ShareThisWhen Daniel Jones ended his stint in the U.S. Air Force seven years ago, he had few job prospects. He returned to school, thought about a writing career and pursued a major in English at the University of California-Davis.
But Jones had second thoughts. He has opted instead for a career in health care, an industry job experts say continues to hold a wealth of opportunities even in times of high unemployment.
Too late to back out of his English degree, Jones, 31, also enrolled in a community college program with an eye toward earning a license in radiology.
"It was a more realistic goal," he said. "There were more opportunities out there."
While other industries bleed jobs, the health sector, despite its own economic challenges, still offers employment opportunities. The outlook for radiologists, physical therapists, laboratory technicians and other workers in so-called allied health fields remains high, partly because of the growing population of seniors.
Positions in rural areas are often difficult to fill, especially highly specialized jobs in MRI and CAT scan imaging. Depending on the type of work, an imaging specialist can make upward of $90,000 a year. A beginning technologist typically starts at around $60,000 annually.
Earlier this month, California officials announced a $32 million initiative -- a fourth of which comes from federal stimulus funds -- aimed at increasing the labor supply in allied health fields.
Some of the money will be used to fund programs at 28 community colleges across the state to allow an additional 700 students to enroll in allied health programs. About 72,000 students statewide are in health occupation programs, about 2,000 in the Los Rios Community College District, according to state college officials.
"The health care industry is one of the bright spots in our economy continuing to add jobs, and still our hospitals and community clinics struggle with massive shortages because our colleges and medical training program can't keep pace with the rising demand," Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said in announcing the funding package two weeks ago.
In March, the health and education sector was the only job category that expanded from a year ago, growing 2.2 percent in a year-over-year comparison, according to the California Employment Development Department.
In contrast, construction jobs dipped 18.4 percent during the same period.
More than 60 percent of all health care jobs are in allied health occupations, according to a Health Workforce Solutions study. All told, there are more than 200 different allied health occupations that provide diagnostic, therapeutic, information and other support services.
State labor and employment development officials say an additional 206,000 health care workers are needed within five years.
That bodes well for the future, said Rich Lehrer, the clinical coordinator for the Yuba College Radiologic Technology Program, which hosts a program in Sacramento.
"We might be at low tide right now, but there are opportunities out there," Lehrer said.
"This is one area where you can count on the fact that you won't be laid off after Christmas -- because the demand will continue after the sales."
Sutter Health, Cal-Davis Medical Center and Catholic Healthcare West, which operates the Mercy hospital chain, have partnered with the Yuba program to increase the number of radiologists and sponsor students to enroll.
Aaron Suekut, 27, enrolled two years ago after learning Mercy General would support him.
"I wanted to advance myself and get some higher education," he said. He had worked at the hospital wheeling patients through hallways.
Suekut's hope of working as a firefighter was dashed when he couldn't find employment. He turned to health care because "I wanted to get into something that I knew would have jobs around."
Suekut and Jones, the Cal-Davis English major, have been interning at Mercy General Hospital. Both expect to receive radiology licenses soon.
"With all the hospitals and clinics out there, I think there are going to be a lot of jobs still out there," said Suekut, who lives in Galt. "I'm not worried because I have a lot of good contacts."
Among them is Tim Sapyta, who supervises a radiology department of about 70 at Mercy.
"Radiology is very stable. In fact, we've actually added jobs," said Sapyta. "When positions become available, we fill them."
(Contact Bobby Caina Calvan at bcalvan@sacbee.com.)
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
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