To hire a health science teacher, write a posting that matches your health science program of study, set pay from Career/Technical Education Teachers, Secondary School wage data, and test teaching plus clinical skill before you offer. According to BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025, that occupation employs 111,420 wage-and-salary workers and pays a national median of $66,270 a year. BLS counts this role within Career/Technical Education Teachers, Secondary School.
| Fact | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| National employment | 111,420 | BLS OEWS, May 2025 |
| Annual median wage | $66,270 | BLS OEWS, May 2025 |
| Annual 10th–90th percentile | $50,040 to $101,340 | BLS OEWS, May 2025 |
How to hire a health science teacher: the short answer
Define the role around your pathway, lab schedule, and industry partners. Set a pay range from the BLS figures, then screen with a teaching demonstration and reference checks on clinical competence and reliability. The person you want usually comes from clinical practice and must turn that experience into lessons on anatomy, patient-care skills, and healthcare careers for teenagers, often coordinating clinical observations with local healthcare employers.
What a health science teacher does
At a high school, district career center, or technical center, this teacher runs the health science program of study: medical terminology, anatomy and physiology, and healthcare career pathways. Per O*NET OnLine (accessed September 24, 2026), secondary CTE teachers instruct students in the knowledge and skills of an occupational field using lectures, discussions, demonstrations, and laboratory, shop, and field studies. They monitor students in the use and care of equipment, observe and evaluate performance, and keep accurate student records.
They also plan and supervise work-experience programs and field activities. In this pathway that usually means coordinating student observations or work-based learning with hospitals and clinics, inventorying clinical lab supplies, and often sponsoring a student organization. The same O*NET task list covers conferring with counselors and administrators, preparing tests and assignments, and establishing rules for behavior in the classroom and lab.
Name the pathway, the simulated clinical classroom, and whether the teacher will place students with healthcare partners. If you also need someone to run placements across several programs, read how to hire a work-based learning coordinator as a separate role. For a hire that spans several CTE pathways rather than health science alone, use how to hire a career and technical education teacher.
Skills, knowledge and tools to look for
O*NET lists instructing, speaking, active listening, monitoring, and social perceptiveness among the skills this occupation uses. Those map to demonstrating a skill, explaining it so teenagers can follow, watching students practice, and noticing when a learner is lost or unsafe. Knowledge of education and training methods sits beside the clinical content the teacher must teach.
On software, O*NET names learning management systems such as Blackboard Learn, plus Microsoft PowerPoint, Excel, Word, and Google Docs. A health science classroom also needs simulation manikins and clinical lab equipment so students can practice patient-care skills. O*NET work context for the occupation includes 73% of respondents who public-speak every day, 80% who work more than 40 hours a week, and 39% who report very high responsibility for the health and safety of other workers.
Treat current clinical competence, safe equipment use, and the ability to instruct a group as must-haves. You can train a new hire on your LMS, gradebook, and local curriculum after the start date. O*NET education responses for the occupation include 40% who said a bachelor's degree is required, 23% a master's degree, and 13% an associate's degree; match the posting to the preparation your program actually needs, not a generic teacher profile.
Setting the pay range
Use BLS as the market reference when you set the range. Because the figures cover secondary CTE teachers as a group, treat them as a reference point, not an exact rate for this specialty. Use the published annual wages for this occupation. Place the offer by the candidate's experience and the scope of duties (lab sections, clinical coordination, student organization).
| Percentile | Annual wage (U.S.) | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 10th | $50,040 | BLS OEWS, May 2025 |
| 25th | $60,590 | BLS OEWS, May 2025 |
| Median | $66,270 | BLS OEWS, May 2025 |
| 75th | $80,060 | BLS OEWS, May 2025 |
| 90th | $101,340 | BLS OEWS, May 2025 |
| Mean | $72,680 | BLS OEWS, May 2025 |
Check the BLS state row for where the job sits. A location quotient above 1 means the occupation is more concentrated in that area's employment than nationally. The table below shows the ten states with the highest annual medians in the BLS file; Texas, for comparison, has 32,250 employment, an annual median of $64,610, and a location quotient of 3.2.
| Rank | State | Employment | Annual median | Location quotient |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Washington | 3,460 | $101,180 | 1.36 |
| 2 | Connecticut | 1,910 | $100,810 | 1.57 |
| 3 | Massachusetts | 3,130 | $98,020 | 1.2 |
| 4 | New Jersey | 2,320 | $83,770 | 0.76 |
| 5 | Rhode Island | 90 | $81,820 | 0.25 |
| 6 | California | 3,260 | $80,620 | 0.25 |
| 7 | New York | 7,610 | $79,820 | 1.1 |
| 8 | Delaware | 560 | $79,230 | 1.61 |
| 9 | Ohio | 5,130 | $79,230 | 1.29 |
| 10 | Vermont | 220 | $79,220 | 1.01 |
Put the range in the posting so candidates from clinical jobs can see how the classroom role compares. Do not treat the 10th or 90th percentile as a stand-in for years of experience; use them as the published spread of pay across the occupation.
Writing the posting and finding candidates
Title the job Health Science Teacher, or the name your program of study uses, and list the courses, lab periods, and extra duties. State the setting—high school, career center, or technical center—the schedule, and whether the teacher will coordinate clinical observations. A health science teacher job description template keeps the duties aligned with the classroom you actually run.
Look past people already in classrooms. Experienced practitioners from hospitals and clinics often have the technical depth you need if they can teach. Post where career and technical educators look, including ACTE Job Bank.
Screening and interviewing
Give every finalist the same work sample: a short teaching demonstration of a basic patient-care skill on a manikin, including how they check student understanding. Score safety, clarity of explanation, and whether students would know if they had the skill right. Do not turn the demo into a clinical procedure lesson for the committee.
Interview for how the candidate translates clinical work into lessons for teenagers, how they run a simulated clinical lab, how they partner with hospitals and clinics, and how they assess skills fairly. Ready-to-use health science teacher interview questions can keep the panel on those themes.
Ask every candidate the same job-related questions. Under the laws enforced by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (accessed September 24, 2026), it is illegal to discriminate because of race, color, religion, sex (including transgender status, sexual orientation, and pregnancy), national origin, age (40 or older), disability, or genetic information. Do not ask about those subjects, family plans, or religion. If you use a test, it must be necessary and related to the job. This guide is general information as of September 24, 2026, not legal advice.
References, verification and the offer
Call references who can speak to clinical competence, teaching or precepting, and reliability. Ask how the person handled equipment, students or trainees, and deadlines. Verify any degree, license, or credential the candidate lists with the body that issued it, and follow your district's or college's own clearance process.
Put duties, schedule, and pay in writing. In the first weeks, walk the new hire through lab inventory, the advisory committee and industry-partner list, and your LMS so the simulated clinical classroom is ready before students arrive.
More hiring guides
FAQ
What does a health science teacher do?
A health science teacher instructs secondary students in healthcare knowledge and skills, including medical terminology, anatomy and physiology, and patient-care practice in a lab or simulated clinical classroom. The teacher also coordinates observations or work-based learning with healthcare partners and keeps student records.
How much should I pay a health science teacher?
BLS OEWS, May 2025 reports a national median of $66,270 a year for Career/Technical Education Teachers, Secondary School, with the 10th percentile at $50,040 and the 90th at $101,340. Use those figures and your state's median as the market reference when you set the range.
Can a clinical practitioner be a health science teacher candidate?
Consider clinical practitioners who can demonstrate safe, job-related instruction; define the employer's education and experience requirements in the posting. Screen for instructing skill with a teaching demonstration, then plan support for curriculum and lab management in the first weeks.
How do I test a health science teacher candidate before hiring?
Ask for a short teaching demonstration of a basic patient-care skill on a manikin, including how the candidate checks student understanding. Score the same job-related criteria for every candidate.
What should I ask a health science teacher in an interview?
Ask how they turn clinical work into lessons for teenagers, how they run a simulated clinical lab, how they partner with hospitals and clinics, and how they assess skills fairly. Use the same job-related questions for every candidate and do not ask about race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, or other protected characteristics.
