Most of us know, or believe that the medical field is a career that requires a considerable amount of time for education and training, plus enough cost. The truth is, you are not far from the truth, because the major key players in the medical field require years of education.
But, not all of them require several years of studies for you to make a stable income. Through these highest paying medical jobs with little schooling you can increase your income potential, some jobs might even require you to just be outstanding in your high school diploma. Moreover, besides medical jobs, there are still other professions that pay very well and demand just 1 year of study, and Canada is at the forefront of this adventure.
Pursuing these high-paying medical jobs with little schooling will benefit you whether you want to change your career, get employed quickly after high school, or you want to join the healthcare industry without spending several years in the University. Also, getting a medical job that will make you happy, might be something you should consider.
In this blog, we’ll show you the list of several high-paying medical jobs that you can speedily get, we’ll also provide their median annual wage and the typical education you need for them.
Table of Contents
Highest Paying Medical Jobs with Little Schooling
Note that, most of our definitions of these medical terms came from the “U.S. BLS,” this is because we’re not medical experts to come up with their definitions. Also, the median annual wages are coming from the same source.
1. Radiation Therapist
- Typical Education Needed for Entry: Associate Degree or Certificate Program
- Median Annual Wage: $82,790
A Radiation Therapist needs to work with doctors or other medical practitioners that specialize in radiation therapy (a type of cancer treatment) and can also work with oncology nurses that specialize in taking care of cancer patients. Even though an associate degree will be appropriate to join the radiation therapy workforce, most states just require radiation therapists to be licensed or certified, which means you can still become one with a certificate program, which makes it even faster.
2. Nuclear Medicine Technologist
- Typical Education Needed for Entry: Associate Degree
- Median Annual Wage: $78,760
According to U.S. BLS a Nuclear Medicine Technologist prepares and administers radioactive drugs for imaging or treatment. Even though this is one of the highest paying medical jobs with little schooling, with their slow growth of job outlook (2% from 2021 to 2031), it would be advisable for you to get a bachelor’s degree to beat the competition.
3. Respiratory Therapists
- Typical Education Needed for Entry: Associate Degree
- Median Annual Wage: $61,830
According to U.S. BLS a Respiratory therapist cares for patients who have trouble breathing—for example, because of a chronic condition such as asthma. The lovely thing about this medical job is that the demand for this profession is projected to be high in the future, which is 14% growth from 2021 to 2031 which is even faster than the average of other occupations.
4. Diagnostic Medical Sonographer
- Typical Education Needed for Entry: Associate Degree
- Median Annual Wage: $75,380
A Diagnostic medical sonographer makes use of special equipment such as a Basic Ultrasound Machine, Doppler Ultrasound, Breast Ultrasound, transvaginal/transrectal scanner, etc to create images or to conduct tests. Their annual number of jobs at 140,400 is also amazing, coupled with their 10% job outlook.
5. Dental Hygienist
- Typical Education Needed for Entry: Associate Degree
- Median Annual Wage: $77,810
A Dental hygienist specializes in examining patients for signs of oral diseases, such as gingivitis, and provides preventive care, including oral hygiene.
This is among the highest paying medical jobs with little schooling that has very high annual jobs, and futuristic employment demand.
6. Surgical Technologist
- Typical Education Needed for Entry: Postsecondary nondegree award
- Median Annual Wage: $48,510
Surgical assistants’ and technologists’ work is as simple as helping with surgical operations. Here’s basically what they do, according to the U.S. BLS, they help prepare operating rooms, arrange equipment, and help doctors and first assistants during surgeries.
7. Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses
- Typical Education Needed for Entry: Postsecondary nondegree award
- Median Annual Wage: $48,070
Licensed practical nurses (LPNs) and licensed vocational nurses (LVNs) provide basic medical care to ill, injured, or convalescing patients or persons with disabilities. The interesting thing about this is that you don’t even need a 2-year associate degree to become one, and their annual employment is massive.
8. Occupational Therapy Assistants and Aides
- Typical Education Needed for Entry: Associate Degree
- Median Annual Wage: $61,520
An occupational therapy assistant helps patients develop, recover, improve, and also retain the skills needed for daily living and working. If you’re interested in always standing to perform your duties like setting up equipment then this medical job could be for you.
9. Physical Therapist Assistants
- Typical Education Needed for Entry: Associate Degree
- Median Annual Wage: $61,180
A Physical therapist assistant works under the supervision of physical therapists to help patients regain movement and manage pain after injuries and illnesses.
10. Medical Records Specialist
- Typical Education Needed for Entry: Postsecondary nondegree award
- Median Annual Wage: $46,660
The work of a Medical Records Specialist is to gather, compile, process, and maintain patient files (from U.S. BLS). They also may classify and enter patients’ medical information into the healthcare industry’s numerical coding system. It is one of the highest paying medical jobs with little schooling that only requires a certificate to start working, even some qualify with a high school diploma.
11. Phlebotomist
- Typical Education Needed for Entry: Postsecondary nondegree award
- Median Annual Wage: $37,380
A Phlebotomist collects blood samples from patients for laboratory testing, they also talk with patients and donors so they are less nervous about having their blood drawn.
12. Dental and Ophthalmic Laboratory Technician
- Typical Education Needed for Entry: High school diploma or equivalent
- Median Annual Wage: $39,090
The role of a Dental and Ophthalmic Laboratory Technician is to make or repair dentures, eyeglasses (using automated equipment), prosthetics, and related products.
13. Medical Equipment Repairer
- Typical Education Needed for Entry: Associate Degree
- Median Annual Wage: $49,910
The medical Equipment Repairers profession is a growing industry, even though just over 59,000 jobs were offered in 2021, it is seen to be about 7,700 new workers annually, making it one of the high-paying medical jobs with fast schooling, and a high job outlook.
14. Opticians
- Typical Education Needed for Entry: High school diploma or equivalent
- Median Annual Wage: $37,570
The work of an Optician is basically to help fit eyeglasses and contact lenses, following prescriptions from ophthalmologists and optometrists. They can also help customers to decide the best eyeglass frames or contact lenses to buy.
15. Medical Assistants
- Typical Education Needed for Entry: Postsecondary nondegree award
- Median Annual Wage: $37,190
One of the amazing things about this amazing high-paying and high-demanding profession is the number of new medical assistants that are employed annually (117,800). If you must know, a medical assistant helps with administrative and clinical tasks in the offices of physicians, hospitals, and other healthcare facilities. Most of them work at the offices of physicians. And, you can even earn a medical assistant degree or certificate online.
Conclusion
In summary, one of the things you should know about these highest paying medical jobs with little schooling is that it can be competitive especially when someone that has a higher degree is applying for the same position. Another thing you should know is that, if something is easy to get, you’re not the only one going for it, so if you have the time to get a higher degree, please do.
But that doesn’t mean you don’t have a good chance of being employed, especially for medical jobs that have a high job outlook.
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