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Long-term and short-term economic trends continue to underscore the wisdom of building a new career in the medical field. We've mentioned the fact that the medical field has continued to add jobs even through the worst of the recession, and now we're seeing it as part of an overall trend toward a certain kind of education and career path.

The Seattle Times discussed a trend toward certification-oriented careers. It's always been true that workers with a four-year college degree or more earn more, and are unemployed less, than workers with only a high school diploma. Though it's still true that, on average, even a single year of post-high-school education means the difference between being above or below the poverty line, studies increasingly show that general college courses are not doing a great job of preparing students for the rapidly changing job market. What the Times flags is a trend toward specific career-focused education that allows people who've faced low earning potential, or whose former field of work has suffered wave after wave of layoffs, to make a new start by focusing on specific skills that lead to stable, good-paying jobs:

Nationally, 27 percent of people with licenses and certificates earn more than the average bachelor's degree recipient, according to Anthony Carnevale, director of the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce.

Still, the first decade of this century saw an amazing boom in tech jobs become a dot-com bust, and excessive speculation in real estate and dubious financial investments triggered a massive recession, so prospective students may be afraid that the next career they invest in will be short-lived, too. Yet as the Baby Boom generation ages, the opportunities in the healthcare field will continue. That means jobs for vocational nurses, medical assistants, pharmacy technicians, medical billing personnel and more. Valley College of Medical Careers (VCMC) provides real-life hands on training via externships with local hospitals, pharmacies, and doctor offices. The rising health-care needs of a graying population (not to mention the rest of us) are a pretty sure bet, and that's a nationwide trend: Just in the last few days, the Lancaster Eagle-Gazette in Ohio wrote about the anticipated need for nurses over the next decade and more, and upstate New York's Star-Gazette captured it all in a simple headline: “Aging Population Provides Job Opportunities in Health Care Field.”

With needs in this area still ramping up, workers who get in early will have a leg up on those who come into the field behind them. Training programs that provide the instruction, financial aid assistance, and preparation for certification exams present an opportunity to start a new career on the right foot. VCMC offers financial aid to qualified students, externship placement, and job placement assistance.