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Medical Assistant Career Profile

Would you like to help others and assist physicians in providing care for their patients? Certified medical assistants perform a diverse range of administrative and clinical tasks in the offices of physicians and other medical practitioners. It’s a quickly growing field, and job outlook is pretty positive. Online schools offer preparation for a medical assistant career through certificate and associate degree programs.

Medical Assistant Job Duties and Tasks
Medical assistants may be responsible for either administrative or clinical tasks, or a combination of both. Whether a certified medical assistant performs only clinical duties, only administrative duties or a combination of the two depends upon the size and location of the practice and the practitioner’s specialty. In small medical offices, medical assistants typically undertake many different duties, tackling both clinical and administrative duties and reporting directly to the physician. However, in large practices, certified medical assistants usually specialize in a particular area, working under the direction and supervision of a department administrator.

Administrative duties can include: scheduling appointments, greeting patients, answering telephones, updating medical records, filling insurance paperwork, arranging outside services, keeping financial records, keeping inventory and ordering supplies and equipment.

Some of the clinical tasks that medical assistants may be required to perform include: interviewing patients to obtain medical information, recording vital signs and statistics, recording patients medical history, explaining treatment procedures, diets, medications and doctor’s instruction to patients, collecting and preparing laboratory specimens, preparing and administering medications as directed by a doctor, preparing treatment rooms by keeping them neat and clean, providing prescription information to pharmacies and authorizing drug refills, assisting physicians with examinations, setting up lab equipment, performing routine lab tests, giving physiotherapy treatments, changing dressings on wounds, operating x-ray, electrocardiogram and other medical equipment to administer routine diagnostic tests, cleaning and sterilizing instruments, and disposing of contaminated supplies.

Work Environments for Medical Assistants
Medical assistants may work in a variety of healthcare settings, including: private clinics, hospitals, outpatient care centers, nursing homes, and residential care facilities. The job typically involves interacting with many other people and handling several responsibilities at once. Medical assistants get the opportunity to develop lasting relationships and the satisfaction of helping people get better. Most of them work a standard 40-hour week, but there are others who work part-time, weekends or evenings.

Medical Assistant Job Outlook
With medical assistant job growth projected to 31% (which is faster than the average for all occupations), the job outlook for this career is excellent. The need to provide basic patient services to allow doctors to administer treatment as well as the addition of medical group practices are some of the reasons behind the projected increase in demand for medical assistants.

Career Paths for Medical Assistants
Becoming a medical assistant is the first step toward an entry-level position in the healthcare field. Certified medical assistants can move their career forward through additional training to qualify for advanced roles, such as office manager and clinical supervisor positions. They may also qualify for positions in other healthcare fields, such as health services management, public health, social work, clinical laboratory testing, nursing, and medical assistant education.

Online education is starting point for second career.

With the popularity and practicality of online education, it is not surprising that more and more people are ditching their old careers in search of that one career that they really love. In fact, as far back as 2009, studies like Learning on Demand: Online Education in the United States revealed a 17 percent increase in online students from 2007 to 2008, and this number has no doubt increased today. Distance learning is not only a way to begin a career. It is also one of the ways to jump from one line of work to a new one, especially if you have been looking for that one job that allows you to do what you love while you earn at the same time. Nursing and allied health care careers are especially popular because of the increased demand for allied health professionals. Here are five reasons why more and more people are starting their second careers with online degrees.

1. Online programs are flexible and convenient.
Online programs can be completed from the comfort of home. Of course, nursing and health care degrees will require students to show up in the laboratory for graded demonstrations and practicums, but the bulk of the learning is done online. This is very convenient for those who want to study from home or who live too far from the nearest university or college. This is also one of the reasons why those who want second careers can finally work on making the big switch without having to quit their day jobs. Those who have jobs can still work full time while taking the distance learning course in their free time.

2. Online degrees are reliable and now widely accepted by most employers all over the world.
Unlike in the past when online degrees were frowned upon by employers and students alike, online degrees now have a reputation as coming from reputable schools. Many established schools now have online programs which are administered with the same kind of discipline as traditional programs. This means that graduates of online programs are as skilled and as capable as graduates of traditional classroom education.

3. Online education is less costly than traditional education.
When it comes to expense and costs, online degrees trump conventional education. Students who would have otherwise paid for college or apartment rentals can take the class from home, eliminating this expense. The need to commute to and from school is also eliminated when you earn a degree online, so students get to save on commuting expenses.

4. Online degrees are varied to support a variety of careers.
There is now an ever widening array of online degrees to choose from. Degrees are no longer limited to obscure or unusable programs in the arts and humanities. Science and health degrees now abound and are being offered by large, reputable schools. Online education is starting point for second career.

5. Online degrees allow for individual and customized pacing for optimum learning.
People who want to earn another degree so that they can switch to another career can take advantage of the personalized pacing of online degrees. Students can learn at their own pace. They can take exams when ready and the schedules for studies, conferences and exams are also flexible, which helps better learning.

These are just some of the reasons why distance learning is such an attractive starting point for a second career. Whether it is in the arts or the allied health sciences, an online education program can help students attain their degrees with more convenience and at a lesser cost compared to traditional education.  Online education is a starting point for second career.

Earn A Nursing Degree Online

For those who have been considering pursuing a degree in the healthcare field of nursing, but do not desire to attend a traditional nursing school, consider to earn a nursing degree online. Through distance learning, you can earn a degree or diploma in the health care field, while continuing to work at a current job or staying home with your children at the same time.

Distance Learning Eliminates Moving and Commuting
Imagine being able to obtain a degree in nursing, without having to relocate or even do a daily commute. You can earn your degree while sitting in the comfort of your own home, in your pajamas if you wish.

Online Education Is More Flexible
Earn a nursing degree online. Taking your classes online provides a more flexible option than actually sitting in a classroom. This allows you to work around your schedule and attend to the little things that may occur while you are studying at home.

Earn a Nursing Degree Online
Earning a degree online in nursing is easier than ever today, with more and more online courses and programs being offered than ever before. Choosing to work online allows the student to be able to continue somewhat of a normal routine, while at the same time working toward their goal. Another advantage to earning your degree or certificate online is that it is usually less expensive than attending an actual physical campus. When choosing an online education program in nursing, make sure that the program will fulfill the licensing requirements of the state in which you will be working as a nurse.

Health Care Needs More Nurses
The health care professional is always in need of new workers. This is a career that you can be certain will always be prosperous, as there will always be a need for nurses because people will always get sick and need other preventative medical care. There will always be jobs available in this chosen profession, and there will always be medical clinics, doctor’s offices, and hospitals eager to hire them. A great choice is to earn a nursing degree online.

The Benefits of a Nursing Career
Nursing is a rewarding and satisfying career choice. Not only are you helping other people by the care that you will provide to them, you are also helping yourself by obtaining a career that pays well and will help support you and your family. As the Baby Boomer generation continues to age, there will be an increasing demand for the number of health care providers, which means more courses for online nursing degrees will become available.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, online nursing programs will help in the training of nurses to meet the growing need for them in the United States. Inside Higher ED considers online education for nurses to be the “online cure for the nursing crisis.” Earn a nursing degree online is a great choice.

Whether you are already a nurse who simply needs to gain more education in your profession, or if you are just beginning your education in this area, online courses are a great way to save money, time, and help you obtain the education that you need.

Online Education Opportunities Increase Quantity of Male Nurses

Nursing is a predominantly female-centric occupation. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) put thepercentage of female registered nurses at 92.1% in 2003. But five years later, the 2008 National Survey of Registered Nurses showed a decline to 90.4%. In the contest of a dramatic increase in the population of RNs from 2.4 million to 3.06 million during the same five-year period, this means that male nurses grew from 190,000 in 2003 to roughly 294,000 in 2008, indicating a 54% increase over a five-year period. In short, there is significant growth among males in the nursing profession.

Men in Nursing Filling the Shortage
The shortage in nursing professionals is a global concern felt acutely in the U.S. While the BLS projects a 27.3% annual growth of nursing jobs, the reality is that there are more people today needing health care services than there are nurses graduating every year. But it is comforting to note that, according to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN), men are enrolling in nursing courses at a higher rate than ever. This promises increased gender diversity in the nursing profession. As off 2011, 12% of students in a nursing degree course were men and the percentage is expected to grow within the short term.

Can male nurses fill the shortage in the profession? There is no reason to doubt that greater gender diversity in nursing can address the shortage. There is just the attitudinal barrier that men have to weather to become registered nurses. For instance, there is the social gender role perception and expectation that women are more apt as nurses than men. A recent study showed that women prefer female nurses when providing care of an intimate or invasive nature. These are mostly in the areas of prenatal, delivery, and post-natal care. While statistics show that male nurses have increased, there are hardly any male nurses in the obstetrics and gynecology disciplines. On the other hand, there is no similar bias when it comes to female nurses attending to the intimate care of men.

Online Education in Nursing and Health Care
There is now a growing social acceptance of the irrelevance of stereotyped gender roles in the choice of career which has slightly eased the shortage of nurses. The recent economic crisis has opened the eyes of many about the rewards of getting into the nursing profession. According to Tony Forrester, professor at the School of Nursing at the University of Medicine in New Jersey, more men have taken advantage of the relatively high and stable salaries as well career advancement opportunities in the nursing profession, which has shown itself to be impervious to the ups and downs of the economy. This realization has made a nursing profession a more rewarding career option for men and online education opportunities increase quantity of male nurses.

But there is a lot more needed to fully address the shortage. The AACN has pointed out that the nation needs to strengthen its capacity in nursing education and increase gender diversity as a major strategy to relieve the shortage in nurses. To this end, the internet has become increasingly instrumental in making the nursing career more accessible to wider and more varied segments of the population. Online education in nursing, along with other allied heath online training programs, is helping to accelerate gender diversity in the nursing workplace, while creating a new channel in delivering competent nursing education to more people. Earning a diploma or degree in nursing can proceed right in the comfort and privacy of home, and students progressively earn their degree at their own pace.

Over the last five years, traditional campuses have embarked on online degree and diploma programs that reached more students to become registered nurses. In addition, internet-only educators have further widened the appeal of online nursing education and allied heath online training. Current online education in the nursing profession benefits from broadband internet connections that provide home-bound students with the authentic learning experience related to real-world health care situations. Faculty time once spread thinly between classroom and online instructions is now dedicated in optimizing student-teacher interaction online. Apart from ready access to case materials, online exams, RSS feeds, real time chat sessions, and downloadable eBooks, online education harnesses collaborative online technology that allows students to share files, interact with fellow online students, and attend virtual meetings and conferences with nursing experts and health care lecturers without ever leaving home. It’s an entirely new and effective teaching paradigm that has made earning a nursing degree a significantly rewarding experience.

Men Can Change the Face of Nursing
With online education made accessible to a wider group of home-bound students and adults eager to advance in their chosen nursing careers, we can see the day when gender role barriers to men in nursing are done away with. The compassion toward a patient and the ability to provide adequate nursing care is never a function of gender. Online education can hopefully open the door to a future when there are just as many men as women who can take care of patients who need adequate nursing care. Whether or not men will equal the number of women in the nursing profession is not as important as knowing that gender will never figure as a deciding factor in choosing one’s career but online education opportunities increase quantity of male nurses.

Distance Learning Tips for Health Care Workers

More and more health care workers are making the smart decision to pursue online education. With an increasingly competitive job market this makes good sound sense. The extra education can help you stand out from the pack and ultimately earn more money. When trying to earn a degree online these smart distance learning tips for health care workers will certainly help.

* Use the Flexibility to your Advantage. One of the real strengths of health care distance learning is the flexible schedule. This means you can smartly schedule your school work around your job or other responsibilities. This freedom, when used wisely, can help you obtain your health care degree while still meeting the rest of life’s responsibilities in a way impossible in a more traditional school schedule, Make no mistake, however, you will have to be self-disciplined and responsible to make the most of this opportunity.

* Respect your Syllabus. If you have difficulty with any aspect of your health care online program the answer is going to be found in your syllabus. The importance of the syllabus really can’t be overstated. Respect it, study it and refer to it often! This is the heart and soul of your program.

* Be Disciplined. The distance learning students who do the best are the ones who use the most self-discipline in their work and study habits. Be organized as you pursue your online degree and it will likely more than pay off. Don’t wait to the last second and try to rush through work. You are pursuing a real degree that can change your life so treat it seriously!

* Technology Is Your Friend. Online education and technology go hand in hand. Don’t be afraid of making the most of all the online tools that your allied health school has available for you, whether you’re in the nursing program, massage therapy, medical assistant, or otherwise.

* Questions Are Key. Don’t ever be afraid to ask questions of your school or instructors when you are on the path of distance learning. It’s only natural questions will come up and it’s likely not a question that hasn’t been asked before! A quality school encourages questions and always does their best to answer them promptly and efficiently.

* Collaborate with Your Peers. Another real benefit of online education are the opportunities it provides for you to work with and learn from your peers. In many cases there’s actually more interaction between fellow students than in more traditional schools. Distance learning is perfect for e-mail and chat collaborations between students and this easy access to your fellow students is a win-win.

For a great many health care workers, online education presents a long list of benefits and opportunities. These smart tips for making the most out of distance learning have been picked up from and confirmed by graduates who are now successes in their chosen fields. Take advantage of their experience and good luck on your education and career path!

Balancing life demands: 3 Ways to Blend Work, Life and Online Learning

Pursuing your health degree online is a great way to improve the quality of life that you and your family have. However, balancing life, work and school is an immense challenge. The good news is that it is possible, and when you come out on the other side, your accomplishments will make the struggle more than worth it. Balancing life demands is difficult but the tips in this article will help you find a way.

1. Put together a child care group
Finding child care is expensive. It also involves bringing people into your children’s lives who you do not know. If you are a single mother trying to complete a nursing degree, or if your spouse travels a lot or works during the time when you need to go to school, the expenses of child care can keep you from even getting started. Government grants are available, but the paperwork is often onerous. Instead, talk to some other friends who are in your situation. If you can find two or three other single moms, and you take turns taking care of all the children, you can cut down, if not eliminate altogether, the need to pay people to take care of your children while you’re putting the future together. If you have teenagers, you’ll still want to have some adult supervision in terms of checking in on them and making sure they’re doing their homework and the chores instead of getting into trouble, so having a group of other moms in your situation is a big help, as you can all help each other out.

2. Keep the focus on your health
When you’re burning the candle at both ends, one of the first things to fall off your schedule is your exercise regimen, and often the next thing to go is the quality of the food that you eat. It’s easy to roll through the drive through, grab dinner for everyone, and you can even be done eating by the time you get home. Instead of having to clean up the table, you just get the trash out of the car and hope the ketchup didn’t hit the upholstery too hard. However, you will find yourself increasingly lethargic, as the higher fat content (and the lack of exercise) take their toll on your life. Even if you only exercise for 15 to 20 minutes a day, that makes a huge difference as far as overall health and energy levels. Spending just 30 to 45 minutes shopping, once a week, helps you pick out convenient meals that are a lot better for you and your family than fast food.

3. Manage your time effectively
Let’s face it, when you get online, there are too many ways to get off task. Checking your Facebook feed or those latest Instagram pics is a lot more fun than doing those blog posts and course readings. Getting a productivity app for your smartphone or setting up an online timer to keep you focused will help you finish your classwork sooner so you can get back to the real people in your life, and build in some more offline “me” time as well.

Put these tips on balancing life demands to work for you as you start to make a new life for you and your family. Online learning is a terrific opportunity to make achievements more accessible. While the work-life-school balance is often difficult for busy moms, the rewards make it worthwhile.

Many pediatric health care jobs available through online learning such as nursing, medical assistants and even massage therapy.

Health professionals in the nursing, medical and other health care fields need to have some form of training in dealing with kids, since kids comprise a larger part of the population who need medical and nursing care. People who prefer working with kids and want to pursue a career in health care can take advantage of online health care degrees in medical assistance, nursing, chiropractic therapy, and even massage therapy which allows them to create careers where they can be handsomely compensated while working with kids.

Nursing
Anyone who wants to pursue a degree in nursing can specialize in pediatric nursing if he or she wants to work with children. Pediatric nursing is a specialized field that deals in providing nursing care to children and requires knowledge of diseases that affect children. Pediatric nursing also has sub-specialties, such as nursing for kids with cancer or kids with congenital diseases which you can get with a nursing degree online.

Medical Assistants
Medical assistants work with a team of medical personnel in providing medical care to patients. Anyone who wishes to work with children can go into this field and work in pediatric departments, such as pediatric medical or surgery wings. They can also work in pediatric clinics where they can perform basic tasks such as taking vital signs, assisting during routine medical procedures and performing clerical work. Since this allied health job is composed of both clinical and administrative duties, medical assistants who want to specialize in the pediatric field can gain skills limited to the pediatric field by getting a medical assistant degree online.

Massage Therapy
Massage therapy is an alternative therapy that can be done on kids and adults, although there are specific variations when massage therapy is used on children due to the different physiology between kids and adults. Massage therapy is very helpful for kids in chronic pain and those who have attention disorders, which means that professionals with this kind of training will see a demand for their skills in clinics, rehabilitation centers and hospitals.  Babies like massage too.

Chiropractic Assistant
Chiropractic assistants specialize in assisting in chiropractic procedures. A different training is required of chiropractic assistants compared to nursing or dental assistants but they can also choose to work with pediatric chiropractors if they want to specialize in children. Chiropractic assistants usually perform administrative work such as getting patient histories, managing patient flow, scheduling, patient education as well as administering basic therapies. Chiropractic assistants work in most clinics staffed by one or two personnel so they are expected to be versatile and able to juggle therapeutic and administrative tasks.

Distance learning programs now make it possible for anyone who wants to pursue a career in the medical field and want to specialize in pediatric care. Online health education programs allow people who hold down jobs to start working toward a career that they really care about. Working with children takes a very special kind of care and skill set and with online programs, anyone who has the desire to work with kids now have a great chance of reaching this career goal.