Download Healthcare Career Notes

Educational requirements:
Education needed for various careers depend on various factors and vary from state to state;
however there are basic standards that do exist.
Types of Degrees:
Associate degree- awarded by career/technical school or community colleges. Requires
completion of prescribed two-year course of study.
Bachelor’s degree- Awarded by college or university. Requires completion of prescribed course
of study that usually lasts for four or more years.
Masters degree- awarded by college or university. Requires completion of one or more years
beyond a bachelor’s degree.
Doctorate, doctoral or doctor’s degree- Awarded by college or university. Requires completion
of two or more years beyond a bachelor’s or master’s degree. Some require four to six years of
additional study.
Certification, registration and licensure:
These are methods used to ensure skill and competency of health care personnel and protect patients
Certification: Issued by professional association or government agency that regulates a particular
career. Certificate or statement is issued if person fulfills requirements of education and performance and meets
standards and qualifications established. Ex: certified dental assistant, certified laboratory technician, certified
medical assistant.
Registration: Done by regulatory body (professional associations or state boards) in a health care area.
Administer examinations and maintain current list (the registry) of qualified personnel. Ex: registered dietitian,
registered respiratory therapist, and registered radiologic technologist.
Licensure: Government agency authorizes individuals to work in a given occupation. Occupations
requiring licensure vary from state to state.
Usually require a person to:
1. Complete an approved educational program
2. Pass a state board test
3. Maintain certain standard to obtain and retain licensure.
Ex: physicians, dentists, physical therapists, RN’s, LVN’s.
Usually graduation from an accredited program is required before certification, registration and /or licensure
will be granted. This ensures that program of study meets established quality competency standards.
Continuing Education units (CEU’s) - Required to renew licenses or to maintain certification and registration
in many states. Individual must obtain additional hours of education in specific health care career during a
specified period of time. Ex: states require RN’s to obtain 24-49 CEUs every one to two years to renew
licenses.
Health Care Facilities
Hospitals: One of the major types of health care facilities who provide a wide range of services including;
diagnosis, treatment, education and research.
Long Term Care Facilities: mainly provide assistance and care for elderly patients, usually called residents.
However, they also provide care for individuals with disabilities or handicaps and individuals with chronic or
long-term illness.
Medical and Dental offices: Vary from offices that are privately owned by one doctor/ dentist to large
complexes that operate as corporations and employ many doctors/dentists and other healthcare professionals.
Services include diagnosis, treatment, examination, basic laboratory testing, and minor surgery.
Optical Centers: owned by ophthalmologist or optometrist or they can be part of a large chain of stores.
Provide vision examinations, prescribe eyeglasses or contact lenses and check for the presence of eye diseases.
Clinics: also called satellite clinics or centers. Include; surgical centers, urgent or emergency clinics,
rehabilitation clinics, outpatient clinics, health department clinics and medical center clinics.
Emergency Care Services: provide special care for victims of accidents or sudden illness. Include ambulance
services, rescue squads, emergency clinics, ER departments in hospitals, and Careflight.
Laboratories: Perform special diagnostic testing such as blood or urine tests.
Home Health Care: Designed to provide care in a patient’s home. Frequently used by the elderly and disabled.
Include, nursing care, personal care, therapy and homemaking services.
Hospice: Provide care for terminally ill persons who usually have life expectancy of 6 months or less. Usually
done within a patient’s home or a hospice center.
Mental health Facilities. Treat patients with mental disorders and diseases. Ex: guidance and counseling
centers, psychiatric clinics and hospital.
Genetic Counseling centers- work with couples or individuals who are pregnant or considering a pregnancy to
screen for genetic abnormalities and birth defects.
Rehabilitation facilities: provide care to help patients with physical or mental disabilities obtain maximum
self-care and function. Services include physical, occupational, speech and hearing therapy.
Industrial health care centers: found in large companies or industries. Provide healthcare for employees by
performing basic examinations, teaching accident prevention and providing emergency care.
Government Agencies:
World Health Organization (WHO) an international agency sponsored by the United Nations; compiles
statistics and information on disease, publishes health information and investigates and addresses serious health
problems throughout the world.
US Department of Health and Human Services (USDHHS): a national agency that deals with the
health problems in the USA.
National Institute of Health (NIH): a division of the USDHHS; involved in research on disease
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): another division of the USDHHS; concerned with
the causes, spread and control of diseases in populations
Food and Drug Administration (FDA): A federal agency responsible for regulation food and drug
products sold to the public.
Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (AHCPR): a federal agency established to research the
quality of health care delivery and identify the standards of treatment that should be provided by health care
facilities.
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA): establishes and enforces standards that
protect workers from job related injuries and illnesses
Health Departments: provide health services and directed by USDHHS to provide specific services
needed by the state and local community.
The Five Career Clusters!!!
Therapeutic services careers: directed toward changing the health status of the patient over time. All
treatment is directed toward allowing patients to function at maximum capacity.
Ex: dentists, dental hygienists, EMT, physician, psychiatrists, mortician, nurses, dietitians,
veterinarians, optometrists, pharmacists, physical therapists, surgical technicians, athletic trainers,
speech pathologists, massage therapists.
Diagnostic services careers: involved with creating a picture of the health status of a patient at a single point in
time. They perform tests or evaluations that aid in the detection, diagnosis and treatment of disease, injury or
other physical conditions.
Ex: Cardiovascular technologist, diagnostic medical sonographer, electrocardiographic
technician, geneticist, mammographer, pathologist, phlebotomist.
Health Informatics careers: involved with documentation of patient records and health information. Computer
technology is used in almost all the careers.
Ex: health information administrator, health educators, medical transcriptionists,
photographers, writers and librarians.
Support Services Careers: involved with creating a therapeutic environment to provide direct or indirect
patient care. Any hospital or health care facility requires workers to operate the support departments such as
administration, business office, admissions office, central supply, equipment maintence and housekeeping.
Ex: health care administrators, biomedical engineers, biomedical equipment technicians,
housekeeping workers/sanitation managers.
Biotechnology Research and Development Careers: involved with using living cells and their molecules to
make useful products. They work with cells and cell products from humans, animals, plants and
microorganisms. Through research and development, they help produce new diagnostic tests, forms of
treatment, medications, vaccines to prevent disease, methods to detect and clean up environmental
contamination, and food products.
Ex: biological or medical scientists, biotechnological engineers, forensic science technicians.