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Health Care Provider Education Requirements

Updated January 8, 2025
2 min read
Usually, health care providers don't need a college education. The most common degree for health care providers is high school diploma with 31% graduates, with only 24% health care provider graduates earning bachelor's degree. Health care providers who decided to graduate from college often finish University of Phoenix or South Texas College. Some good skills to have in this position include patients, meal prep and mental health.

Popular health care provider certifications include Medical Assistant, Certified Phlebotomy Technician (CPT), or Certified Billing and Coding Specialist (CBCS). To improve health care provider qualification and skills, we prepared some online courses to help in health care provider education paths.

What education do you need to become a health care provider?

What degree do you need to be a health care provider?

The most common degree for health care providers is high school diploma, with 31% of health care providers earning that degree. The second and third most common degree levels are bachelor's degree degree at 24% and bachelor's degree degree at 17%.
  • High School Diploma, 31%
  • Bachelor's, 24%
  • Associate, 17%
  • Diploma, 12%
  • Other Degrees, 16%

What should I major in to become a health care provider?

You should major in business to become a health care provider. 16% of health care providers major in business. Other common majors for a health care provider include nursing and medical assisting services.

Best majors for health care providers

20 best online courses for health care providers

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1. Health for All Through Primary Health Care

coursera

This course explores why primary health care is central for achieving Health for All. It provides examples of how primary health care has been instrumental in approaching this goal in selected populations and how the principles of primary health care can guide future policies and actions. Two of the most inspiring, least understood, and most often derided terms in global health discourse are “Health for All” and “Primary Health Care.” In this course, we will explore these terms in the context...

2. Health Care Delivery in Healthcare Organizations

coursera

Have you ever needed health care and thought that there must be better ways to get or deliver health care? For example, have you found yourself thinking that there should be a way to get a diagnostic test or treatment at home? Or do you work in a healthcare organization and find yourself thinking that there must be better ways to deliver health care? If you have, this course is for you. Course content includes an overview of health care delivery including healthcare consumerism, the patient's...

3. Providing Trauma-Informed Care

udemy
4.7
(1,276)

Exploring psychological trauma and how to provide care and compassion to trauma survivors...

4. Coping Skills and Self-Care for Mental Health

udemy
4.5
(443)

Essential skills to manage intense emotions and develop a self-care practice to promote mental health...

5. Health After Cancer: Cancer Survivorship for Primary Care

coursera

This course presents basic principles of cancer survivorship to primary-care physicians. Developed by a team of experts in caring for cancer survivors, and narrated by a primary-care physician, this course provides practical tips and tools that can be easily integrated into medical practice. You will learn about the complex physical and psychosocial needs and concerns of the growing number of cancer survivors, along with the key role that primary care physicians have in guiding these patients...

6. The Business of Health Care

coursera

This Specialization was designed to help you keep pace with the rapidly changing world of health and health care. Through partnership with Wharton and Penn Medicine, you’ll learn from experts in business acumen, health care management, and health care policy to develop the skills you’ll need to successfully navigate the quickly evolving landscape of this fast-growing field.* By the end of this specialization, you will have a strong foundational understanding of the American health care system,...

7. Home Health Aide, Nurse Aide, Caregiver Certification Course

udemy
4.6
(1,178)

Become A Certified Home Health Aide, Personal Care Aide, Nurse Aide/ Caregiver At The End Of This Course. Enroll Now!!...

8. Mental Health Ambassador Certificate

udemy
4.6
(1,115)

Be a leader in improving society's mental health and learn to provide mental health first aid...

9. Health Care IT: Challenges and Opportunities

coursera

A strong argument can be made that the health care field is one of the most information-intensive sectors in the U.S. economy and avoidance of the rapid advances in information technology is no longer an option. Consequently, the study of health care information technology and systems has become central to health care delivery effectiveness. This course covers the modern application of information technology that is critical to supporting the vision and operational knowledge of the health care...

10. Palliative Care Always

coursera

Palliative Care Always is a specialization for health care practitioners, patients and caregivers. We’ve designed this specialization to demonstrate how palliative medicine integrates with patient care, and to help you develop primary palliative care skills. Over the next five courses, you will develop skills in symptom management, goals of care and effective communication to improve the quality of life for patients and families suffering with serious illness. Our hope is that you feel...

11. The Key to Happiness: Self Care

udemy
4.6
(413)

Discover Self Care as a tool for creating positive change in your mental health, behaviours, and well-being...

12. Mental Health First Aid Skills -

udemy
4.4
(1,774)

This course is designed to provide the tools and knowledge for learners to help and support those experiencing MH issues...

13. Addiction Treatment: Clinical Skills for Healthcare Providers

coursera

This course is designed with a singular goal: to improve the care you provide to your patients with substance use disorders. By delving into a model case performed by actors, seven Yale instructors from various fields provide techniques to screen your patients for substance use disorder risk, diagnose patients to gauge the severity of their use, directly manage treatment plans, refer out to treatment services, and navigate the various conditions that may limit your patient’s access to treatment...

14. Palliative Care Always Capstone Course

coursera

The Palliative Care Always Capstone course is designed to let you test your knowledge about palliative and help others understand the value of palliative care, while showing your creative side. In this course, you will impact community awareness about palliative care, promote self-care and wellness, show-off your communication skills in a virtual environment, and finish the course off by proving your thoughts on ways to offer psychosocial support to a patient and family...

15. Trauma Emergencies and Care

coursera

Welcome to Trauma Emergencies and Care. In this course, you will learn about some of the mechanics and physics of trauma on the human body, and how this can cause injury. You will continue to expand your new vocabulary with medical terminology, and learn how to describe the different injuries you may see. You will also learn about the trauma system itself- and when it is important to transport patients to a trauma center. Then we will dive into specific injuries based on what part of the body...

16. Value-Based Care: Managing Processes to Improve Outcomes

coursera

COURSE 3 of 7. This course is designed to introduce you to critical office-based processes that a value-based practice must manage in the drive towards improved patient outcomes. In Module 2, we’ll focus on office-based and clinical patient-based supporting functions. At every level in healthcare, guidelines, processes, and functions exist to improve outcomes, and following a consistent process will return the best effect. Refine your understanding of value and learn strategies to provide real...

17. Pain Management: Easing Pain in Palliative Care

coursera

In this course, you will be able to develop a systems view for assessing and managing pain in the palliative care setting. By the end of the course, you will be able to: 1) Describe the pain problem in the palliative care setting; 2) Assess a person’s pain, 3) Explain the benefits of integrative therapies and pharmacologic strategies to manage pain...

18. Population Health: Governance

coursera

How can we organise care in such a way that we optimize experience, quality and costs? What type of governance is needed? And how should healthcare organisations collaborate? These are central questions in this course. In answering them, we depart from a recognition of the impact of three crucial global shifts in health care governance: 1) the change in focus from cure to population health, 2) the increased attention to social determinants of health, and 3) the stronger involvement of...

19. Traditional herbal medicine in supportive cancer care: From alternative to integrative

coursera

Please join us for an exciting and innovative journey, examining one of the most important and often overlooked aspects of the oncology setting: Traditional Herbal Medicine in Supportive Cancer Care. This course is presented with short lectures offering a wide range of issues related to the principles and practice of herbal medicine in cancer care. The course includes interviews with leading world experts from the field of Integrative Oncology, from the U.S. and Canada, as well as Europe, the...

20. Comparative Health Systems

coursera

This course uses comparative analysis of health care systems to gain a better understanding of health care systems in several high-income, middle-income and low-income countries. One focus of analysis in this course will therefore be to develop a better knowledge of these health care systems. A second focus will be to use to this analysis to gain a better understanding of the health care system in the United States. This analysis is relevant for those who are directly interested in the United...

Average health care provider salary by education level

Health care providers with a Master's degree earn more than those without, at $43,208 annually. With a Bachelor's degree, health care providers earn a median annual income of $42,709 compared to $40,490 for health care providers with an Associate degree.
Health Care Provider education levelHealth Care Provider salary
Master's Degree$43,208
High School Diploma or Less$39,298
Bachelor's Degree$42,709
Some College/ Associate Degree$40,490

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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