Sorry it took me so long to get back to this Tony.
My wife is about to finish school in August as a CMA, certified Medical Assistant. Theres plenty of work in the medical field.
I to am a welder/fabricator. I was a structural welder for 10 years and was then laid off when everything fell out a couple years ago. If you have TIG/MIG experience, especially stainless and pipe, your chances will be better. I searched for a year and a half. My problem is/was, my experience was not broad enough. I finally found a place willing to take me on with minimal experience with TIG and MIG. I easily passed 5 or 6 certs for spray arc, flux core, stainless, stainless to carbon, carbon, TIG stainless and TIG carbon.
Much of what I found is that places arent paying what skilled trade was paying. They want to pay $13 an hour for a combo welder, where I was making $18 plus for stick welding.
Moral of the story, there is work. The more you know the better you'll be though you may be compromising on pay a little. Good news is there are areas where property taxes are very low and you can buy a house for considerably less than you can rent, especially if youre willing to drive a little to get to work. I drive about an hour each way, sometimes more if theres traffic, but our property taxes are only $540 for the year and mortgage is around $200 less monthly than what we were paying in rent.
Have you looked into the gas fields up there in PA?