Choosing health care as a second or third career
Around the country and in Wisconsin, workers displaced by layoffs are turning to the health care field as their second or even third career.
Jill Krupke worked on the line at the General Motors plant in Janesville for three decades before it closed, but at 53, she feels she’s too young to retire. Now she’s back in school at Blackhawk Technical College, learning how to use computers and participating in a five-week course to become a certified nursing assistant and phlebotomist, according to a story on Milwaukee Public Radio.
Even though hospitals and other health care organizations aren’t hiring much these days, an economic recovery will open up a variety of positions as older workers retire.
“Healthcare workers are currently in demand in Wisconsin. The demand now is nothing compared to what the future demands are projected to be. The total number of 65-year-olds will surpass the number of 18-year-olds by 2016 and medical technology is constantly improving and lengthening lives,” according to the Wisconsin AHEC Health Careers Information Center.
For more information, see the list of health care careers, Wisconsin educational institutions, and programs and resources.
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