If you have finished high school and want to start your career in health care, then you will need a list of 16 best healthcare jobs for high school graduates with no experience. However, it is not easy to find jobs which require no experience but pay well. Entry-level jobs are usually badly-paid and they imply a lot of work, poor support and a bad environment, so people who are at the beginning of their working career often experience a huge disappointment. That does not have to be the case with medical jobs at all. As a matter of fact, many healthcare jobs require some level of education which is, together with some experience in this field, in most cases gained through education at medical schools, and only after a proper education can one gain some working experience in the healthcare industry.
There are many opportunities for healthcare jobs even if the only thing you have is a high school diploma. Those jobs can include working with patients or far away from them, in laboratories or offices which provide healthcare and help people as well. Many job counselors have grouped all healthcare jobs that require no experience in five groups – assisting in medical researches, working in pharmaceutical companies, working in nursing homes or helping people as personal assistants, medical writing jobs and working in medical administration. All of these jobs require only basic knowledge, no experience or training is necessary and they offer many other opportunities, like learning and preparing for other jobs in the healthcare industry. Working with patients is never easy, but if you start by doing simple jobs and gradually get to know the people and their needs and problems, you can learn much more than you have learned in your high school.
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Having a young and inexperienced worker does not have to be a bad thing. Many companies and hospitals know that and they do not hesitate to hire beginners with a high school diploma. They are prepared for their lack of practice, but nevertheless, they accept their fresh knowledge gained in high school. That could be an opportunity for you. Maybe the list of the companies which are always looking for beginners can help you start your career, but many of them imply working in offices or pharmaceutical companies. If you want to be a medical worker in the future, you need to start by working in a hospital with patients.
Entry-level hospital jobs are not easy as you might think since you spend most of the time working directly with patients. They are actually the most difficult jobs in the healthcare industry, but, on the other hand, the best partitioning jobs as well. You will not have to take many responsibilities (although being serious to a certain extent is always necessary at work), but you will have a chance to learn from professionals in their working environment. However, these jobs require a proper knowledge and a high school diploma, so you need to look for hospital jobs where high school diploma is needed. Since many of these jobs are similar to those which do not require diploma at all at the beginning, we started from our list of 11 Highest Paid Healthcare Jobs Without a Degree to make the first list of all jobs offered in healthcare which paid well.
It is not a coincidence that we started from the best-paid jobs because you want to know which 16 best healthcare jobs for high school graduates with no experience are, and a good salary is one of the criteria which define the best job. We also checked the job outlook and possibly growing needs for a particular job in the years to come. The field where there is a growing demand for some types of jobs is highly opened for beginners, too, because a lot of work requires as many employers are possible. We used a couple of lists with recommendations for beginners and made a list with most often mentioned jobs there. Then we ranked those jobs according to the appropriate annual salaries and the job outlook (taken from BLS). So, do not hesitate to ask for a job in the most popular clinics and companies, even though you might think it is impossible to start working there. Healthcare is widely open for professionals who want to learn and work, so if you are willing to improve yourself and do your best, this can be an opportunity for you. So, let’s see the list of best healthcare jobs for high school graduates with no experience.
16. Medical secretary
Annual salary – $32,890
Job outlook – (minus) 3%
Apart from the low salary, this job is at the bottom of the list because a decrease in demand for it is expected in the future. However, if you are lucky to find a good employer or a doctor who is patient enough to teach you, you will learn much more than you have ever expected. This job mostly includes writing and sorting out papers and, in some clinics, you might cooperate with insurance managers or food suppliers, but this is just the beginning of your career and you are given an opportunity to be with medical workers and their patients.
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15. Pharmacy assistant
Annual salary $30,410
Job outlook – 9%
One of the great reasons why this job, next on our list of best healthcare jobs for high school graduates with no experience is considered to be good is the opportunity it gives you to work at pharmacies in your neighborhood. If you want this job, first check pharmacies near your home and find out whether a beginner is needed in any of them. They will be happy to have somebody who is willing to learn and do all those jobs older workers have no time to do, like packing boxes and ordering new supplies.
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14. Medical coder
Annual salary – 37,110
Job outlook – 15%
There are a lot of medical records and pills which have to be marked, sorted out and packed in the right place, so that everybody can find them when they are needed. In medical institutions, people use special codes to mark these places so that no errors are made. That is why it is important to have a special person to do that. This is not a difficult job at all, but some level of responsibility and concentration is needed. Hospitals already have codes and principles how to use them, so you only need to be careful and precise. Let’s see what’s next on our list of best healthcare jobs for high school graduates with no experience.
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13. Nurse assistant
Annual salary – $25,710
Job outlook – 17%
This is the job that ranked 13 th on our list of best healthcare jobs for high school graduates with no experience where you work closest to patients, helping them in the process of recovery, giving them medicines or changing bed sheets. In some hospitals, beginners are given more responsibilities to take, while it is not the case in others. Be as it may, when you are employed at this position, your job is to spend time in patients’ rooms, follow doctors’ instructions and make sure that patients receive a good care.
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12. Surgeon assistant
Annual salary – $44,330
Job outlook – 15%
People are surprised with the possibility of a beginner working in the surgical room, but this job does not involve a real surgical assistance. It includes preparing a patient for surgery, making sure that all the necessary details are checked and maybe talking to the patient in order to help him relax and understand what will happen. There are great chances that people with no experience will not see the surgical room during the first couple of months at work.
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11. Licensed practical nurse
Annual salary – $43,170
Job outlook – 16%
This is a more serious job, and the salary and responsibilities are much higher. A licensed practical nurse is someone who works with patients, takes care of medicines, care, doctors’ instructions and the patient’s happiness and satisfaction. A licensed nurse is the closest to the patient and this is someone who must know the level of the patient’s recovery at any moment.
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10. Occupational therapist aide
Annual salary – $70,210
Job outlook – 4%
This job, the next on our list of best healthcare jobs for high school graduates with no experience includes preparing patients for treatments or therapy, preparing the therapy area and cleaning it after the session. The job also includes some work in administration, scheduling appointments, keeping medical records, answering the phone and some other simple jobs. It is a great opportunity for beginners, and, usually, this is the type of job they choose to do.
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9. Home care aide
Annual salary – 21,920
Job outlook – 38%
This job, next in line on our list of best healthcare jobs for high school graduates with no experience includes a whole list of different jobs grouped in literally one task of helping people who are disabled, sick or suffer from any kind of disability at their own homes. As you can see, this job is defined and registered at hospitals and special agencies as home helping, but you can look for this job in your own neighborhood as well. Maybe an elderly person needs some minor help performing daily routines and you can provide the necessary help for a small salary.
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8. Medical assistant
Annual salary – $30,590
Job outlook – 23%
To start with, it is difficult to realize why this job is on the list of 16 best healthcare jobs for high school graduates with no experience at all. However, although there are a lot of difficulties at this job, like working night shifts and taking high responsibilities, being employed at this position gives you a great opportunity to improve your knowledge in the medical field and gain practice. It is also a great job for medical students who have decided to start working.
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7. Medical laboratory technician
Annual salary – $50,550
Job outlook – 16%
This sounds like a very serious and a responsible job, and indeed it is, but if you are a beginner, you can cope with those demands as well. If you are a beginner with no experience, you will be given some simple duties like assisting, washing and preparing material for analyses or keeping medical records, so it can be an interesting job, too.
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6. Massage therapist
Annual salary – $38,040
Job outlook – 22%
For this job, next one on our list of best healthcare jobs for high school graduates with no experience, you do not even need a medical high school diploma, but it is very useful if you start working in a hospital or a center for physical therapy. If you do not find a job there, you can always work at home or in small massage salons for a proper salary and, as we have heard, this can be a well-paid job if you prove to be a good masseur.
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5. Registered nurse
Annual salary – $67,490
Job outlook – 16%
Let’s be honest and say that it is very difficult to get this job if you do not have any previous experience, but, on the other hand, there are no special restrictions for this job to only experienced workers, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistic. If you are lucky and you finally get this job, you will be a supervisor of licensed practical nurses, you will give them orders and duties and make sure care for patients is at the highest level.
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4. Sonographer assistant
Annual salary – $63,630
Job outlook – 24%
It sounds serious, but even though medical knowledge is needed for this job, no previous experience is necessary. However, let’s be honest and say that there are few hospitals which would give this responsible job to a beginner so a lot of them hire beginners with no experience as assistants first. There is no need to worry because of your lack of experience since you are never left without help or a proper piece of advice when it is needed.
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3. Dental assistant
Annual salary – $72,330
Job outlook – 19%
This is also one of those jobs, among the other on this list of best healthcare jobs for high school graduates with no experience which you can find in your neighborhood. All you need to do is just ask at dental ordinations if they need the help of a beginner. Many of them really need someone who will answer the phone, schedule the appointments or prepare material for sterilization and clean the ordination after a working day is over.
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2. Health information technician
Annual salary – $94,500
Job outlook – 17%
Perhaps you might be confused by such a high salary for a job that implies only giving information about health, but this job is much more than that. People in this position are responsible for somebody else’s health, they work with patients suffering from various diseases or disorders and they must have a high level of knowledge concerning many medical fields.
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1. Physical therapist
Annual salary – $84,020
Job outlook – 34%
On the top of the list of best healthcare jobs for high school graduates with no experience is a job which includes physical activities, responsibility, and thorough medical knowledge. It includes working with people who are seriously ill, people with physical disabilities or who have had a minor injury which needs a proper therapy to be healed. Even though physical therapists need a long practice for better results of the therapy, beginners with no experience can also do this job as assistants. The salary and the labor market predictions about the demand for this job in the future put this job on the first place in the list of 16 best healthcare jobs for high school graduates with no experience.
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