In the 1967 film "The Graduate," Dustin Hoffman plays Benjamin, a young man who returns home after college somewhat adrift, and is given some well-meaning career advice from a family friend, Mr. Maguire.
Mr. Maguire: I just want to say one word to you. Just one word.
Benjamin: Yes, sir.
Mr. Maguire: Are you listening?
Benjamin: Yes, I am.
Mr. Maguire: Plastics.
Benjamin: Exactly how do you mean?
Mr. Maguire: There's a great future in plastics. Think about it. Will you think about it?
Fast forward. It's now fifty years later, and while the plastics industry has become the third largest manufacturing industry in the U.S., a more relevant piece of advice today might well be "health care." In terms of supply and demand, health care is clearly a growth proposition.
The numbers tell the story. One hundred years ago, the life expectancy of the average American male was around 52 years. Today it's closer to 80. For American women, the numbers are 55 and 80. So whether you're a man or a woman, there's a good chance you'll live some 25 years longer than your great grandparents.
Unfortunately those 25 years often come with health issues that can slow us down, impact our quality of life, even immobilize us, and lead to the need for care. So the flip side of longer life expectancy is longer care expectancy.
Then there's the population itself. The U.S. population is currently around 317 million, and is expected to grow to 400 million by 2050. The world population, which now stands at 7.2 billion, will climb to 9.7 billion by that time.
The World Health Organization estimates that the world will have a shortage of almost 13 million health care workers by 2035. The shortfall cuts across all areas of the industry.
Here in the U.S., health care executives at hospitals and other facilities have expressed concern about shortages of primary care doctors, surgeons, medical specialists, nurses, nurse practitioners, physician assistants and allied health care professionals.
According to the Association of American Medical Colleges, over the next nine years the U.S. will be short as many as 95,000 doctors alone. "Addressing the shortage will require a multi-pronged approach, including innovation in delivery; greater use of technology; improved efficient use of all health professionals on the care team; and an increase in federal support for residency training."
Clearly there's a need to train a great deal more medical professionals, in all areas of the field, and get them into the system as quickly as possible. Medical schools are experimenting with ways to graduate more doctors. And a move is underway to train more chaplains in clinical pastoral education which equips them to work in hospitals and other medical venues.
The opportunities in health care today are abundant, and the need is critical. I can imagine Mr. Maguire giving career advice to Benjamin today.
Mr. Maguire: I just want to say one word to you. Just one word.
Benjamin: Yes, sir.
Mr. Maguire: Are you listening?
Benjamin: Yes, I am.
Mr. Maguire: Health care.
Benjamin: Exactly how do you mean?
Mr. Maguire: There's a great future in health care. Think about it. Will you think about it?
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