Healthcare Career Trends: Primary Care Positions and the Promise of Pay Raises
In June 2014, America’s number crunchers helped further support what an earlier U.S. News’ article on the 100 Best Jobs of 2014 indicated; primary care positions are hot. Among the hottest are nurse practitioners, physicians and registered nurses. All three fell in the magazine’s top 10. You may ask, “How did the number wizards’ latest revelations add support to the magazine’s previous assertions?”
Simply put, the economists noted that pay raises among healthcare professionals are growing at a rate that is level with inflation. That’s pretty significant news when you consider that the only other salaries keeping pace with inflation are presently found in the technology, energy and transportation industries. And base salaries for entry-level, primary care providers aren’t anything to sneeze at either.
Part of the reason why primary care positions currently tend to offer more pay raise opportunities and higher starting salaries has to do with the ongoing healthcare shortages. The industry is at a point in its growth cycle where large numbers of mature, primary care providers are dropping out of the workforce and potential replacements have yet to complete their basic training.
In addition, many qualified primary care workers are also opting to forgo their sole proprietorship, private practice ambitions and join forces with existing medical facilities. When doing so, they may choose to work part-time or shift focus to a specialty area that leaves other full-time primary care positions unfulfilled. Thus, those primary care providers with the skills needed to step up and proudly display the caduceus are often able to command higher salaries and frequent, respectable pay raises.
For more information about healthcare career trends and the most lucrative positions available, please contact us at Medical Associates Consulting. We have longstanding relationships with hospital management firms, private practices, local hospitals, physicians’ groups, clinics and others that can help fill primary care positions nationwide.
