Health Professions

Types of Degrees Health Professions Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many health professions graduations there were for each degree level during the last year for which data was available.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Bachelor’s Degree	256,172
Associate Degree	179,344
Master’s Degree	149,998
Undergraduate Certificate	137,838
Basic Certificate	135,330
Doctor’s Degree	89,473
Graduate Certificate	16,117

What Health Professions Majors Need to Know

People with careers related to health professions were asked what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important for their jobs. They weighted these areas on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the highest.

Knowledge Areas for Health Professions Majors

According to O*NET survey takers, a major in health professions should prepare you for careers in which you will need to be knowledgeable in the following areas:

• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
• Medicine and Dentistry - Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
• Psychology - Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.

Skills for Health Professions Majors

When studying health professions, you’ll learn many skills that will help you be successful in a wide range of jobs - even those that do not require a degree in the field. The following is a list of some of the most common skills needed for careers associated with this major:

• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
• Social Perceptiveness - Being aware of others’ reactions and understanding why they react as they do.

Abilities for Health Professions Majors

Some of the most crucial abilities to master while a health professions student include the following:

• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.

What Can You Do With a Health Professions Major?

Below is a list of occupations associated with health professions:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Ambulance Drivers and Attendants, Except Emergency Medical Technicians	22.0%	$25,750
Cardiovascular Technologists and Technicians	10.0%	$56,850
Dietetic Technicians	9.3%	$27,140
Emergency Medical Technicians and Paramedics	15.1%	$34,320
Family and General Practitioners	14.3%	$201,100
Genetic Counselors	29.0%	$80,370
Health Specialties Professors	25.9%	$97,370
Healthcare Social Workers	20.1%	$56,200
Home Health Aides	47.3%	$24,200
Low Vision Therapists, Orientation and Mobility Specialists, and Vision Rehabilitation Therapists	23.8%	$84,270
Marketing Managers	10.1%	$134,290
Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technologists	11.6%	NA
Medical Appliance Technicians	13.3%	$39,190
Nurse Midwives	20.0%	$103,770
Occupational Health and Safety Technicians	9.9%	$50,780
Ophthalmic Laboratory Technicians	11.7%	$31,830
Orthotists and Prosthetists	21.8%	$69,120
Pharmacists	5.6%	$126,120
Physical Therapists	28.0%	$87,930
Speech-Language Pathology Assistants	11.7%	$37,830

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Health Professions?

This major is dominated by women with about 85% of recent graduates being female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of health professions majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	21,479
Black or African American	32,150
Hispanic or Latino	41,736
White	137,703
International Students	2,948
Other Races/Ethnicities	20,156

Geographic Diversity

Health Professions appeals to people across the globe. About 1.2% of those with this major are international students.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Health Professions

Some degrees associated with health professions may require an advanced degree, while others may not even require a bachelor’s in the field. In general, the more advanced your degree the more career options will open up to you. However, there is significant time and money that needs to be invested into your education so weigh the pros and cons.

Find out what the typical degree level is for health professions careers below.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
Less than a High School Diploma	0.8%
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	10.8%
Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production)	8.9%
Some College Courses	5.5%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	16.6%
Bachelor’s Degree	21.5%
Post-Baccalaureate Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Baccalaureate degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees carrying the title of Master.	3.4%
Master’s Degree	17.5%
Post-Master’s Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Master’s degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees at the doctoral level.	1.4%
First Professional Degree - awarded for completion of a program that: requires at least 2 years of college work before entrance into the program, includes a total of at least 6 academic years of work to complete, and provides all remaining academic requirements to begin practice in a profession.	2.4%
Doctoral Degree	7.6%
Post-Doctoral Training	3.3%

Online Health Professions Programs

The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level	Colleges Offering Programs	Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year)	0	0
Certificate (1-2 years)	11,754	862
Certificate (2-4 Years)	592	12
Associate’s Degree	16,524	1,352
Bachelor’s Degree	3,542	1,160
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	11,384	2,680
Post-Master’s	2,956	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	2,176	288
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	3,102	500
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	160	66

Majors Related to Health Professions

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to health professions.

Major	Number of Grads

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• College Scorecard
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020

More about our data sources and methodologies.