DHSc Degree

Health Sciences Professor: The Career and the Path

Teaching in a university health professions programme: allied health, therapy, physician assistant studies, health administration.

Last updated

Median
$107,310
Middle half
$75,690–$210,370
Top 10%
$322,020
Employed
221,270
An instructor in a simulation lab talking to two students in scrubs beside a patient mannequin seated in a wheelchair
Teaching in a health professions programme means running the simulation lab as much as the lecture theatre, which is why recent practice experience counts. Photograph by Sahil Singh

What Does a Health Sciences Professor Do?

Teaching in a university health professions programme: allied health, therapy, physician assistant studies, health administration.

Faculty posts in allied health programs regularly hire DHSc holders, and several programs on this site name teaching as an outcome. The harder door is the tenure-track research post at a research university, where searches weight a PhD and a publication record.

How Much Does a Health Sciences Professor Make?

The national median is $107,310. The middle half of the occupation earns between $75,690 and $210,370, and the published range runs from $59,270 to $322,020. Full state-by-state figures are on the health sciences professor salary page.

Job Outlook for Health Specialties Teachers, Postsecondary

The Department of Labor projects 7% or higher growth for this occupation over 2024 to 2034, which it labels much faster than average, against 27,400 projected openings across the period. Openings come from people leaving the occupation as well as from new posts, so that second figure describes your odds of finding a job better than the growth rate does.

That is the top band on the Department of Labor scale, and it is not the norm among the careers a DHSc points at. One of the four on this site is projected to grow at one to two percent.

Pay runs from $59,270 at the tenth percentile to $322,020 at the ninetieth, with a median of $107,310. The full spread and pay in every state sit on the salary page.

Where Health Specialties Teachers, Postsecondary Work

The eight states holding the most of these jobs, out of 221,270 nationally. This is not the same list as the eight that pay best.

StateEmployedMedian
New York 21,410 $131,220
Texas 18,960 $108,150
California 17,350 $165,110
Pennsylvania 14,890 $107,920
Massachusetts 10,250 $134,520
North Carolina 9,240 $103,220
Florida 8,500 $88,710
Colorado 7,800 $136,930

How a DHSc Degree Fits a Health Sciences Professor Career

Every program on our ranked list is built for people already working in health care, so the realistic sequence is not degree then job. It is job, then degree alongside it, then the move. That is why almost all of these programs are online and part-time, and why their published timelines already assume you are employed throughout.

Before committing, do the check in our guide to whether a DHSc is worth it: find three current postings for this role and see whether they require a doctorate, prefer one, or never mention it. That answer is worth more than any ranking.

DHSc Concentrations That Point at This Career

These programs publish a concentration whose own name points at this kind of work. The track you pick at entry usually decides what your applied project is about, so choose on the track rather than on the program's headline.

Frequently Asked Questions About Becoming a Health Sciences Professor

Do you need a doctorate to become a health sciences professor?
Not always for clinical-track and teaching-track posts, where a terminal practice doctorate and current practice experience compete well. For tenure-track research posts at research universities, a PhD and a publication record are what searches weight.
What does a health sciences professor earn?
A median of $107,310, with the middle half between $75,690 and $210,370, and the full range running from $59,270 to $322,020 across 221,270 jobs. Full detail including pay by state is on the salary page.
Which DHSc programs suit this career?
All 24 programs on this site point at leadership and teaching roles, so the better question is structure rather than specialism. If you want the research training, choose one of the programs that ends in a dissertation. If you want the credential and the leadership coursework, the applied-project programs are the honest fit.

Careers Related to Health Sciences Professor

Sources for Health Sciences Professor Career Data

Wage and employment projection figures on this page come from the Department of Labor. Anything about accreditation or the degree itself is sourced separately.