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Focus on Health Careers
What’s left of our nation’s economic health has a lot to do with the continuing growth of jobs in the field of health care. According to the Dept. of Labor, the health care economy has produced 4.5 million new jobs in the past 15 years. Nearly half of the fastest growing occupations are tied to health care. While the unemployment rate sunk to its lowest level in 22 years - the health care industry continued to recruit thousands of workers.
Health care employment is projected to have double the growth of all other industries combined by 2016, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Pharmaceuticals, for example, is a big for-profit industry that continues to recruit fresh minds in research and development of new drugs and medicine.
Complementary and "alternative" health care are two other therapeutic approaches that are gaining huge numbers in employment. Complementary medicine consists of therapies that complement or are added to conventional medicine. Alternative medicine includes therapeutic approaches taken in place of conventional medicine, focused on avoiding medicines by preventing illness. These areas include employment in nutrition, massage, Exercise Science and Yoga Instruction.
There are many new health care businesses popping up to accommodate the big challenge with affordable health care. One such business that could boom is ”medical tourism” which appears to be growing about 25 percent a year, according to the newly formed Medical Tourism Association of West Palm Beach, Fla. When you can get a US priced $130,000 heart-bypass surgery for as little as $6,650 in India and an opportunity to travel, this industry appears poised to boom.
The expanding and innovating health care arenas are continuing to offer new job opportunities in the US. Medical Assistants, for example, is estimated to be the single fastest growing career this decade.
Advantage Career Institute offers certifications to people wanting to get into this career arena quickly, that take as little as 11 weeks, and up to only five months according to Frank Preston, president of the Institute. Other popular careers offered at Advantage include EKG Technician, Phlebotomy, Medical Billing & Coding Specialist and Dental Assistant w/ Radiology. “We include a strong externship component that helps students validate their knowledge while taking these courses. We have a 99% job placement success rate with our graduates,”
claims Preston. The school works on revolving enrollments so that programs begin every three to four weeks.
Avtech’s Licensed Practical Nurse program was approved to offer its first Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) program, starting this August, to help meet the ever-increasing demand for nurses. “We just enrolled our first class of 40 students who will attend the program for 11months,” Gary Mau, the school’s president told us. Courses include Fundamentals of Nursing, Gerontological and Mental Health Nursing, Maternal and Child health / Pediatrics, Acute Care Nursing and NCLEX PN Review.
“We also offer job placement through our full-time placement service,” added Dave Grossi, Avtech’s marketing director. Graduates can work in sub-acute settings, homecare, hospital and nursing homes, obtaining salaries between $23,000 to $35,000. “We have a nursing hybrid program with Middlesex Community College’s RN program, so students can finish in two to three years.
Georgian Court College has a new BS in Nursing program in conjunction with Meridian Health School of Nursing. Joseph Gower, PhD, Provost of Georgian Court College, pointed out that there are not enough schools training nurses to meet the growing demand, which is one reason the college is helping to fill that void. The first class of 30 BSN students begins this fall. “The trend has been to get the BSN, which is college work plus the RN,” says Gower. “The result is a better trained nurse with more critical thinking and quantitative reasoning skills.” Scholarships are available.
Also new in healthy degrees at Georgian Court is a BS in Exercise Science at their new Dance Center, and there’s a new Master’s in Autism degree for teachers, clinicians and para-professionals.
The increase in autism and other more serious disabilities among children, and the desire to have better care for these children, has led the National Certified Pediatric Technician Institute to offer a 300-hour Certified Pediatric Technician program. It provides essential knowledge for those who work with or care for the needs of children with disabilities. Participants in the certification program will learn how to assess these children’s education requirements, to handle traumas, and help with future goal setting. Many of the students are parents who want to be with their children in the schools, and also want to become educators. While most graduates go into educational settings, job opportunities for Certified Pediatric Techs also include rehab settings, pediatric offices, social services, legal offices, homecare and hospitals. The course can also be taken online at www.pediatrictechnician.us.
Devry’s Electroneurodiagnostic Technology (ENDT) Associate Degree program offered in cooperation with the New Jersey Neuroscience Institute at JFK Medical Center in Edison, NJ, began offering courses at Devry University’s North Brunswick campus in July 2007.
ENDT professionals record and analyze electrical activity in the brain and nervous system, and are often employed in locations such as private neurology practices, acute care hospitals, sleep study laboratories, university research centers, and private health care companies.
“Electroneurodiagnostic Technology is a fascinating and potentially very rewarding occupation for anyone interested in working at the intersection of technology and healthcare,” says Dr. Chris Grevesen, President of DeVry University’s North Brunswick campus.
Students will complete 1440 hours of clinical rotations at the NJ Neuroscience Institute during which they will rotate through the laboratories of electroencephalography, poly-somnography, video monitoring, nerve conduction studies, stimulus-evoked and event-related potential recording and intra-operative monitoring.
Dr. Martin Gizzi, Chairman of the NJ Neuroscience Institute says, “As a provider of patient services in sleep testing and epilepsy diagnosis, we are acutely aware of how hard it is to find qualified technologists. Having a degree program that ensures consistent levels of competence and understanding of basic science will be enormously helpful.”
“DeVry University’s ENDT program fills a critical need in our region for healthcare technologists capable of administering sophisticated neurophysiologic tests that aid physicians in diagnosing disorders of the brain and nervous system,” says Dr. Grevesen. www.devry.edu.
Cortiva Institute Schools of Massage Therapy are helping more students get jobs in a fast growing industry. Employment for massage therapists is expected to increase 20 percent by 2016, according to the U.S. Dept of Labor, faster than average for all occupations. Jeff Mann, Mid-Atlantic manager of Cortiva schools, says there are currently many thousands of jobs nationwide for massage therapists. Graduates, who take the appropriate courses, have opportunities to work in spas, sports, geriatric massage, pregnancy and infant massage.
Cortiva also offers a Certified Birth Doula course that teaches the art of supporting women in labor and some common medical interventions. The course also provides information on running a successful birth doula business. Now that the massage licensing bill has been approved in New Jersey, it’s important to attend an accredited school, like Cortiva,” says Mann.
Sanford-Brown Institute - Iselin has earned the top ranking for its Surgical Technology certificate program by the Accreditation Review Committee on Education in Surgical Technology. Certificate programs in other healthcare fields also offered at Sanford-Brown, a private career-oriented school, include Diagnostic Medical Sonography, Cardiovascular Technology, Medical Billing & Coding, Medical Assistant, Advanced Massage Therapy and Pharmacy Technician. The short-term career training programs are developed and refined based upon input from employers, graduates and faculty so students can compete for and maintain entry-level employment in the healthcare field. For more information visit www.sbinj.com.
Spiritual Health
The first and oldest seminary in North America may now be the most progressive. New Brunswick Theological Seminary, founded in 1784, offers three degree programs to those “who received a calling from God,” says Rosemary Carroll, the Seminary’s director of development. There’s a Master in Divinity (MDiv) for those who want to become a pastor or work in a university or hospital. There’s a Doctor of Ministry (DMin) for pastors already working in churches, with an emphasis on Metro Urban Ministry. “This teaches pastors how to coordinate or bring together leaders in a community to effect social justice,” said Carroll. Pastors will study demographics, urban planning, urban leadership and government structures. For general study or teaching, a Master in Theology is offered.
A commitment to dismantle any form of racism has been initiated at NBTS, Carroll told us. “We recognize it still exists, and we formed an anti-racism team. This is an outgrowth from a paper submitted by a student. Our Board was so moved by the student’s work, they formed a team about three years ago to establish a framework, and we’re in the process of building it.” Reverend Linda Pepe, Director of Vocational Discernment, adds, “Racism is in every institution, and becomes self-propagating. We will dismantle racism within our walls.”
Art of Healing and Yoga Teacher Training In Nicaragua
Jobs for Yoga staff will continue to expand into new areas, like the workplace. Conventional healthcare providers will increasingly acknowledge the benefits of yoga therapy and its use for seniors, the overweight and over-stressed.
A theoretical and experiential based 24-day retreat where you learn and “experience all paths of yoga, Raja, Karma, Bakti, and Juana Yoga, leading to a complete embodiment of virtues, strength, balance, serenity, peace, joy, happiness, contentment, and wisdom” is scheduled from January 9 to February 1, 2009 in Nicaragua by an organization called Raw Shakti (www.rawshakti.com).
The day begins with Satsang (wise gatherings)and spiritual contemplation. Daily lessons on yoga theory and philosophy are weaved into the asana (yoga posture) with group activities such as a scenic hike, town tour, beach combing, surfing, and local cultural events. Nicaragua fruit plate and gourmet vegetarian meals served daily.
For more information email: bryan@ rawshakti.com |
