12 Best Paying Medical Jobs with Least Education in 2017

Medical jobs are always in high demand, so take a look at the best paying medical jobs with least education in 2017 if you don’t want to spend a lot of time in school, but want job stability.

Finding high paying medical jobs with little schooling is hard to come by because with just about everything in life, you have to put in the time and work to reap the rewards. There’s no easy way to make the big bucks, especially in the medical field. So naturally, the people who hold the highest paying jobs in the medical field are the doctors and surgeons who spend a solid portion of their lives in school, residency, internships, and fellowships. So you see, it’s all relative. However, the medical field is not reserved for those who spend years in medical school and residences. There are plenty of jobs and people in the field who are just as integral to making sure the rest of us live long and healthy lives. There are a number of 2 year medical degrees and bachelor degree jobs in healthcare for those interested in joining the ranks. For an older list of these roles that do not require extensive education take a look at this article about best paying medical jobs with least education. It may not be a surgeon’s salary, but bachelor degrees in healthcare get comfortable salaries and avoid the stresses of sitting in hours-long surgeries. For more on this, take a look at some high paying medical jobs for college students and graduates. Taking it to the next step of the education ladder, the highest paying jobs with a master’s degree are roles such as a Physician’s Assistant.

As the title of this article suggests, we are going to talk about some medical jobs that pay considerably well but do not require a ton of education. The best possible source for learning about wages has to be Bureau of Labor Statistics, so we primarily used the Bureau of Labor Statistics for our research, and also utilized Google’s search engine to find out the necessary data we needed to proceed with this article. However, since 2017 is not over yet, the data available was for the year 2016. But before we begin, let’s talk some numbers — especially living wages. “Living wage” is a term used to denote the amount of money you would need to afford for yourself and your family a decent standard of living. This, of course, is adjusted for inflation and subject to change from state to state. MIT has come up with an awesome tool called the living wage calculator that can tell us the living wage for all the states and subsequent counties. Let’s talk about New York for example, for a family of two adults (1 working) and one child, the living wage is around $56,000 per year or $27 per hour. Which is substantially higher in comparison to the average minimum wage which is somewhere around of $7 to $7.50 per hour. It definitely cost a lot to live in most places in New York.

Ranking the jobs was quite easy, as we ranked the jobs that fit our requirements according to median pay. The higher the median pay, the higher the job has been ranked on the list. And of course, we made sure that the jobs we are listing have the minimum educational requirements.

Let’s dive right in and get our list of best paying medical jobs with least education in 2017 on the way.

12. Pharmacy Technicians

Educational requirement: High school diploma or equivalent

Median pay: $30,920

Pharmacy technicians act as the assistant to pharmacists and help them dispense the prescription medicines to customers and/or healthcare professionals. They are also tasked with operating dispensing equipment, and they may have to make rounds in hospitals to provide prescription medication to patients as well.

11. Medical Assistants

Educational requirement: Postsecondary nondegree award

Median pay: $31,540

Next up on our list of best paying medical jobs with least education in 2017 are medical assistants, who are expected to perform a wide variety of administrative and clinical tasks depending on the scope and type of the organization. Medical assistants are generally employed by physicians, hospitals, and other healthcare facilities.

10. EMTs and Paramedics

Educational requirement: Postsecondary nondegree award

Median pay: $32,670

Next on our list of best paying medical jobs with least education in 2017 is EMT that stands for emergency medical technicians, so you can already tell that EMTs and paramedics work in an emergency medical setting. EMTs and Paramedics play a vital role in saving millions of lives around the world. If a patient is given immediate care and medication by qualified professionals the chance for their survival increases many folds. EMTs and paramedics are the fast response team of the medical world.

9. Phlebotomist

Educational requirement: Postsecondary nondegree award

Median pay: $32,670

If your blood has ever been drawn for testing or if you have ever donated your blood, then the person doing it was likely a Phlebotomist. Their primary duty is to draw blood and then process it for further testing. If the job requires, they also explain why a test is important to the patient as well.

8. Dispensing Opticians

Educational requirement: High school diploma or equivalent

Median pay: $35,530

Next up on our list of best paying medical jobs with least education in 2017 we have dispensing opticians that are responsible for offering customers contact lenses and eyeglasses. However, their most important duty is to provide customers professional help in finding prescription eyeglasses or contact lenses from ophthalmologists and optometrists.

7. Medical Transcriptionist

Educational requirement: Postsecondary nondegree award

Median pay: $35,720

The job of a medical transcriptionist is the same as any transcriptionist — to transcribe audio files from doctor-patient conversations, and turn those raw files into well-organized and professionally written official documents. Of course, the medical transcriptionists need vast knowledge about medical abbreviations, as they are expected to write the full form instead of the abbreviation in the transcript. They are sometimes tasked with utilizing voice recognition technology and creating medical documents as well.

6. Dental Assistants

Educational requirement: Postsecondary nondegree award

Median pay: $36,940

We are half way through our list of best paying medical jobs with least education in 2017, and at number 6 we have dental assistants. They are expected to take on a wide range of duties for the dentists, from patient care to archiving reports and x-rays of patients; dental assistants perform a lot of tasks. Their core responsibilities vary greatly by state and also by the organization they are working for.

5. Medical Records and Health Information Technicians

Educational requirement: Postsecondary nondegree award

Median pay: $38,040

Medical Records and Health Information Technicians or just healthcare information technicians make sure that data regarding patients is always stored and maintained properly. Their services are extremely important for insurance reimbursement purposes, for databases registries and keeping medical and treatment histories of patients. At this age of information, we know how important it is to know the right information at the right time, and these guys are responsible for that.

4. Massage Therapists

Educational requirement: Postsecondary nondegree award

Median pay: $39,860

We are continuing our list of best paying medical jobs with least education in 2017 with massage therapists that are basically responsible for providing therapeutic massages to clients through touch and manipulating the muscles and other soft tissue. Massages help cure pain, improve circulation, relieve stress and help with relaxation. Massage therapists take the healing properties of the human touch to the next level.

3. Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses

Educational requirement: Postsecondary nondegree award

Median pay: $44,090

At number 3 on our list of best paying medical jobs with least education in 2017 we have licensed practical nurses (LPNs) and licensed vocational nurses (LVNs). People working in this profession offer basic nursing to their patients, and LPNs and LVNs work under registered nurses and doctors to carry out their instructions.

2. Surgical Technologists

Educational requirement: Postsecondary nondegree award

Median pay: $45,160

Surgical technologists or otherwise known as operating room technicians’ primary job is to assist the surgeons in every way possible. They prepare the operating room, arrange equipment and help the doctors during an operation. As you can see from the median pay, it is quite a rewarding job that does not require a higher education but pays really well.

1. Occupational Health and Safety Technicians

Educational requirement: High school diploma or equivalent

Median pay: $48,820

Finally at the number one spot on our list, we have occupational health and safety technicians. Their job is to collect and process data regarding health and safety of the workplace and work with the occupational health and safety specialists to conduct tests so that harm to workers, property and the environment may be prevented. As you can see, this is the highest paying job on our list, and you can get it with just a High School Diploma or equivalent.

This wraps it up for our list of best paying medical jobs with least education in 2017.