It isn’t without reason that there’s such a hullaballoo over healthcare jobs right now. After all, a healthcare career promises everything that one desires from a profession – job security, challenging work, steady income, potential to grow, and satisfaction. If you don’t have the stomach for direct patient care and extensive schooling is not your cup of tea, but still want to enjoy the perks of having a healthcare job, don’t start to despair just yet. The sector has plenty to offer to people like you!

1. Top Paying Healthcare Jobs
It isn’t without reason that there’s such a hullaballoo over healthcare jobs right now. After all, a
healthcare career promises everything that one desires from a profession – job security, challenging
work, steady income, potential to grow, and satisfaction.
The flip side is that many healthcare careers, which pay top dollar, require extensive and rigorous
training and we are not just talking about med school. A lot of them also involve dealing with extreme
situations, especially if they have got to do with direct patient care.
If you don’t have the stomach for direct patient care and extensive schooling is not your cup of tea, but
still want to enjoy the perks of having a healthcare job, don’t start to despair just yet. The sector has
plenty to offer to people like you!
And to give you an idea, here are some healthcare jobs that don’t have very demanding educational
requirements, but offer a decent paycheck at the end of each month.
1. Medical Transcription
Medical transcription, in its traditional form, involves listening to voice recordings of doctors and other
healthcare practitioners and keyboarding them on a word processor. However, evolving technologies
like the speech recognition software have changed the nature of a medical transcriptionist’s job making
it more strategic and less laborious.
Modern day medical transcriptionists review the drafts of reports prepared by the speech recognition
software at the backend; check for factual inconsistencies, spelling errors and grammatical mistakes; fix
all inaccuracies and make other editorial changes; and finally, format the reports into standardized
styles.
It’s important, therefore, to make sure your medical transcription training is updated to cater to the
changing demands of the job. Along with an up-to-date medical transcription training program,
professional certification may boost your earning potential.
Compensation: According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the annual median pay of medical
transcriptionists in 2010 was $32,900.1
2. Medical Assistant
Medical assistants provide a range of administrative and clerical services to healthcare practitioners like
doctors, chiropractors, podiatrists, etc. Depending on their training, employer, and the laws of the state
they practice in, medical assistants may also perform certain clinical duties.
Professionals who complete medical administrative assistant training program have the skills to cover
tasks like:
 Manning the front desk/reception at a healthcare facility.

2.  Answering phone calls and scheduling appointments.
 Recording patient history and maintaining files.
 Helping patient fill insurance and other forms.
 Ordering and storing supplies and equipment.
 Handling payments and billing related tasks.
Compensation: The median hourly wages of medical assistants were$13.87 in 2010 2, according to
the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
3. Medical Billing & Coding
Medical coding and billing is one of the most important allied healthcare functions. When a patient visits
a healthcare practitioner, he or she may be asked to undergo several diagnostic tests, referred to other
specialists during the course of treatment, advised certain follow-up therapy, etc. All of this information
is coded using standard classification system and becomes a part of a patient’s record.
These records are used by doctors to review patient cases and by health insurance carriers to pay the
hospitals or private practices for the healthcare services rendered to their clients. These patient records
also become important evidence in medical lawsuits.
Post secondary medical billing and coding training is the standard entry-level educational requirement
for this job. Getting certified may increase your chances of securing a bigger paycheck.
Compensation: According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, medical billers and coders’ median pay
was$32,350 per annum in 2010.3
Sources:
1. bls.gov/ooh/Healthcare/Medical-transcriptionists.htm
2. bls.gov/ooh/Healthcare/Medical-assistants.htm#tab-1
3. bls.gov/ooh/Healthcare/Medical-records-and-health-information-technicians.htm