From the Editor: Directory adds new fields
- AHECs getting health careers started off the right way
- Order your Health Professions Education Data Book now
- Featured profession: Emergency medical technician-paramedic
- Featured program: Wharton County Junior College, EMS program
- November 2-8 a week of celebration for allied health
- Attracting health professionals to the rural West
- Congratulations to radiation therapy educator award winners
- Data on alcohol, drug use among health professions students troubling
- Imaging/radiation therapy professionals need more education in CT
- Salaries continue to rise for certified dental assistants
- Scholarship available for ethnically diverse athletic training students
- Save the date: NN2 meeting in Dallas, Sep. 30-Oct. 3, 2009
- A day in the life of a physical therapist
- Enlist older Americans to help fix health professional shortage
Reminder: Order your copy of the Health Care Careers Directory.
The Directory earned a perfect five-star ranking (received by only eight percent of books reviewed) from Doody's Book Review Service.
From the editor: Directory adds news fields
Dear Reader,
What's new in the 2009-2010 Health Care Careers Directory?
1. The new edition will now include the following fields:
- Acupuncture/oriental medicine
- Anesthesia technologist/technician
- Cancer registrar
- Chiropractic
- Health advocate
- Health educator
- Horticultural therapist
- Medical coder
- Medical transcriptionist
- Naturopathic medicine
- Public health
2. The new edition will organize professions into the following categories, to make it easier for readers to find the information they're seeking:
Allied health
- Anesthesiologist assistant
- Anesthesia technologist/technician
- Athletic trainer
- Cardiovascular technologist
- Diagnostic medical sonographer
- Electroneurodiagnostic technologist
- Emergency medical technician-paramedic
- Exercise science
Personal fitness trainer
Exercise physiologist
Exercise science professional - Kinesiotherapist
- Medical assistant
- Medical illustrator
- Nuclear medicine technologist
- Orthotist and prosthetist
- Perfusionist
- Polysomnographic technologist
- Respiratory therapist (advanced)
- Respiratory therapist (entry-Level)
- Surgical assistant
- Surgical technologist
Complementary and alternative medicine and therapies
- Acupuncture/oriental medicine
- Chiropractic
- Horticultural therapist
- Massage therapist
- Naturopathic medicine
Communication sciences
- Audiologist
- Speech-language pathologist
Counseling and psychology
- Community counselor
- Community-career counselor
- Genetic counselor
- Gerontological counseling
- College counselor
- Marital, couple and family counselor/therapist
- Mental health counselor
- Psychologist
- Rehabilitation counselor
- School counselor
- Student affairs counselor
Dental-related occupations
- Dental assistant
- Dental hygienist
- Dental laboratory technician
- Dentist
Dietetics
- Dietitian/nutritionist
- Dietetic technician
Expressive/creative arts therapies
- Art therapist
- Dance/movement therapist
- Music therapist
Health information and communication
- Cancer registrar
- Health administrator
- Health advocate
- Health educator
- Health information administrator
- Health information technician
- Medical coder
- Medical librarian
- Medical transcriptionist
Laboratory science professions
- Blood bank technology-specialist
- Clinical assistant
- Clinical laboratory scientist/medical technologist
- Clinical laboratory technician/medical laboratory technician
- Cytogenetic technologist
- Cytotechnologist
- Diagnostic molecular scientist
- Histotechnician
- Histotechnologist
- Pathologists' assistant
- Phlebotomist
Nursing
Pharmacy
- Pharmacist
- Pharmacy technician
Physician
- Physician (allopathic)
- Physician (osteopathic)
Physician assistant
Podiatry
Radiologic technology
- Magnetic resonance technologist
- Medical dosimetrist
- Radiation therapist
- Radiographer
Therapy and rehabilitation
- Occupational therapist
- Occupational therapy assistant
- Physical therapist
- Physical therapist assistant
- Therapeutic recreation specialist
Veterinary medicine
- Veterinarian
- Veterinary technologist and technician
Vision-related professions
- Low vision therapist
- Orientation and mobility specialist
- Teacher of the visually impaired
- Vision rehabilitation therapist (formerly rehabilitation teacher)
- Ophthalmic dispensing optician
- Ophthalmic assistant
- Ophthalmic medical technician/technologist
- Optometrist
- Optometric technician
- Orthoptist
As always, please e-mail me at meded@ama-assn.org with any comments/questions.
Best Regards,
Fred Donini-Lenhoff, editor
1. AHECs getting health careers started off the right way
A number of the 200 Area Health Education Centers (AHECs) throughout the country are raising awareness of the plethora of great opportunities in health care and helping our future health professionals get started on the road to success.
For example, see "AHEC of a way to start your health career," posted on the ExploreHealthCareers.org site.
In addition, here are some examples of the kind of work AHECs are doing.
The Champlain Valley AHEC (CVAHEC) in Vermont completed six Health Careers Exploration Programs this year, to help high school students develop comfort in a health care environment, explore and strengthen skills and resources needed for health career development, and offer opportunities to shadow health care professionals in their work setting.
Two of the six programs were two week-long Health Careers Exploration Programs called MedQuest, which give selected tenth- and eleventh-grade students an in-depth look at the health care field, inspiring them to become health professionals.
The Garden AHEC in southern New Jersey offers the Medical Explorers Program, a club for high school students interested in learning more about and pursuing a health care career. Some of the students' favorite programs include "A Night in the OR" and "The ER Experience," when participants get the chance to put on scrubs and feel like a member of the staff.
The Northeast Minnesota AHEC has developed the Health Career Enrichment Program, a compete kit for first through sixth-grade students that focuses on healthy habits and health careers.
Each kit contains an in-depth curriculum, hands-on activities, videos, and worksheets. This program has been enthusiastically embraced by over 960 elementary students in northeast Minnesota in only 9 months.
The Central Louisiana AHEC collaborated with Our Lady of the Lake College to initiate "CI:Healthcare" for high school juniors and seniors. The one-day program offered 60 students interested in health careers an opportunity to explore nursing and allied health, gain hands-on learning experiences, and learn more about Our Lady of the Lake College admissions requirements and scholarship opportunities.
In related news, the October 4 Washington Post describes "an increasing number of rigorous classes for high school students seeking an early glimpse into the growing health care field -- and a head start on the training they'll need."
2. Order your Health Professions Education Data Book now
This recently updated publication features 30 tables of data for academic year 2006-2007, including:
- Number of programs and enrollments, attrition, and graduates by occupation
- Enrollments, graduates, and number of programs by state/province and occupation
- Enrollments, attrition, and graduates by race/ethnic origin and gender
- Health professions salary ranges
The data book provides a wide range of allied health education data useful to workforce analysts, policy makers, professional associations, career counselors, and students.
To order the publication in PDF format, contact us now.
(312) 464-5333
meded@ama-assn.org
The price is $20 for AMA members or directors of health professions programs and $40 for nonmembers.
3. Featured profession: Emergency medical technician-paramedic
Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) and EMT-Paramedics are trained to provide emergency care to people who have suffered from an illness or an injury outside of the hospital setting. EMTs and Paramedics work under protocols approved by a physician medical director to recognize, assess, and manage medical emergencies and transport patients to definitive medical care.
Check out these informative links, from the AMA (PDF, 46KB), ExploreHealthCareers.org, and Health Professions Network, respectively, for more information on education and careers in the field.
Finally, be sure to consult the AMA's chart of health care career income ranges, for salary in this and other health professions fields.
4. Featured program: Wharton County Junior College, EMS program
Each issue we profile a randomly selected educational program from the Health Care Careers Directory.
This month we feature the emergency medical services program at Wharton County Junior College in Texas.
The program is a one-year certificate course of study that earns the student up to 37 college credit hours that can be matriculated into the EMS associate in applied science degree at a later date. Classes are offered at the Wharton and Richmond campuses.
In addition, notes program director Maggie Mejorado, LP, EMT-P, AAA, AAS, the program incorporates Medical Spanish for EMS personnel, to ensure a basic understanding of the language as well as sociocultural aspects of the Hispanic culture.
5. November 2-8 a week of celebration for allied health
Allied Health Professions Week honors the many health care providers in this wide-ranging, diverse, and ever-changing sector of health care.
Other events for Nov. 2-8 include:
National Radiologic Technology Week
National Health Information & Technology Week
6. Attracting health professionals to the rural West
Low reimbursement rates, lower salaries, lack of employment opportunities for spouses, and few urban amenities are significant challenges in attracting health professionals to practice in underserved and rural areas.
A report (PDF, 544KB) from the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE) summarizes financial incentives for health professionals working in these areas that are used throughout 15 western states.
7. Congratulations to radiation therapy educator award winners
Four radiation therapy educators who are furthering their own education were awarded scholarships by the American Society of Radiologic Technologists (ASRT) Education and Research Foundation.
- Melanie C. Dempsey, Midlothian, VA: Pursuing a health education master's degree program at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
- Amy A. Heath, Poynette, WI: Clinical management and leadership master's degree program at George Washington University
- Karen D. Ljunggren, Cherry Hill, NJ: Higher education master's degree program at Drexel University
- Melissa R. Weege, La Crosse, WI: Education master's degree program at the University of Wisconsin-Stout
Applications for the 2009 scholarships will be accepted starting in through Feb. 1, 2009.
8. Data on alcohol, drug use among health professions students troubling
A recent survey of attitudes and behaviors toward alcohol and other drug use among allied health and physician assistant (PA) students found that:
- About one in five reported blackouts over the past year
- Nearly half reported driving after three or more drinks or any drug use
- Nearly eight percent reported attending class or work under the influence of alcohol or other drugs, and 3.3 percent provided patient care
The study (PDF, 96KB)was published in the Journal of Allied Health.
Earlier this year, a group of college presidents from about 100 US universities called for lowering the drinking age to 18 from 21, saying that current laws actually encourage dangerous binge drinking on campus.
The AMA cites research that shows that "a higher minimum legal drinking age is effective in preventing alcohol-related deaths and injuries among youth."
9. Imaging/radiation therapy professionals need more education in CT
Medical imaging and radiation therapy professionals (PDF, 598KB) need more education in computed tomography (CT) technology, including operation, application, and dose optimization, to ensure patient safety, according to the report of an expert panel.
In addition, entry-level graduates of radiography, radiation therapy, and nuclear medicine programs should have both didactic and clinical education in basic CT procedures.
The panel was jointly sponsored by the American Society of Radiologic Technologists and the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists.
10. Salaries continue to rise for certified dental assistants
Pay rates for dental assistants certified by the Dental Assisting National Board (DANB) (PDF, 260KB) have risen by more than nine percent in the last two years, according to the 2008 DANB Certificant Salary Survey.
Full-time respondents reported median salary of $18 per hour, $1.50 an hour above 2006 figures.
In other dental-related news, the supply of dentists per capita in North Carolina took a downward turn this past year, according to new data from the North Carolina Health Professions Data System at the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill.
North Carolina had 4.3 dentists per 10,000 population in 2007, compared to the US ratio of 6.1. Four counties in eastern North Carolina did not have an active dentist in 2007.
Source: North Carolina Health Professions Data Book
11. Scholarship available for ethnically diverse athletic training students
A $50,000 scholarship endowment for the National Athletic Trainers' Association (NATA) Research and Education Foundation has been established in the name of John A. Mayes MS, ATC, LAT.
Through the endowment, a scholarship will be awarded annually beginning in 2009 to an ethnically diverse, entry-level graduate athletic training/sports medicine student.
12. Save the date: NN2 meeting in Dallas, Sep. 30-Oct. 3, 2009
Mark your calendar now to attend the 2009 annual conference of the National Network of Health Career Programs in Two-Year Colleges (NN2).
For more information on the conference, contact Sondra Flemming at sflemming@dcccd.edu.
NN2 is dedicated to:
- Promoting and encouraging innovation, collaboration, cooperation, and communication with two-year colleges sponsoring health career programs
- Developing new leaders in health career education
- Expressing and advocating the interests of health career programs in two-year colleges (ie, accreditation issues, practice issues, federal policy issues, etc)
- Working collaboratively with other professional communities of interest to further policy related to health career education and higher education in general.
13. A day in the life of a physical therapist
"In a typical day, Debby Compton might see patients from the age of two to 102. Her duties related to each patient can vary as greatly as the individuals themselves."
Check out allhealthcare.com to find out what a typical day is like for a physical therapist.
14. Enlist older Americans to help fix health professional shortage
The nation should take advantage of the largely untapped resource of older workers to help address health care workforce shortages (HealthLeaders Media, October 13).
"Jobs in the health care field are particularly well suited for seniors who seek flexible hours and work that is personally rewarding," said Cynthia A. Metzler, president and CEO of Experience Works.
"Health care providers, like all employers, are going to have to look at the labor pool of older people to satisfy their employment needs," added Jim Grosch, research psychologist with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).
Want to learn more about graduate medical education?
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About us...
The Health Care Careers e-Letter is produced by the American Medical Association (AMA).
This periodic newsletter covers educational trends and career-related issues for 77 health professions.
Newsletter readers and contributors include staff of health professions accrediting agencies, educational programs and institutions, professional organizations, certifying/licensing boards and media contacts.
Previous issues are available online.
Note: By using any external links on this page, you will be leaving the AMA's Web site. Although the sites are evaluated and reviewed, the AMA cannot guarantee the accuracy of the information that is provided by each of the links, nor does the AMA necessarily endorse the content on any of these links.
Give us your story ideas and feedback
What's happening in the world of health care careers? If you have any leads or story ideas, please contact us. Also, let us know what you think about this newsletter--and feel free to forward it to your colleagues.
Direct suggestions, comments, compliments, gripes, to
Fred Donini-Lenhoff
American Medical Association
Medical Education Products
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(312) 464-4635
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