Health care has the remedy for unemployment

POP QUIZ: 5.6 million equals

a. the number of unemployed people in the European Union under the age of 25

b. the most recent number of people in the UK that watch "The Voice"

c. the number of new healthcare jobs expected to be created in the U.S. healthcare industry by 2020

d. all of the above

If you think d is the correct answer, you are right.

In the past few years, the healthcare industry has grown twice as fast as the national economy. The Bureau of  Labor Statistics predicts that the healthcare and social assistance sector will increase by three percent each year, creating more new jobs by 2020 than any other industry.

Furthermore, U.S. News and World Report states that jobs in health care and technology dominate the rankings for the best jobs in 2013.

As most of these jobs require special training, local universities are approved providers for health care and many other “education to career” funding programs through San Diego Workforce Partnership, Military Spouse, and Veterans benefits. And some of these programs will qualify students to enter the health care field in as little as six months!

UC San Diego Extension, SDSU’s College of Extended Studies, and Extended Learning at Cal State University San Marcos offer hands-on classes that teach practical skills, and are scheduled for working adults and taught by industry experts. Most courses are offered online, giving students 24/7 access to their classes.

For example Linda Weygandt, who works at a San Diego-area hospital, helped get her foot in the door by taking the EKG Technician Certification program through SDSU.

“I would recommend this class to anyone and everyone,” she said. “I even tell a lot of nurses, ‘You should take this class. You could actually afford it.’”

SDSU prepares individuals for health care occupations through such courses as clinical medical assistant, medical billing and coding + medical terminology, electronic health record management, EKG technician certification, ECG/EKG for nurses, and dialysis technician. Check out this video about their medical billing and coding program.

Similarly, UC San Diego Extension offers a healthcare information technology certificate to bring students up to date on the latest implemented technology in healthcare record keeping and coding, as well as the hospital coding specialist certificate and the outpatient coding program.

UC San Diego Extension also offers more niche healthcare certification programs such as the growing lactation consultant program and the alcohol and drug abuse counseling certificate.

In response to a regional work place need for individuals who are trained in nursing, the Master of Science in Nursing through Extended Learning at Cal State University San Marcos is now accepting applications for 2013. The graduate program builds on the knowledge gained at the bachelor’s degree level and promotes nursing scholarship at the local, state, national and international level through research, service and practice.

For more information visit www.csusm.edu/el/degreeprograms/msn/.

UC San Diego Extension has programs intended to build upon established careers in the medical field as well. The wide ranging clinical trials and research programs have recently gained international attention through the clinical trials in Latin America workshop.

See what other industries are teaming with new positions on the Career Channel.