The demand continues to grow for trained medical professionals to help in hospitals, doctor's offices, and clinics. There are a number of directions you can take, and your desire to work with patients directly or indirectly will be your first guide. Here are three support roles in the healthcare field that will give you different experiences with patient care and start you out on your new career.
Nursing Assistant
A certified nursing assistant (CNA) provides direct support to patients and other healthcare providers. CNAs work alongside doctors and nurses in hospitals, treatment centers, physician's offices, and senior living centers. Some of the skills you'll learn in your training include
By taking extra training, you can work in specialty areas such as
This is a good career choice if you are interested in providing a lot of hands-on care to people.
Medical Assistant
This role is less about direct patient care and more about the administrative and clinical support of patients. You can work in the same locations as the CNAs, but your tasks will be quite different.
In the administrative support role you will
In the clinical support role you will
You will interact with healthcare professionals in other departments to provide support to the patient. In some offices, you may be the first person that the patient sees when they walk into the clinic for their appointment.
Medical Coding Specialist
If you're unsure about direct patient contact but would like to be involved in the behind-the-scenes world of healthcare, this role may be for you. You will be responsible for making sure that medical records have the proper information in them. You'll get information from a number of places, such as
Because various healthcare providers will read the medical information as they take care of the patient, the information must be current and accurate. Some of the data is coded in such a way as to make reporting for research easier. You'll learn the ICD-10 coding standards so you can make sure the information in the patient's record is correct. While you won't have contact with patients, you'll have access to all of the information that healthcare providers use to diagnose and treat all types of medical conditions.
If any of these roles sounds attractive to you, contact the admissions office at an establishment like ASA College to learn how you can meet your educational goals.
Share18 November 2015
College is an expense that typically pays off. If you take the right courses, you can find a career that you enjoy and can earn a decent living from. But, how do you know what courses to take? Will going to one college give you a better leg up than going to another? I had so many questions about college that I had to find the answers to before I could decide which colleges to even apply to. This blog contains the answers to all of the questions that I had to find before I could take the next step in going to college.
