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

 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.

 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)

 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)

 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.

 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!!

 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-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

 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.

 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.

 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.

 Two major agencies that offer accreditation of health care programs are: Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP) AND Accrediting Bureau of Health Education Schools (ABHES)

 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.

 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

 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.

 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

 Therapeutic/Diagnostic Core Standards  Knowledge and skills required for direct patient care in therapeutic(treatment) and diagnostic(determining the cause of disease)

 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

 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.

 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.

 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.

 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