Top Medical Positions with a Healthy Work-Life Balance

Maintaining a healthy work-life balance is one of the trickiest things to do in the United States, but it’s also one of the most worthwhile things you can do (especially if you’re raising a family). In the medical field, finding a proper work-life balance can become that much harder due to some of the longest hours around, and some of the most demanding tasks a worker can be given being thrust on you shift after shift. Thankfully, there are still positions in the medical field that provide an excellent work-life balance. To ensure you’re able to find a path in your medical career field that will keep you both well-paid and well-rested, here are the top medical positions with a healthy work-life balance:

Respiratory Therapist

If you want to help people breathe better and treat their respiratory conditions, becoming a respiratory therapist is your ideal position. Unless you find yourself working late shifts at hospitals, the work-life balance provided by this position is fantastic. You’ll be able to score a job at a rehabilitation center if you try hard enough, and this is where you'll find the most work-life balance perks. However, during the Covid-19 crisis, the need for respiratory therapists has increased massively, so be sure to consider this factor if you’re not already on the track to becoming a respiratory therapist.

Physician’s Assistant

Physicians are consistently within the top three most well-paid medical careers, making this one of the most illustrious career paths in medicine. While being a physician’s assistant does not quite get you that level of status and pay, it gets surprisingly close, and lets you work significantly less than a full-fledged physician as well. If you want to be at the frontlines of medical care and become dedicated to saving lives, becoming a physician’s assistant is one of the best ways to do so without sacrificing a healthy work-life balance. Who knows, maybe one day you’ll even take the leap to a full-fledged physician and achieve a perfect parenting/work balance as a physician.

Registered Nurse

Registered Nurses can gain hours that are ideal for work-life balance, especially if you’re raising a family. The ability to travel as an RN is even better, as many hospitals are looking for extra help during the Covid-19 crisis. However, as the crisis rages, you should expect to have a brief period where the work-life balance will not be quite as comfortable and appealing as it usually is for an RN. Thankfully, even with this factored in, registered nurses have some of the most accessible work hours to achieve a calming work-life balance.

Dental Hygienist

If you’re looking for a position that almost never has to work late hours, it’s difficult to go wrong with a career as a dental hygienist. In fact, it often tops the top five spots in work-life balance polls and studies for all career fields in the United States. You’ll be working hard during the hours you’re on duty, but always available for your hobbies and family life at the end of the day. The comfortable average salary of $75000 becomes just another reason to become a dental hygienist.

Nurse Practitioner

If you’re looking for the work-life balance of a registered nurse position, but want more pay, all you need to do is earn a master’s degree in a relevant field and become a full-fledged nurse practitioner. You’ll be able to perform more duties, work at a wider variety of practices, and earn upwards of $100,000 a year on average with this upgrade. Thankfully, you’ll maintain the accessible, family-friendly hours of being an RN while enjoying these wonderful new perks and pay benefits.

Physical Therapy Aide

Physical therapists have a massive perk of work hours that rarely extend late into the night. Similar to family practices, practitioners of physical therapy are set up to be convenient for both patients and medical professionals. Additionally, this is a position where you can assist the physical therapist you’re working with at a massive variety of locations, including sports facilities, schools, offices, and much more. The hours alone make this a great choice for anyone in the medical field looking for a better work-life balance.

Save Lives and Your Social Life

The invaluable work medical professionals perform day after day makes them heroic, and they deserve to live full, satisfying lives outside of their jobs. These career paths provide some of the best ways for medical workers to achieve this highly sought-after work-life balance perk. Especially as inflation rises and work culture undergoes a massive shift, finding a healthy work-life balance has become a near necessity.

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