Career Explorer Healthcare (clinical)
Human edge, growing
Paramedics
Administer basic or advanced emergency medical care and assess injuries and illnesses. May administer medication intravenously, use equipment such as EKGs, or administer advanced life support to sick or injured individuals.
Among the most resilient careers: more resilient than 88% of the 831 careers we score. AI exposure is low (the Bureau of Labor Statistics rates it low), and US jobs are projected to change by +5.7% by 2035, faster than average. The work leans on ethical judgement and emotional intelligence.
AI struggles with much of this work, and US employers are expected to hire more people into it than average.
- Median pay (2025)
- $60,600
- Job growth to 2035
- +5.7%
- Openings a year
- 4,300
- People doing it (2025)
- 102,000
- Usual route in
- College certificate
Where people already use AI for this work
- Maintain current knowledge in area of expertise
- Provide support or encouragement to others
- Analyze health or medical data
From Microsoft Research, Working with AI (2025).
Work AI rarely helps with
- Administer emergency medical treatment
- Confer with healthcare or other professionals about patient care
- Administer basic health care or medical treatments
What the work looks like
- Perform emergency cardiac care, such as cardioversion and manual defibrillation.
- Perform emergency invasive intervention before delivering patient to an acute care facility.
- Coordinate work with other emergency medical team members or police or fire department personnel.
- Assess nature and extent of illness or injury to establish and prioritize medical procedures.
- Comfort and reassure patients.
From O*NET 31.0, US Department of Labor.
What the Bureau of Labor Statistics expects
- More of these jobs, as paramedics increasingly take on the tasks of ambulance drivers and attendants as part of their now standard set of duties and responsibilities. Employer expectations regarding the ability to drive an ambulance will also contribute to this trend.
Careers using similar strengths, with a stronger outlook
- Respiratory therapistsHuman edge, growing, Index 93, +8.5%
- Surgical assistantsHuman edge, growing, Index 99, +6.1%
- Veterinary technologists and techniciansHuman edge, growing, Index 95, +9.4%
- Dental hygienistsHuman edge, growing, Index 96, +8.0%
Also known as: Critical Care Paramedic, Firefighter Paramedic, First Responder, Flight Paramedic.
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Sources: US Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections 2025 to 2035; O*NET 31.0; Microsoft Research (2025); Anthropic Economic Index (2026); Eloundou and colleagues (Science, 2024); Felten, Raj and Seamans (2023). How we score. Updated 12 October 2026.