There are over 200 different health care careers. Educational requirements, salary and level of responsibility are different for each of them.

CAREERS IN HEALTH CARE – UNIT E

CAREERS

There are over 200 different health care careers.

Educational requirements, salary and level of responsibility are different for each of them.

CAREERS The National Consortium on Health Science

and Technology Education developed a career cluster to allow high students to see what courses they need to take to successfully prepare for post secondary success.

Clusters include: Diagnostic, Therapeutic, Informatics, Environmental (& Biotech) and various Support services. …remember D.I.E.T.S.

TYPES OF EDUCATION Secondary education-high school

level –includes science,math,English,social studies

… and may include HOE (Health Occupations Education)-which can prepare a HS student for immediate employment-CNA (Certified Nurse Aide)

TYPES OF EDUCATION

Post-secondary education - after high school Involves community college, technical school or

university. There are pros and cons for each.

There are various degrees available depending on the type of college or post-secondary school one attends. Make sure your school offers the area of study you are interested in. (No School of Nursing or at NC State for example)

TYPES OF EDUCATION Associate’s Degree-degree earned from a

community college or technical college after completing a two year course of study

Bachelor Degree-degree earned from a college or university after completing a course of study that takes 4 or more years. You can do 2+2 which combines your Assoc. Degree with 2 more years of study.

TYPES OF EDUCATION Master’s Degree- degree earned from a

college or university after completing a course of study beyond a bachelor’s degree

And if you still love school after that you can become a doctor.(PhD, MD, DO, DDM, DEd and others) Doctorate or doctoral degree-degree earned

from a college or university after completing two or more years of work beyond a bachelors or masters degree. THAT’S 8-12 YEARS TOTAL!!

CONSUMER PROTECTION

To ensure that the health care worker possesses the skill and competency required and to protect the consumer,

there are 3 terms associated with careers.

They are certification,

licensure, and registration.

CERTIFICATION

Certification-a person has completed the educational requirements and performance that meets the standard established by the profession

Examples include: certified dental assistant, certified nurse aide

REGISTRATION

Granted by a regulatory body-a professional board or state board. They give an exam and maintain a current list or registry of qualified persons in a given area.

LICENSURE A STATE agency that authorizes individuals to

work in a given occupation in that state. Licenses are issued and must be renewed periodically. Licensure requires that a person meet educational requirements from an approved (accredited) school/program, and pass a state test. To renew the license, the person must maintain professional standards and meet Continuing Education requirements (CEUs- Continuing Education Units)

Many medical careers are licensed:Such as dentists, nurses, doctors, physical therapists and more.

ACCREDITATION

The college or university must ensure that what they are teaching meets the established standards and prepares the student for employment.

A school must be accredited for the student to take the state test required for licensure.

ACCREDITATION

Two major agencies that offer accreditation of health care programs are:

Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP)

ANDAccrediting Bureau of Health Education

Schools (ABHES)

CONTINUING EDUCATION UNITS (CEU’S) Are a requirement to maintain or

renew licenses or certification or registration in most states.

An individual must meet or attend additional training or learning opportunities to continue to work. Health care is constantly changing and they must keep up with the new changes.

EDUCATIONAL LEVELS AND TRENDS

Most health occupations can be divided into four categories or levels.

Professional-Doctor--- 6 or could be 8 or more years (Master’s/Doctorate)

Technologist or therapist-Medical lab technologist, 4 years (Bachelor’s)

Technician-medical lab technician, surgical technician---2 years (Associate’s)

Aide/Assistant-nurse aide, dental assistant- Education time varies for different careers but usually about 6-18 months at a technical school or community college

TRENDS New trend – multi-skilled worker, one that can

do a variety of skills instead of person with only one skill-respiratory therapy, ECG tech, phlebotomist

Entrepreneur-individual who owns organizes, manages and assumes the risk of a new business-Doctors, Dentists, Chiropractors, Family Nurse Practitioners, Physical Therapists.

NATIONAL HEALTH CARE SKILL STANDARDS

Developed to indicate the knowledge and skills expected of health care workers-divided into 6 groups

Health Care Core Standards-the knowledge and skills that the mast majority of HC workers should have

NHCSS

Therapeutic/Diagnostic Core Standards Knowledge and skills required for direct

patient care in therapeutic(treatment) and diagnostic(determining the cause of disease)

NHCSS

Therapeutic Cluster Standards – knowledge and skills required of workers that are involved in changing the health status of the client over time-includes data collection, treatment planning, implementing procedures and client evaluation

NHCSS

Diagnostic Cluster Standards—knowledge and skills required of workers involved in creating a “picture” of the health status of the client at a single point in time through various test results.

NHCSS

Information Services Cluster Standards—specify the knowledge and skills required of workers involved in creating and maintaining records, documentation of client care—coding, billing, information systems and handling confidential private & confidential information.

NHCSS Environmental Services Cluster

Standards—knowledge and skills required of workers involved with creating a therapeutic environment to provide direct or indirect client care—involves MANY different careers dealing with aseptic procedures, resources, environmental operations and biotechnical skills.

HEALTH CAREERS

There are several ways to obtain health care education to enter the health care workforce:

On the job training- HOE program-health occupations

education and vocational/technical programs-

College -Associates, Bachelors, Masters, and Doctoral Degrees