an annual average wage for all healthcare practitioners and technical occupations in the healthcare industry, like registered nurses, surgeons, etc., was approximately $74,000.

Which was staggeringly high compared to the other occupations/careers, and luckily for you, it is estimated that there will be a 13 percent overall growth in the healthcare industry over the next decade. This means more job openings and opportunities for you to shine without going through medical school. 

Today, various non-physician jobs have higher average salaries than technicians and practitioners, and if you’re interested in the diverse range of these jobs, you’ve come to the right place!

In this article, we’ve thoroughly researched the highest-paying non-physician jobs available today using various resources and came up with the following list. Let’s get right into it!

Highest Paying Non-Physician Health Care Jobs

CRNA (Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist) 

A certified registered nurse anesthetist or CRNA is a registered nurse that administers anesthetics and other medication to a patient who is undergoing surgeries and various procedures. 

They fall under the APRN (advanced practice registered nurse) category and offer post-surgery care. Other responsibilities a CRNA is entrusted with:

• Educating patients about anesthesia to be used on them before a procedure or surgery.
• They are responsible for monitoring the patient’s response (physical) to the medication or anesthesia.
• Identifying risks a patient might have to use anesthesia. It could be allergies or other health problems like diabetes. 

The median salary for CRNA is $195,610 

Who Do You Work With?

As a CRNA, you get to work alone or with a team of healthcare providers such as surgeons, dentists, anesthesiologists, and the like. You would administer anesthesia for all kinds of procedures and surgeries. 

What Qualification Do You Need?

To become a CRNA, you’ll need the following:

• A Bachelor’s degree in Nursing or any related field.
• A Licensure as a registered nurse (RN) in the States.
• 1-3 years experience as an RN.
• A Doctorate as a result of graduating from an accredited nurse anesthesia program. 
• Pass or qualify for the National Certification Examination after the nurse anesthesia program.

Pharmacists

A great high-paying non-physician healthcare job you can opt for is a pharmacist. The role of medication experts such as pharmacists is to carefully check the physician’s medication prescription to a patient before giving them. 

This ensures that the patients receive the proper medication for their various health problems. It also helps them avoid taking the wrong dosage by providing instructions on how to take them or educating them on why the medication is essential.

Other responsibilities include:

• Ensuring safety and offering consultation services to manage various complicated diseases such as diabetes.
• Conduct wellness screening if a patient requires it.
• Give general advice on managing a person’s overall health to ensure a healthy lifestyle.

The median salary of a Pharmacist is $128,570

Who Do You Work With?

Since Pharmacists are healthcare professionals that administer medication, they work closely with physicians, pharmacy technicians, nurses, and patients to determine the proper dosages and medications prescribed to treat their various illnesses.

As a Pharmacist, your working areas include nursing homes, hospitals, universities, retail stores, government facilities, etc.

What Qualification Do You Need?

To become a pharmacist, here’s what you need: 

• A 4-year long Pharm.D. Degree after attending an accredited pharmacy school.
• To serve as an intern under a licensed pharmacist for a given time.
• Pass the Multi-State Pharmacy Jurisprudence Exam and North American Pharmacist Licensure to be officially licensed.

Physician Assistant

Physician Assistant or PA is a licensed healthcare professional who works alongside a physician or a professional with an advanced degree that directly cares for patients in the medical industry. 

As a Physician Assistant, your job is to assist in procedures and diagnose illnesses, among many duties to patients of all ages, provided the work falls under the agreement of your supervising physician.

PAs play a vital role in the functioning of team-based healthcare professionals; they are in demand and are paid quite handsomely.

Other responsibilities of a Physician Assistant include:

• Managing and creating treatment plans for patients.
• Prescribing medication to patients with various illnesses.
• Counseling patients and offering advice for better health improvement or prevention.

The median salary of a Physician Assistant is $121,530

Who Do You Work With?

As mentioned, PAs work under physicians and are responsible for various duties in numerous settings like nursing homes, emergency, intensive care units, private hospitals, etc. 

What Qualification Do You Need?

To become a Physician Assistant, here’s what you need:

• A bachelor’s degree in health science, biology, and other healthcare-related courses.
• Experience in working in healthcare.
• A master’s degree from an accredited PA program.
• Get a certification by passing PANCE (Physician Assistant National Certifying Exam)
• Get licensed in your state.

Physical Therapist

Physical therapists, or PTs, are healthcare professionals who diagnose and treat patients suffering from various injuries or having medical problems that limit their movements or ability to perform certain functions.

The patients are referred to PTs after going through a medical examination of their condition by their primary physician. PTs perform various techniques to improve patients’ movements and manage or reduce pain.

Other responsibilities of Physical Therapists include:

• Reviewing a patient’s medical history and diagnosing them by observation of their movements. Listening to the concerns of the patients also helps in diagnosis. 
• Creating treatment plans for patients.
• Documenting patient’s progress and making changes if it is needed.
• Advising patients and their loved ones of the process of recovery.

The median salary for Physical Therapists is $96,101

Who Do You Work With?

Physical therapists primarily work independently in private clinics, offices, nursing homes, patient homes, rehabilitation centers, etc.

They work with patients of all ages that need help with their disabilities, injuries, and other medical illnesses that restrict various movements.

What Qualifications Do You Need?

To become a Physical Therapist, you’ll need the following:

• A bachelor’s degree in physical therapy.
• Graduate from an accredited DPT (Doctor of Physical therapy) program.
• Pass a state licensure exam.

Echocardiology Technician

Echocardiology Technician or cardiovascular Technician is a healthcare professional who is a specialist in various cardiac care medical types of equipment like an electrocardiogram (EKG), cardiac monitors, Defibrillators, and AEDs, among many others.

They use these types of equipment to perform various non-invasive tests and procedures on the heart, which help doctors, diagnose various heart problems and conditions.

An Echocardiology technician’s responsibilities include the following:

• Determining a patient’s heart health or detecting problems by performing electrocardiogram tests.
• Assisting a physician in diagnosing a patient’s heart condition.
• Precise recording of the patient’s test results and data.

The median salary for Echocardiology Technician is $82,299

Who Do You Work With?

As an Echocardiology technician, you’ll work with physicians and various specialists when performing heart surgeries and procedures, assisting them by performing various tasks using cardiac care medical types of equipment. 

You can generally find these healthcare professionals working alongside a team in hospitals or various diagnostic imaging centers and medical clinics.

What Qualification Do You Need?

To become an Echocardiology Technician, you’ll need the following:

• A bachelor’s degree, diploma, or associate’s degree in echocardiology or DMS (Diagnostic Medical Sonography)
• Specialized training to gain experience.
• Opt for a certification to help advancement in this career after the training program. 

Speech-Language Pathologists

SLPs, or Speech-Language Pathologists, are healthcare professionals with expertise in communication. They treat and assess patients with various disorders like voice, language, fluency, swallowing, and speech, which derive from autism, brain injury, stroke, or developmental delays.

A more specific explanation of some of the problems includes:

• Language- Patients have trouble understanding what they hear and read and articulating words.
• Fluency- The patient repeats sounds; in other words, they stutter.
• Swallowing- The patient suffers from a swallowing disorder that makes them cough, choke, unable to chew food correctly, or feel something stuck in their throat.

Other responsibilities of Speech-Language Pathologists include:

• Providing aural rehab for patients who have difficulty hearing or are deaf.
• Assists people not suffering from speech or swallowing disorders but who want effective communication skills.

The median salary for Speech-Language Pathologists is $79,060

Who Do You Work With?

As Speech-Language Pathologists, you’ll work with patients of all ages, so you’ll see yourself teaming up with various psychologists, physicians, teachers, and audiologists, among others, in various settings like hospitals, clinics, schools, etc.

What Qualification Do You Need?

To become a Speech-Language Pathologist, you’ll need:

• A bachelor’s and master’s degree in SLP (Speech-Language Pathology).
• Completion of clinical fellowship in SLP.
• Pass the national test, Praxis exam in SLP.
• Get a License in your state. 
• Get Certified by ASHA (American Speech-Language-Hearing Association).

 

These are some of the highest non-physician healthcare jobs you can opt for. Of course there are more careers that are high-paying, and we encourage you to investigate them all. We hope this article provides some valuable information about these top non-physician healthcare careers, and helps you hunt for the best careers in the healthcare industry.