What Can You Do With a Health Science Degree?

Below are 13 occupations that health science graduates commonly move into, most common first. Medical Assistant leads at $45,690 a year (BLS OEWS, May 2025); across the whole list the middle occupation pays $67,880 and 2 of 13 typically need a graduate degree. A major is a body of study, not a job assignment, so treat every entry as a common destination rather than a promise.

What the degree actually involves: Anatomy, healthcare systems, medical terminology, and an early clinical placement.

Health science is a deliberately broad umbrella degree, and that is both its strength and its trap. It is a good base for the clinical graduate programmes and for the administrative, informatics and education side of healthcare, but unlike nursing it does not end in a licence, so the destination depends on what you add to it.

Common destinations: 13
Median pay range: $45,690–$135,880
Projected to grow: 13 of 13
Need a graduate degree: 2 of 13

How this list was built

The destinations are the occupations health science graduates commonly move into. They are ordered by how common the destination is, not by what it pays, so the ordinary outcomes sit at the top where they belong rather than being buried under the flattering ones.
Every destination is matched to a real occupation in the 923-occupation NueCareer career bank. A destination that does not resolve to a bank occupation is dropped rather than shown without data.
All pay, growth, openings and education figures come from that bank: BLS OEWS May 2025 for wages, BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034 for projected change, annual openings and the typical education needed for entry, and O*NET 30.3 Database for what the work involves. Nothing is estimated and no figure here is generated by an AI model.
Destinations whose BLS typical entry education is a master’s or a doctoral or professional degree are marked Graduate study on the list. That flag is read from the federal data, not asserted by us.
What this list is not: a ranking of which destination you should pick, a statement of how many graduates reach each one, or a promise that the degree entitles you to any of them. Read the full methodology.

13 careers a health science degree commonly leads to

Most common destination first. Every card carries the national median annual wage, projected employment change and openings over 2024–2034, and the typical education people already in the job hold.

1. Medical Assistant
Healthcare Support
Median pay
$45,690
Growth
+12.5%
Openings/yr
112,300
Education
Certificate
Perform administrative and certain clinical duties under the direction of a physician.
Medical Assistant salary & outlook →
2. Medical Records Specialist
Healthcare Practitioners and Technical
Median pay
$51,140
Growth
+7.1%
Openings/yr
14,200
Education
Certificate
Compile, process, and maintain medical records of hospital and clinic patients in a manner consistent with medical, administrative, ethical, legal, and regulatory requirements of the healthcare system.
Medical Records Specialist salary & outlook →
3. Health Information Technologist and Medical Registrar
Healthcare Practitioners and Technical
Median pay
$68,020
Growth
+14.7%
Openings/yr
3,200
Education
Associate's
Apply knowledge of healthcare and information systems to assist in the design, development, and continued modification and analysis of computerized healthcare systems.
Full page coming in the next tranche. Data shown here is from the same bank.
4. Community Health Worker
Community and Social Service
Median pay
$51,850
Growth
+11.3%
Openings/yr
7,800
Education
High school
Promote health within a community by assisting individuals to adopt healthy behaviors.
Full page coming in the next tranche. Data shown here is from the same bank.
5. Health Education Specialist
Community and Social Service
Median pay
$64,070
Growth
+4.5%
Openings/yr
7,900
Education
Bachelor's
Provide and manage health education programs that help individuals, families, and their communities maximize and maintain healthy lifestyles.
Full page coming in the next tranche. Data shown here is from the same bank.
6. Patient Representative
Healthcare Practitioners and Technical
Median pay
$50,290
Growth
+5.2%
Openings/yr
13,600
Education
Certificate
Assist patients in obtaining services, understanding policies and making health care decisions.
Full page coming in the next tranche. Data shown here is from the same bank.
7. Health Informatics Specialist
Computer and Mathematical
Median pay
$105,850
Growth
+8.7%
Openings/yr
34,200
Education
Bachelor's
Apply knowledge of nursing and informatics to assist in the design, development, and ongoing modification of computerized health care systems.
Health Informatics Specialist salary & outlook →
8. Occupational Health and Safety Specialist
Life, Physical, and Social Science
Median pay
$90,150
Growth
+12.5%
Openings/yr
14,900
Education
Bachelor's
Review, evaluate, and analyze work environments and design programs and procedures to control, eliminate, and prevent disease or injury caused by chemical, physical, and biological agents or ergonomic factors.
Occupational Health and Safety Specialist salary & outlook →
9. Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technologist
Healthcare Practitioners and Technical
Median pay
$62,930
Growth
+1.7%
Openings/yr
22,600
Education
Bachelor's
Perform complex medical laboratory tests for diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease.
Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technologist salary & outlook →
10. Respiratory Therapist
Healthcare Practitioners and Technical
Median pay
$82,280
Growth
+12.1%
Openings/yr
8,800
Education
Associate's
Assess, treat, and care for patients with breathing disorders.
Respiratory Therapist salary & outlook →
11. Medical and Health Services Manager
Management
Median pay
$123,860
Growth
+23.2%
Openings/yr
62,100
Education
Bachelor's
Plan, direct, or coordinate medical and health services in hospitals, clinics, managed care organizations, public health agencies, or similar organizations.
Medical and Health Services Manager salary & outlook →
12. Healthcare Social Worker
Community and Social Service
Graduate study
Median pay
$67,880
Growth
+7.7%
Openings/yr
18,400
Education
Master's
Provide individuals, families, and groups with the psychosocial support needed to cope with chronic, acute, or terminal illnesses.
Healthcare Social Worker salary & outlook →
13. Physician Assistant
Healthcare Practitioners and Technical
Graduate study
Median pay
$135,880
Growth
+20.4%
Openings/yr
12,000
Education
Master's
Provide healthcare services typically performed by a physician, under the supervision of a physician.
Physician Assistant salary & outlook →

Does a health science degree decide your career?

For most people, no. Federal survey data has consistently found that only a minority of US graduates work in a job closely related to their degree field, and that share falls further with each year after graduation. The exceptions are the fields where a licence sits at the end of the degree, and they are exceptions precisely because the route is fixed.

The practical reading of the list above is this: 11 of the 13 destinations are typically entered with a bachelor's degree or less, and 2 typically need a master's or a doctoral or professional degree (BLS Employment Projections, 2024–2034). If the destination you want is in the second group, the extra years are part of the decision from day one, not a detail to sort out later.

Not sure this is the right major in the first place? Take the free college major quiz — fifteen questions that score what you like doing against what each major actually asks of you, and show the same real occupations underneath every match.

Health Science degrees: FAQ

Do you need a master's degree after a health science degree?

For 11 of the 13 destinations on this page, no: BLS Employment Projections (2024–2034) list a bachelor's degree or less as the typical entry requirement. The other 2 typically need a master's or a doctoral or professional degree, and each is marked on the list below. "Typical" describes what people already in the job hold, not an admissions rule.

What is the highest-paying career a health science degree leads to?

Of the 13 destinations on this page, Physician Assistant has the highest national median wage at $135,880 a year (BLS OEWS, May 2025), against $50,980 for all US occupations. Typical entry education for it is master's, so it usually means further study after the degree. A median is the midpoint of everyone in the job today, so a first salary normally sits well below it.

Which of these careers hires the most people each year?

Medical Assistant, with about 112,300 projected openings a year (BLS Employment Projections, 2024–2034). Across all 13 destinations on this page the combined figure is roughly 332,000 openings a year. Openings include replacing people who leave, not just new jobs, which is why a slow-growing occupation can still hire heavily.

Is a health science degree worth it?

That depends on the price you pay for it, which this page cannot know. What it can tell you is where the destinations sit: the middle occupation on this list pays $67,880 a year against $50,980 for all US occupations, the range runs $45,690–$135,880, and 13 of the 13 are projected to grow over 2024–2034 (BLS OEWS May 2025, BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034).

How was this list of careers put together?

The destinations were curated as the occupations health science graduates commonly move into, ordered by how common rather than by pay, then matched against the 923-occupation NueCareer career bank. Every figure shown comes from that bank: wages from BLS OEWS May 2025, projected change and annual openings and typical entry education from BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034, and occupation descriptions from O*NET 30.3 Database. Nothing is estimated, and no figure on this page is generated by an AI model.

How this list was built

13 careers a health science degree commonly leads to

1. Medical Assistant

2. Medical Records Specialist

3. Health Information Technologist and Medical Registrar

4. Community Health Worker

5. Health Education Specialist

6. Patient Representative

7. Health Informatics Specialist

8. Occupational Health and Safety Specialist

9. Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technologist

10. Respiratory Therapist

11. Medical and Health Services Manager

12. Healthcare Social Worker

13. Physician Assistant