Healthcare is America's fastest-growing industry. In Texas, medical vocational schools are seeing a surge in students hoping to join the industry.

by Gabby Hyman

More healthcare jobs will be created between today and 2014 than in any other American career group. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reports that 3.6 million new positions will open for trained healthcare professionals over the next eight years. Most of the people taking jobs will have less than four years of college. If you live in Texas, vocational and trade schools are ramping up training programs to prepare people for these critical healthcare jobs.

Texas is among the five states that the BLS predicts will have the highest concentration of new healthcare jobs through the end of the decade. One of the fastest-growing fields in the healthcare industry will be in medical records and assisting. Graduates of one and two-year training programs in medical assisting and administrative support will find widespread opportunities.

Fast-Growing Healthcare Positions
The BLS further reports outstanding job growth and opportunities in medical assisting and coding. Medical office support positions nationwide will grow by 16.2 percent by 2014. Jobs for medical billing and posting clerks will increase by 10.9 percent. Positions for receptionists with medical training will undergo a whopping 31.3 percent increase.

If you're considering a role in this booming industry, you'll be delighted to know that Texas enjoys an abundance of riches in vocational healthcare training programs. There are medical assisting, medical insurance coding and billing programs in Arlington. You'll find medical administrative, and medical assisting training programs in Austin. The median salary for a beginning medical assistant in Dallas, Texas is $30,200.

In Dallas, there are many training programs to choose from that offer diplomas or certificates in medical insurance coding and medical assisting. Fort Worth, Galleria, Irving, San Antonio, and Greenspoint also have a selection of vocational programs in medical administrative assisting, billing and coding, and healthcare information technology. In Houston, there are schools offering diplomas in medical assisting, and medical insurance and coding, and certificates in medical sonography.

Texas Healthcare Facilities Need Workers Now
In 2004, six out of ten medical assistants worked in private physicians' offices, according to the BLS. The rest found jobs with ambulatory healthcare services, public clinics, medical laboratories, and with state and federal government healthcare agencies. But the ratio is about to change.

The BLS reports that the rapidly aging American population has created a huge demand for trained healthcare professionals to work outside of traditional medical offices and hospitals. Medical assistants are needed to fill positions with outpatient clinics, senior citizen care facilities, and home healthcare providers.

Sources
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics