Types of Degrees Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many general alternative and complementary medicine and medical systems graduations there were for each degree level during the last year for which data was available.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Basic Certificate	115
Bachelor’s Degree	108
Undergraduate Certificate	41
Associate Degree	37
Master’s Degree	32
Graduate Certificate	25
Doctor’s Degree	2

What Majors Need to Know

O*NET surveyed people in occupations related to general alternative and complementary medicine and medical systems and asked them what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important for their jobs. The responses were rated on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being most important.

Knowledge Areas for General Alternative and Complementary Medicine and Medical Systems Majors

General Alternative and Complementary Medicine and Medical Systems majors often go into careers in which the following knowledge areas are important:

• Medicine and Dentistry - Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• Psychology - Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
• Biology - Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.

Skills for General Alternative and Complementary Medicine and Medical Systems Majors

The following list of skills has been highlighted as some of the most essential for careers related to general alternative and complementary medicine and medical systems:

• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
• Science - Using scientific rules and methods to solve problems.
• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Social Perceptiveness - Being aware of others’ reactions and understanding why they react as they do.

Abilities for General Alternative and Complementary Medicine and Medical Systems Majors

General Alternative and Complementary Medicine and Medical Systems majors often go into careers where the following abilities are vital:

• Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
• Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.

What Can You Do With a Major?

People with a general alternative and complementary medicine and medical systems degree often go into the following careers:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Orthoptists	13.3%	$73,960

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in ?

The major attracts more women than men. About 87% of the recent graduates in this field are female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of general alternative and complementary medicine and medical systems majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	2
Black or African American	23
Hispanic or Latino	15
White	55
International Students	0
Other Races/Ethnicities	13

How Much Do Majors Make?

Salaries According to BLS

The median salary for someone in a career related to general alternative and complementary medicine and medical systems is $85,600. This median refers to all degree levels, so you may expect those with a more advanced degree to make more while those with less advanced degrees will typically make less.

To put that into context, according to BLS data from the first quarter of 2020, the typical high school graduate makes between $30,000 and $57,900 a year (25th through 75th percentile). The average person with a bachelor’s degree (any field) makes between $45,600 and $99,000. Advanced degree holders make the most with salaries between $55,600 and $125,400.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to

Some degrees associated with general alternative and complementary medicine and medical systems may require an advanced degree, while others may not even require a bachelor’s in the field. Whatever the case may be, pursuing more education usually means that more career options will be available to you.

Find out what the typical degree level is for general alternative and complementary medicine and medical systems careers below.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
Bachelor’s Degree	10.2%
Post-Baccalaureate Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Baccalaureate degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees carrying the title of Master.	76.1%
Master’s Degree	10.2%

Online Programs

The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level	Colleges Offering Programs	Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year)	0	0
Certificate (1-2 years)	1	1
Certificate (2-4 Years)	0	0
Associate’s Degree	1	1
Bachelor’s Degree	5	3
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	4	3
Post-Master’s	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	1	1
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Is a Degree in Worth It?

The median salary for a general alternative and complementary medicine and medical systems grad is $85,600 per year. This is based on the weighted average of the most common careers associated with the major.

This is 115% more than the average salary for an individual holding a high school degree. This adds up to a gain of about $914,000 after 20 years!

Majors Related to

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to general alternative and complementary medicine and medical systems.

Major	Number of Grads
Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine	1,918
Holistic/Integrative Health	485
Naturopathic Medicine/Naturopathy	269
Ayurvedic Medicine/Ayurveda	181
Other Alternative and Complementary Medicine and Medical Systems	112
Traditional Chinese Medicine and Chinese Herbology	109

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• College Scorecard
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020
• Image Credit: By Aphiwat chuangchoem under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.