Health Care Jobs On The Growth Track
PHOTO/COURTESY
Amy Butts, Amy Edson and Professor Karen Kaletski Dufault practice a procedure in the Respiratory Care Lab at Quinsigamond Community College in Worcester.
While most expanding health care occupations in Massachusetts are projected to grow 10 to 20 percent this decade, there are some that especially stand out. They're meeting the call for lower health care costs, better technology, and more in-home care, while meeting the needs of a growing population of senior citizens.
For example, a combination of advancing technology and efforts to cut costs are behind the push for more diagnostic medical sonographers, or professionals skilled in ultrasound. According to the state's Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development, demand is expected to grow nearly 41 percent this decade.
Dr. Carmelo Fernandez, chair of the department of diagnostic medical imaging at the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (MCPHS), heads one of four institutions in the state that provide training in this field. MCPHS's Boston program is the only one in which students earn a bachelor's degree. Yet it has only 18 students.
Fernandez said that's not enough to meet the growing demand, but it's a start. The program only accepts the number of students area hospitals say they will take for supervised sessions in a real-work atmosphere before graduation and most stay in the Boston area. But the school plans to offer three tracks of the program at its Worcester location soon, because, Fernandez said, Saint Vincent Hospital has shown a need for ultrasound technicians.
"That's why we need to open up something in the center of Massachusetts; because there is the need," he said. "Most of the hospitals in that area are asking us, 'Can you provide those people?' "
Technology-Driven Growth
Fernandez said that as computer technology associated with sonography, or digital imaging, has evolved, it's allowed the procedure to be used as a tool for more than viewing fetuses. He said it's become a valuable, cost-effective and non-invasive way to screen and follow up issues affecting the abdominal organs, heart and vascular system.
"Heart attack is the most common cause of death in the United States," Fernandez said. "Right there, that tells you why ultrasound is (in) high demand." He said it can be used to make diagnoses or accompany other diagnostic testing.
Fernandez said the latest trend is to use it to evaluate muscles, tendons and bones, which could be especially valuable for athletes during sporting events. He said there's no training for it in the United States, but it's frequently used in Europe and MCPHS is looking at adding a track to its curriculum.
"CT and MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) are big. You cannot take that equipment to a stadium or an arena," he said. However, ultrasound is "an easy way to make a diagnosis very quickly. It's easy, it's portable (and) it's relatively inexpensive for the patients."
Cost is also a factor in other high-demand medical roles. As hospitals aim to cut costs and lower overhead, there has been a push for shorter hospital stays and more home care, leading to greater demand for home health aides and physical therapists.
"There's a lot … being done to really work with patients to help them better self-manage, especially patients with chronic diseases where they used to be in and out of the hospital," said Jane Pike-Benton, executive vice president of home health and care transitions for Vanguard Health System New England, the parent company of Saint Vincent, and MetroWest Medical Center.
Pike-Benton said the most expensive form of care is in the hospital, followed by facilities such as nursing homes, while home care is the least expensive.
"If you look at the inpatient census in acute care hospitals, it's declining. Care is shifting to the community," she said. As a result, the demand for home health aides, who provide personal care such as bathing and grooming, and reinforce exercises prescribed by physical therapists, is projected to rise nearly 54 percent this decade.
Pike-Benton said Vanguard is always hiring people to work in home care and she's seeing more referrals today.
Another factor behind the rise in demand for home care workers is the aging baby boomer population. But Pike-Benton said home care services are utilized by people of all ages who need extra attention, whether the result of an illness, disease or surgery.
Pike-Benton said physician practices and nursing homes are also trying to avoid sending patients to the hospital, so home health is getting more referrals from them than in the past. She said nurses, physical therapists and physical therapist assistants (PTA) are needed as much as home health aides because patients often need sub-acute care even though they're at home.
As if to underscore her point, physical therapists and assistants are also among those occupations expected to grow the most, with increases of 26 percent and almost 31 percent, respectively. The PTAs are licensed and provide care plans overseen by physical therapists.
Margaret Jaillet, assistant dean of the school of health professions, public service programs and social sciences of Mount Wachusett Community College in Gardner, said graduates of the school's PTA program typically land full-time jobs within six months, with some working in home care. But Jaillet said growth in her field is largely due to the aging population and most graduates work at sub-acute rehabilitation or long-term-care facilities.
Respiratory Therapy: Team Approach
Another fast-growing occupation, respiratory therapy, utilizes a much more team-oriented atmosphere, often in critical situations. And it's a position many may not be aware of.
"We're very low radar. (Patients) don't know we exist unless they've been in a critical situation," said Karen Kaletski-Dufault, coordinator of the respiratory care associate program at Quinsigamond Community College in Worcester. She noted that respiratory therapists are always at a patient's bed with the nurse and doctor.
But even aside from critical situations, the need for respiratory therapists (RTs) is growing, with an estimated 30 percent more jobs foreseen in 2020 than in 2010.
Kaletski-Dufault said asthma rates are increasing rapidly, as are cases of emphysema and bronchitis, signaling the need for RTs. She blamed mold, mildew and pollution in urban areas as factors.
"There is a definite need and it's getting more so because of how the world is and the pollution that's involved," she said.
It's also another field that needs more workers as the large baby boomers age.
Kaletski-Dufault said the field is always shifting, and that's led to a push to link therapist training to bachelor's degree programs.
"The field is changing all the time; we're given more and more responsibilities," she said. "There's so much to this field."
However, Kaletski-Dufault said there seems to be a glut of RTs in Central Massachusetts today, compared to other parts of the country. She said she's seeing demand increase, though.
"The economy tanked. All of those people who would have retired ended up holding on to their jobs. And now there have been cuts," she said. "It will loosen up because these people eventually have to retire. It will be temporary because I've seen this happen before."
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