Allied Health Care Professions

Your career as a healthcare professional will give you much more than a steady job. You will have the satisfaction of using technical skills to help people. Whether your work involves helping children or adults you will enjoy the respect and confidence that your training bestows. Allied professionals will be very much in demand through this year and the next several years.

Careers…such as Dental Assistants, Medical Assistants, Pharmacy Technicians, Medical Secretaries, Phlebotomy Technicians, and Professional Coders are open to you. You might perform tests, handle records and materials for dental and medical tests, assist in procedures, and learn how to use the medical/dental technical equipment. Every day can be challenging and different for you because no two patients are alike and neither are their treatments.

Have you checked the help wanted ads lately? The demand is there for trained, qualified workers in the allied health field. Newspapers abound with stories of drug stores, including those found in chain stores, limiting the hours the pharmacy is open. This is not due to slow sales, but rather shortage of qualified technicians. These are good jobs with a solid future. They are there and waiting for qualified people to fill them.

How about a field like Pharmacy Technician? You could be trained to be ready for a position in a retail, hospital or home care pharmacy setting and work under the supervision of a registered pharmacist. Graduates of programs are encouraged to sit for National Certification. On the whole, higher salaries are paid to Certified Pharmacy Technicians.

Dental Assistants do chair-side assisting, clinical assisting, and many of the administrative/receptionist procedures associated with the operation of a dental office or clinic. Again, the demand is high.

Medical Assistants will be able to perform medical, laboratory, and office administrative duties. Most course curricula include clinical procedures such as preparing patients for examination, taking blood pressure, pulse, and respiration, sterilizing instruments, taking electrocardiograph readings, giving injections, and phlebotomy. Also included are lab, office, and reception procedures. Wide opportunity awaits you in this area of education.

Medical Secretaries find employment in clinics, hospitals, private medical or dental offices, nursing homes, and insurance companies. Advanced typing, business English, medical terminology, transcription, accounting, medical office procedures, word processing, and coding are also taught.

Courses for Certified Professional Coders are available to medical secretaries, medical assistants, RNs, and LPNs. The American Academy of Professional Codes (AAPC) offers courses teaching the newest procedures of medical and dental billing. Upon completion of a course like this, students will be eligible to sit for the Certified Professional Coder (CPC) test. This course will familiarize students with current billing terminology and hone their skills on third party payments and procedures.

Phlebotomy is the procedure of drawing blood for testing. Most hospitals and clinics, have complete labs. It is here that the Phlebotomy Technicians use their skills to help patients.

How do you get these and other allied health jobs? You should research the area you are most interested in, by visiting the Internet and your local library. Get names and addresses of schools that can provide training. Make sure they are accredited. You need to research quality educational programs that are recognized in the industry. The Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges of Technology is a good place to begin.

An average hourly rate ranges from $9 to $12 to start, but qualifications and experience will have an impact on salary. The Allied Health Field has great opportunities. Research your future, and join the ranks of the health care professionals.

Provided by James N. Gallagher, General Manager of the Cleveland Institute of Dental-Medical Assistants, Inc.