If you have always wondered what the happiest jobs in the medical field are, you are in the right place to gain clarity. You can also use the information provided here to make a decision on which medical professional you should pursue if you have an interest in the healthcare field.
Whenever I hear or read about any medical professional or even see someone in the medical field, I instantly think of stressed-out and tired doctors and nurses. I have always known medicine to be a tough and highly demanding – although fulfilling –career coupled with the critical situations they are constantly in like they always have to save a life. Always.
Phew! That’s a lot of tension.
I guess that’s why you have to be passionate about medicine in the first place and not be about what is in it for you like the pay, which, to be honest, is quite good actually, and highly compensating for the stress that comes with the job.
I believe that for you to find happiness in a profession, you have to be passionate about it. Passion brings about contentment and no matter what you get you’re still happy doing it. I, personally, never thought medicine to be a profession that people would be happy doing nor would there be anything like the happiest jobs in the medical field but then, but this article proves otherwise.
The first time I came across the topic of this post was while I was working on a previous post on the highest-paying medical jobs with little school, which I published a while back, and I told myself that I would get back to it because the topic intrigued me a lot. But unfortunately, I forgot to go back to it and as fate may have it, I stumbled upon it again while I was writing about the happiest jobs in America.
I immediately saved it to my draft for a day when I would be in my best mood to write about it, and it is this day.
From what I know, what makes a profession to be termed a “happy job” usually encompasses factors such as salary, benefits, job satisfaction, and work/life balance. Professions in the medical field are great at the first three but the last one, which is work/life balance, it suffers from it.
This article explores which jobs in the medical profession are the happiest and what makes them so.
Happiest Jobs In The Medical Field
The happiest jobs in the medical field are:
- Dentist
- Psychiatrist
- Pediatrician
- Respiratory Therapist
- Nutritionist/Dietician
- Nurse
- Physical Therapist
- Optometrist
- Anesthesiologist
- Speech – Language Pathologist
1. Dentist
Dentistry is a branch of medicine that deals with the treatment, and prevention of diseases, care for the teeth, and overall promotion of oral health. Dentists are medical professionals who are licensed and certified to treat and care for teeth. Since our teeth are an essential part of our health and appearance the importance of caring for them cannot be stressed enough.
The duties of a dentist are not necessarily the best, I mean, you spend all your day looking into someone else’s mouth and that part of the human body is not exactly the world’s cleanest place. Even with such a tasking role, dentists are some of the happiest people in the medical field and why is it so?
Well, they help you get a great smile which improves your overall appearance and health, I say, it is a fulfilling career and their work environment comes with relatively low stress. And for the income aspect, dentists make a median salary of $163,220 per year which is very rewarding and compensates for the stress.
2. Psychiatrist
Psychiatry is a medical field that involves the diagnosis and treatment of mental illness and a psychiatrist is a licensed medical professional who diagnoses and treats people with related medical conditions. Psychiatrists are demanded as the day goes by because people are now understanding the importance of mental health.
Aside from being a lucrative career, being a psychiatrist is also very rewarding, knowing that you are helping make a difference in someone’s life and in the society at large because mental health is just as important as physical health and it is just as essential for overall well-being. Psychiatrists work in a stress-free, non-chaotic environment with a median salary of $249,760 per year.
3. Pediatrician
Pediatricians are doctors that work with kids and I’m sure knowing this just melts your heart, so, it isn’t surprising that this should be one of the happiest medical jobs. Kids are the sweetest, funniest little creatures, and treating them as a doctor brings a kind of satisfaction because you are helping them get better. The joy that comes with it is unmatched.
Although it may not be as cute as I make it seem, I mean, there are some illnesses that the kids they treat do not recover from and that is just heartbreaking. But even then, working with kids is one of the most fulfilling things you can do. You are saving humanity’s future, one child at a time. Pediatricians earn well as well with a mean salary of nearly $200K per year.
4. Respiratory Therapist
The duties of a respiratory therapist all boil down to helping people breathe better. To achieve this, they treat, diagnose, and prescribe medications to patients with breathing challenges. Breathing is essential for life, so you understand how much of a fulfilling career you have as a respiratory therapist when you help other people breathe with ease.
However, unlike other medical professions on this list, the salary of a respiratory therapist is much lower with a median wage of $61,830 per year.
5. Nutritionist/Dietician
A nutritionist or dietician is a medical expert that helps patients make healthy food choices and promote overall well-being through proper nutrition. They work in a variety of healthcare and academic setting as well as in research centers.
What I think makes this medical profession one of the happiest is that you can work directly with a single patient and indirectly with society all at once to make them become more health-conscious about what they eat. You can change the lives of many people quickly in a short time and it is truly satisfying. Dieticians earn a median salary of $61,650 per year. Although not the most lucrative medical career but still pretty good.
6. Nurse
To be honest, I never expected nurses to be on this list. First of all, the steps to becoming a nurse are a rigorous and tough process. And then there are the demanding, long working hours. But, if there is a top 5 list of most important and fulfilling jobs, nursing will top the list over and over again. These professionals are unsung heroes of the medical field, they are literally in every branch of medicine.
Even with the long stressful working hours and on-call shifts, nurses will always wear a smile on their faces administering medication and caring for patients, that is just how compassionate they are. It is definitely not an easy career but making a difference in the lives of different patients daily makes it a rewarding one. The average salary for RN is $82,750 per year.
7. Physical Therapist
Physical therapists are licensed experts with in-depth knowledge of how the body works. Their job is to prevent and treat physical injuries, and chronic conditions, and improve the movement of a patient without a surgical procedure. What they use to help patients include exercise, massage, heat and cold therapy, ultrasound, and electrical stimulation.
If you can, imagine the joy that comes with helping someone walk again, feel their arms for the first time in a long while, or help them no longer feel the pain they’ve been living with for many years, yes, that joy and satisfaction, if you can imagine it well enough is what physical therapists get. It is a fulfilling and rewarding career with an average salary of $95,620 per year.
8. Optometrist
Optometrists are eye doctors. If you once had any challenges with your sight that made you end up in a hospital where a person in white lab coats had to take a look at your eyes and recommend treatment then you’ve had contact with an optometrist. They care for the eye or sight by diagnosing and treating vision challenges, performing eye exams, and prescribing glasses and contact lenses.
One of the most important senses in humans is our sight, and you probably cannot imagine life without it and you’ve probably wondered how blind people go about their daily lives. Optometrists enjoy a fulfilling career by helping people prevent what can damage their sight and helping restore their sight. It is one of the happiest jobs in the medical field with regular working hours, a stress-free environment, and a median salary of $124,300 per year.
9. Anesthesiologist
Anesthetists or anesthesiology are medical experts who specialize in administering anesthesia to patients before, during, and after surgery, monitoring the vital signs of patients during surgery, and managing chronic pain conditions. Imagine how life would be without anesthetists. Every surgery will be done without anesthesia, I really don’t want to imagine that.
Anesthesiologists contribute hugely to the success of any surgical procedure, so, expect to work long hours and be on-call. Although demanding, it is one of the happiest medical jobs and they are well compensated with a median salary of $331,190 per year.
10. Speech – Language Pathologist
Last but not least speech-language pathologists as one of the happiest jobs in the medical field. They help people with communication challenges and through medical techniques restore accurate speech to patients. Speech-language pathologists work with patients of all ages and in a variety of academic, research, and healthcare institutions. They earn a median salary of $79,120 per year.
These are the 10 happiest jobs in the medical field, before publishing this article, I never expected a long list concerning the subject matter and it is because of what I have always thought about jobs in the medical field. Well, I realized they are stressful and all but they also bring fulfillment and great happiness to those in the field.
You can use this list to make a choice on which medical professional you’d like to pursue if you have an interest in the medical field and begin seeking for colleges to apply for.