Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1341133
56 CMO / CARE DELIVERY 29 best healthcare jobs, per US News: Physician assistant is No. 1 By Gabrielle Masson P hysician assistant is the best healthcare job for 2021, with 39,300 projected jobs and a median salary of $112,260, according to a U.S. News & World Report list released Jan. 12. For the ranking, U.S. News used data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics to identify jobs projected to have the greatest hiring demand from 2019-29. From there, researchers com- pared each job's median salary to determine a list of the highest-paying jobs. e publication also considered opportunities for promotion in its ranking. Here are the 29 best healthcare jobs, as ranked by U.S. News: 1. Physician assistant 2. Nurse practitioner 3. Physician 4. Speech-language pathologist 5. Dentist 6. Veterinarian 7. Orthodontist 8. Anesthesiologist 9. Oral and maxillofacial surgeon 10. Occupational therapist 11. Physical therapist 12. Psychiatrist 13. Prosthodontist 14. Registered nurse 15. Nurse anesthetist 16. Obstetrician and gynecologist 17. Surgeon 18. Chiropractor 19. Podiatrist 20. Optometrist 21. Pediatrician 22. Respiratory therapist 23. Esthetician and skincare specialist 24. Dietician and nutritionist 25. Rehabilitation counselor 26. Audiologist 27. Nurse midwife 28. Radiation therapist 29. Pharmacist n Rapid blood test helps predict COVID-19 severity, researchers find By Erica Carbajal R esearchers at St. Louis-based Washington University School of Medicine developed a one-hour blood test that could help identify which COVID-19 patients are at the greatest risk of severe complications or death. The test identifies mitochondrial DNA levels. High levels of mi- tochondrial DNA in the bloodstream indicate that violent cell death is occuring, scientists said. Researchers evaluated 97 COVID-19 patients at St. Louis-based Barnes-Jewish Hospital, using the blood test to measure mitochondrial DNA levels with- in the first day of a patient's hospital stay. The findings, published Jan. 14 in JCI Insight, showed the mi- tochondrial DNA levels were about 10 times higher in patients who later developed severe lung dysfunction or died. Addition- ally, those with higher levels were nearly six times more likely to be intubated, three times more likely to be admitted to the intensive care unit and nearly twice as likely to die, compared to those with lower levels. In addition to helping predict disease severity, researchers hope the test can serve as a guide to improve clinical trials by identi- fying patients who might benefit more from a particular investi- gational treatment. Researchers are working on a larger, multicenter trial to better evaluate the test's accuracy. n Amazon offers to help Biden with his COVID-19 vaccination goal By Maia Anderson A mazon's CEO of consumer business, Dave Clark, sent a letter to President Joe Biden shortly after he was sworn in Jan. 20 offering Amazon's help in distributing COVID-19 vaccines, NBC News reported. "As you begin your work leading the country out of the COVID-19 crisis, Amazon stands ready to assist you in reaching your goal of vaccinating 100 million Americans in the first 100 days of your administra- tion," he wrote in the letter, according to NBC News. Mr. Clark said Amazon would use its operations, IT and communications capabilities to help the gov- ernment distribute vaccines. "Our scale allows us to make a meaningful impact immediately in the fight against COVID-19, and we stand ready to assist you in this effort," he wrote. Mr. Clark added that Amazon has agreements with licensed third-party healthcare providers to admin- ister vaccines on-site at Amazon facilities, according to NBC News. "We are prepared to move quickly," he wrote. n