Economy be damned: Healthcare support jobs with strong futures

As we've learned during this brutal economy, there's no such thing as a recession-proof industry--even healthcare. But new data suggests that healthcare job growth is beginning to regain its footing, particularly among the support positions which make the industry hum. Here, courtesy of Yahoo!hotjobs, is a sampling of some tech work that seems to looking at some serious demand. A sampling of hot support jobs in healthcare apparently includes:

*  Clinical Lab Technician:
2008 Median salary: $35,580
Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) growth forecast: 15 percent

* Dental Hygienist:
2008 Median salary: $66,570
BLS growth forecast: 30 percent

* Diagnostic Medical Sonographer
2008 Median Salary: $61,980
BLS Growth Forecast: 19 percent

* Occupational Therapy Assistant
2008 Median Salary: $48,320
BLS Growth Forecast: 25 percent

* Medical Record Technician 
2008 Median Salary: $30,610
BLS Growth Forecast: 18 percent

What's even neater, for prospective job seekers, is that these jobs generally require only an affordable Associate's degree to get into the field. Seems to me that if I were going into hands-on healthcare, being a dental hygienist might make much more sense than being a nurse, at least starting out, no? Odd how these things work.

TO learn more about growth areas in healthcare support jobs:
- read this Yahoo!hotjobs piece