Plan a simulation scenario
Pick the goals for a pretend-patient scenario, then tune it with the simulation director to your students' experience.
Career profile
Health Specialties College Instructor
Health specialties instructors give college students the knowledge and decision-making skills a health field demands.
In a clinical course, an instructor might replay a recorded practice run on a mannequin. Then the instructor asks students why they made each choice.
A day in the life
Replay the session with students
After the mannequin work ends, watch the recording together and ask what students saw and why they acted.
Grade a written case analysis
Point out where the evidence supports the student's conclusion and where it comes up short.
Read recent studies in your field
If new findings in your specialty change what your course covers, update the slides and assignment.
Quick facts
Usually a doctorate or professional degree
United States · 2025
$107,310 median annual pay
United States · May 2025
17.9% projected growth
United States · 2025–2035
Quick orientation
Preparation, pay & outlook
Preparation
Usually a doctorate or professional degreeRelevant work experience matters. Some teaching positions accept a master's or bachelor's degree with specialty qualifications.
Pay
$107,310 median annual payNational pay for health specialties college teachers across specialties, excluding nursing instructors.
Outlook
17.9% projected growthAbout 24,900 openings a year are projected nationally across health specialties.
Fit, tradeoffs & changing tools
You might like this if…
- You enjoy explaining the reasoning behind an answer.
- You can listen to a mistaken explanation without embarrassing the speaker.
- You are willing to revise material you have taught before.
Things to weigh
- In research-focused jobs, publishing competes with lesson preparation and student support for your time.
- Part-time teaching can mean several campuses. Some classes meet evenings or weekends.
Where AI may help
In medical simulation, mannequins and session recordings let students practice encounters and revisit their choices with you.
What people still lead
You lead the discussion about reasoning and judge whether a teaching tool is appropriate. Medical educators still need to check technology's accuracy and protect learner information.
What we can’t predict yet
How much learner assessment artificial intelligence (AI) can take over remains unsettled. Its role will depend on reliable results, privacy protections, and how schools evaluate its use.
Pay in context
Earnings
These figures cover college teachers across health specialties, including dentistry, medicine, pharmacy, and therapy. Nursing instructors are counted separately.
The median and the spread
The May 2025 median was $107,310 annually. Dividing by 2,080 hours gives about $51.59 an hour for comparison; this is not a reported hourly wage or an assumed faculty schedule. The bottom 10% earned $59,270 or less; the top 10% earned $322,020 or more. Those are wage percentiles, not starting and senior salaries.
Workplace pay differs
May 2023 annual averages were $137,370 at colleges, universities, and professional schools; $82,990 at junior colleges; and $162,260 at general medical and surgical hospitals. These older averages describe different groups of faculty, not what switching workplaces would add to your pay.
Read the appointment terms
Check whether an offer covers nine months, a full year, or part-time teaching. Education and experience can affect salary and rank, but the employer's pay rules determine how.
Openings across specialties
Employment is projected to grow 17.9% from 2025 to 2035, with 24,900 openings per year on average. That national total does not predict opportunities in your particular specialty or town.
Getting started
Build an academic specialty
- What the route involves
- Complete a relevant doctorate, conduct original research, and build teaching experience during graduate study.
- What it can lead to
- Preparation for university positions combining teaching and research.
- What to check
- Some community-college positions accept a master's degree; requirements vary.
Bring clinical expertise into a professional school
- What the route involves
- Qualify in the profession you want to teach. For dentistry, this can mean a Doctor of Dental Surgery or Doctor of Dental Medicine degree and strong clinical skills.
- What it can lead to
- Eligibility to pursue clinical faculty roles teaching future dentists in classrooms and clinics.
- What to check
- Teaching and practice experience may be preferred. Patient-care duties can also require the profession's license or other authorization.
Move from dental hygiene practice into teaching
- What the route involves
- Some community-college roles accept a bachelor's degree, dental hygienist or dentist licensure, graduation from a Commission on Dental Accreditation program, and three years of recent full-time dental experience.
- What it can lead to
- A route into classroom and clinical dental hygiene instruction without a doctorate.
- What to check
- A master's may be preferred. These requirements describe a specific hiring route, not a national minimum.
First choose the health field you want to teach. The required degree and experience depend on the subject and institution.
After entry
Career paths
This starts where the entry routes leave off: early work, growing capability, and advancement or specialization.
Get your first course running
Set clear assignments and grading criteria, then use student questions to improve your lessons.
Get better at drawing out reasoning
In clinical teaching, develop simulation debriefs that help students explain their decisions and recognize what they would change.
Lead a course or advance in rank
Take responsibility for a whole course or pursue promotion to associate professor. Teaching, scholarship, and service expectations depend on your appointment.
Where you can work
Community-college health programs
Teaching is the main focus. In dental hygiene, your week can move between classroom instruction and student clinics, with some evening classes.
- Indoors
- Lab
Research universities
Research-focused appointments divide your attention between students, graduate research, and publications. Progress on a study matters alongside how your classes go.
- Indoors
- Office
Professional-school clinics
In a dental school, clinical faculty may combine student instruction with their own patient care. Electronic health records and clinic responsibilities sit alongside course planning.
- Indoors
- Safety-sensitive
Try it
See whether the job clicks before you commit to the path.
Use an anatomy textbook to prepare a five-minute lesson on how the heart moves blood. Teach a friend, then ask them to explain it using your diagram. Revise the part they misunderstood. Notice whether you enjoy figuring out how someone else thinks.
Stay safe: Keep this to explaining anatomy; do not practice procedures or give health advice.
Sources
- O*NET OnLine. Health Specialties Teachers, Postsecondary. Accessed 2026-10-04.
- O*NET OnLine / U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. National Wages: Health Specialties Teachers, Postsecondary. Accessed 2026-10-04.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Occupational projections and worker characteristics, 2025–35. Accessed 2026-10-04.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. May 2023 Occupational Employment and Wages: Health Specialties Teachers, Postsecondary. Accessed 2026-10-04.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Occupational Outlook Handbook: Postsecondary Teachers. Accessed 2026-10-04.
- Hawkeye Community College. Faculty — Dental Hygiene Instructor. Accessed 2026-10-04.
- University of Florida. Clinical Assistant / Associate Professor of General Dentistry. Accessed 2026-10-04.
- Wayne State University School of Medicine. Kado Family Clinical Skills Center: Available simulation modalities. Accessed 2026-10-04.
- Association of American Medical Colleges. Principles for the Responsible Use of Artificial Intelligence in and for Medical Education. Accessed 2026-10-04.