Career Advice & News Center

The current economy has left many students who are heading into college and career training schools wondering what area of study they should focus on in order to have a better chance of employment upon graduation. While some individuals simply stick to their career dreams and hope for the best, others are turning to the medical field, as the entire healthcare system appears to be on a hiring spree due to the number of Baby Boomers that are expected to retire in the near future.

There are a large number of clinical laboratory jobs available, according to MyFoxAl.com. This could be good news for individuals who are looking to get into the healthcare field but cannot afford to go to school for an extended amount of time.

U.S. News & World Report recently ranked laboratory professions as the third highest employment opportunities for the healthcare industry, a statistic which many people are taking to heart as they begin to enroll in technical schools in order to receive proper training. Some academic officials are quite excited with this high enrollment prospect.

"We are extremely pleased that the job forecast for this very important career is expected to grow at such an impressive rate in 2010 and beyond," Dr Janelle Chiasera, director of Clinical Laboratory Sciences at University of Alabama, Birmingham (UAB), said in a statement to FOX6 News. "In fact, we expect that the overall growth trend in the healthcare sector will continue to progress rapidly as aging baby boomers place new and increased demands on health-care providers."

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, individuals who are looking to pursue a career as a clinical laboratory technician typically need to have an associate's degree or training course in order to become certified. The profession is expected to increase by 16 percent by 2018.