As of May, the national unemployment rate had risen to 9.4 percent with another 345,000 American jobs lost. These are the highest numbers since 1983 (Bloomberg.com). The good news for those laid off workers looking for a new career direction, is that the recent stimulus package has reportedly created several such opportunities in the field of health care.

Whether you are interested in exploring jobs as a pharmacy technician, radiologist, phlebotomist, home health aide, medical transcriptionist, medical secretary, dental assistant or more, it seems that lawmakers are doing their best to help you get the necessary health education.

I reported in a prior blog how the majority of new stimulus-created jobs require at least a postsecondary education.  There are also many other government incentives to get people back in the classroom. It was announced in early May* that up to $4,600 in federal grant money will be made available for the newly unemployed. The money would be designated for tuition and books and results from $3 million in federal job training funds.

More specifically, the funding comes from the federal economic stimulus package to assist laid off workers from troubled industries such as automotive and manufacturing by giving them new job opportunities in “recession proof,” flourishing industries such as health care. The grant provisions are up to $4,000 for tuition and $600 for books and eligibility is at least partly determined by family income among other personal and situational factors. The average student taking advantage of this funding earns about $20,000 per year.

Most job opportunities in health care offer much higher wages than this. In addition, training for many careers covered here on health care builder takes one year or less, so this is a perfect time for aspiring health care workers to take advantage of these stimulus package funds.

*www.courier-journal.com