Archive for March, 2011

How Do You Get Around the Experience Requirements for Medical Transcription?

March 30th, 2011

One of the most intimidating things for many people looking into medical transcription as a work at home career is the high percentage of jobs that require 2-3 years’ experience before an employer will consider you.

Or so they say on the Careers page of their websites. If you make the right choice with your medical transcription education, fortunately, you can get around that.

There are 3 main schools that employers have come to trust. These are the Andrews School, M-Tec and Career Step. Each of these schools has a medical transcription education program that is sufficient to help students reach a level of skill that employers can trust. Your skill level matters far more than your experience level, once you get employers looking at you.

Attending one of these schools is one of the best ways to get that first bit of attention. Each of the schools has a reputation with employers, who know that their graduates are worth testing.

Yes, testing. Even if you graduate from one of these programs you will need to prove to potential employers that you have the skills the courses taught you. You may be able to find out from your school which employers are most willing to consider their graduates for positions.

My own personal favorite is Career Step, and there are a two simple reasons for that. The first is that they cost less than the other two programs. The second is that I personally know several Career Step graduates who landed medical transcription jobs after graduation. There’s just not much more you need to ask for when you want to work in a particular field.

Yes, there are many, many other medical transcription schools out there. However, many have dreadful reputations with employers. Some teach skills that have absolutely no relevance to what you would actually be doing as a medical transcriptionist. And of course many just don’t give you the quality of education you need in order to be employable.

Choosing the right program to go through is just one of the keys. The other should be obvious: Take full advantage of the program you sign up for and study hard.

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Medical School Enrollments Show a Modest Increase

March 28th, 2011

The number of U. S. medical students rose for the second year in a row, according to new data released today by the AAMC (Association of American Medical Colleges). First-time enrollees in the 2006 entering class totaled almost 17,400, a 2.2 percent increase over last year. The AAMC believes a 30 percent increase in total medical school enrollment can be achieved to prevent a future shortage of physicians by increasing class sizes in existing schools as well as building new medical schools.

The total number of medical school applicants for the 2005-2006 school year also increased to 37,364, a 4.6 percent gain over last year’s total of 35,735. Driving this increase were more Hispanic and Asian applicants. Overall, applications from Hispanic students rose by 6.4 percent, with applications from Mexican Americans up almost 8 percent over 2004. The number of Asian applicants increased to 7,286 from 6,737, an 8.1 percent increase over 2004. The number of black applicants was essentially unchanged at 2,809, and black enrollment declined slightly to 1,068 from the 2004 total of 1,086. A gain in the number of male applicants also contributed to the overall applicant increase. For the first time in two years, men reclaimed the majority, with 50.2 percent of the applicant pool. This year there were 18,744 male applicants and 18,620 female applicants.

Data indicated that first-time enrollees in the nation’s 125 allopathic medical schools grew by 2.1 percent over the 2004 total of 16,648. Twenty-two schools expanded their first-year class size by 5 percent or more; seven of those schools boosted first-year enrollment by more than 10 percent. Half of the 22 schools with the greatest increase in enrollment also have solid records in recruiting family physicians. For example, the Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine at Marshall University, where 22.9 percent of graduates from the last three years chose family medicine, saw a 15.4 percent increase in first-year enrollment. The news comes less than a year after the Council on Graduate Medical Education’s 16th Report to Congress predicted an overall physician shortage in 10 to 15 years. The report recommended increasing medical school enrollment in the next decade by 15 percent over 2002 levels.

Among the 125 allopathic medical schools, 28 increased their first-year classes between 5% and 9% this fall, the AAMC said. Florida State University College of Medicine in Tallahassee saw the sharpest growth, adding 29 more students for a first-year class of 109, a 36% increase. Boston University School of Medicine, Drexel University College of Medicine in Philadelphia and Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit were among schools that increased enrollment 10% or more.

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What Idiot Would Choose A Career In Medical Practice Today?

March 26th, 2011

Start out passionate-end up disappointed or worse.

Never in the history of medicine have doctors faced such a ruthless gauntlet of threats, financial debts, and practice restrictions than they do today. These factors, among others just as crucial, don’t begin to tell the story about why 40% of medical doctors readily admit to intense frustration in their practices, in addition to the percentage of doctors quitting medical practice completely.

They’re not retiring. They’re adapting. Extended hours to see more patients to make enough income to stay financially solvent is just one highly stressful necessity causing eventual burnout. Coupled with the recognition that private medical office practice for most doctors is not lucrative enough to reach their original goals and dreams for their careers, reasonable satisfaction with medical practice becomes a moot point.

Profound disappointment increases as they realize it will take them a couple decades to pay off their education debts (avg. $150,000 plus), let alone make enough revenue to support a family and cover office overhead. If you have missed the obvious, doctors the day they graduate, are financially hamstrung right from the start. The roots of this dilemma are found in the medical education program itself.

Discouragement intensifies dramatically when they are faced with malpractice litigation. You know…it’s the penalty for using all their best medical knowledge, skills, and judgments to prevent and to treat illness, yet isn’t enough. The most well trained and experienced doctors are subject to malpractice lawsuits, even when they haven’t done anything wrong in their medical practice treatment of patients.

Governmental fee restrictions and intrusions are constantly increasing, which is firm validation that it will be harder to financially survive in practice. Their future practice income for the majority of physicians will barely keep them in the middle class of Americans. For those minority of physicians in the highly profitable surgical specialties such as plastic surgery, orthopedics, cardiac surgery, and anesthesiology, most do quite well in their practices.

The easy solution for most medical school graduates is to join a managed care group as an employee where they at least can earn some money right away. Once they become aware that they aren’t able to practice medicine the way they intended to, they try private practice.

The path into a medical practice career has other unexpected potholes:

Upon entering college and into their pre-med curriculum the idea of becoming a doctor is challenged repeatedly. The high competition for getting into medical school is strongly influenced by their grades. The hard studies and required courses weeds out many pre-meds. Of the one’s who make the grade after four years, there is no guarantee they will even be accepted by a medical school. Who wants to academically struggle for four years only to discover your dreams have just been squashed on the rocks?

Individuals not accepted to a medical school may keep re-applying yearly with the expectation of being accepted later. Rather than wait and hope, pre-med students can apply to dental schools where the competition is considerably less, with the idea they can get into medical school later.

The way things are today, they’d be a lot better off being a dentist for many reasons. So, here’s a student who wanted to become a medical doctor and is often left stranded without a backup career in mind-didn’t think he needed one.

Once accepted to medical school, a student is expected to graduate in four years. In days past some medical schools apparently had programs for planned attrition the first year-like the bottom 10% of the class would be dropped from the school. I’m not aware of any of the 142 medical schools in the USA doing that today.

Medical students eventually choose the area of medicine they want to practice. Some choose a surgical specialty and discover they don’t have a surgical talent or skill. Others, for the first time, begin to understand what they are talented to do, as opposed to what they think they want to do. This tendency may lead a student to becoming a specialist in something they are not skilled to do, but manage to practice in a career in that medical category anyway. It’s not a rare circumstance.

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How Med School Applicants Can Differentiate With a Medical Spanish Immersion Program

March 24th, 2011

If you are Looking to apply to medical school, you are likely already well aware of the fierce level of competition for precious spots. The truth is that any advantage that you can add to your resume can be the deciding factor as to whether or not you get a place in a program. The good news is that many candidates have found that if they receive training in Medical Spanish abroad, it can greatly enhance their application. When you learn Spanish in Argentina, it is possible to add such a program to your itinerary.

According to med school admissions officers, the competition is tougher than ever. There are many top students graduating from amongst the best schools in the world. When medical schools look at the pile of applications, they look for things that differentiate students from one another. Of course, your grades and your MCAT exams are tremendously important.

However, there are other things that you can add to your application that will also show that you are a highly qualified candidate.

If you have had some unique medical experience, this can assist you greatly when it comes time for applications. It is possible to participate in a program where you not only learn the Spanish language, but also get experience being in a hospital environment with actual patients. This is often referred to as “clinical shadowing.”

The fact of the matter is that once you have actually participated in an actual medical environment, you will likely find that you are even more motivated to pursue your future studies. This type of experience provides you with far more of a memorable experience than just studying books on medicine and treatments. Typically, you and a small group of other students will have the opportunity to observe as day-to-day operations unfold at a hospital. This means that you will get to see various types of patients being treated firsthand.

When you study Spanish in Argentina, you are already boosting the credential on your medical school applications. After all, since the population in the United States is rapidly changing to incorporate many Spanish speakers, it can be a huge advantage to know this language. As a doctor, you will be able to understand more patients and accurately attend to their needs. When you also incorporate a medical Spanish abroad program into your studies, you also will get to observe a foreign hospital setting. Plus, you will have the opportunity to attend educational lectures on the Argentine health system.

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How to Decide If a LVN Program Is For You

March 22nd, 2011

Considering the fact that LVN is an increasingly popular vocation, there are many amateurs of this kind of job who would like to find the best way to see their career dream come true this way. There are numerous and varied LVN programs and most of these are dedicated to ordinary students who would like to take on these classes and successfully become Licensed Vocational Nurses.

What you should know about LVN education is that these programs of allied education are available from one to two years of study, fact which makes it even easier for students to join in and complete their nursing classes successfully. They are also known under the name of LPN in some states, which stands for Licensed Practical Nurse.

Besides the long duration of these classes, another important detail you should consider about LVN education is the cost of these classes, which may vary from one state to another. It can be somewhere between $24,000-48,000 a year and this is one thing you should take into account especially if you would like to save some money for using at the end of the classes, in the final examination stage. However, there is one good part about the financial remuneration of LVN programs. Once you graduate this kind of allied education program, you are most likely to find a first job in a hospital or hostel, and even if you are supervised by a Registered Nurse at first, you are still as being staff of that hospital, so you can consider this as a first step in your nursing career.

All in all, LVN or LPN is considered as one of the nicest and career safest medical jobs out there and that is why there are more and more people taking these programs up.

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Health Care Staffing Agencies Add Value in Promoting Medical Assistant Careers

March 20th, 2011

Whether you’re a seasoned health care professional, or just embarking on a new career, staffing agencies may be a viable solution for finding the career of your dreams. Staffing agencies can provide reliable solutions for both employers and job seekers who are looking to break into the medical assisting field. Employers are able to find a pool of experienced job seekers, while applicants can benefit by finding placement in well-respected facilities.

Health Care Staffing Agency Benefits

There are other excellent benefits associated with a staffing agency affiliation. Often, professionals in the field and medical assisting program graduates can find permanent, temporary, short-term and long-term positions in private or public organizations. These venues include, but are not limited to, health care centers, home healthcare agencies, nursing homes and more. Both domestic and international candidates may also benefit by the placement services of a competitive staffing agency.

Medical jobs for qualified medical assistants may include such benefits as short-term disability insurance, professional or paid housing allowances, 401(k) retirement savings plan, travel allowances, health care and dental insurance, and in some instances a continuing education program. However, benefits will vary from employer to employer. For the individual, finding a job or career is quite often the result of an individual’s own hard work, personal experience, work attitude and local labor market conditions.

Health Care Staffing Agencies Provide Needed Employment Solutions

To deliver needed industry recruitment solutions, staffing agencies maintain a staff of skilled professionals adept in recruiting procedures, which include sourcing candidates, and initial employee assessment and interviewing. They are skilled in knowing and matching a candidate’s qualifications with the requirements of a job position.

As a direct result of having an outside agency source out candidates, employers can save time and money by eliminating monotonous and expensive recruiting efforts. This can help a medical facility reduce bottom line expenditures.

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Distance Learning Acupuncture Programs

March 18th, 2011

The traditional method of obtaining a degree for higher education involves attending a college or an institute. However, with the advent of technology in the form of videotapes, CD-ROMs, closed-circuit television and the Internet, a student can now receive relevant classroom information at home. This form of learning obtained without attending university or an educational institute is called distance learning or correspondence learning. Distance education involves a combination of audiovisual lectures and objective examinations. A student can choose from a variety of programs to study such as medicine, law, business administration and so on. Various institutes also offer distance learning for acupuncture. Acupuncture is a Chinese method to cure and prevent ailments by piercing sharp needles in specific areas of the body. Distance learning programs for acupuncture allow a student to learn the technique from the comforts of home without having to attend a college. It must be noted that most professional courses cannot be pursued through distance learning alone and require some amount of practical training. This is especially true of medical fields of knowledge such as acupuncture

Cyber distance programs to study acupuncture are popular, and a student can obtain a password to access an institute’s website to study class material online. Usually, a student needs to enroll for a combination of online and classroom sessions to obtain a master’s degree, as acupuncture requires extensive hands-on training. There are many institutes that offer distance- learning programs for acupuncture, ranging from CEU (continuing education units) courses to advanced training programs. Some institutes offer distance-learning courses for the re-certification of practitioners of Chinese medicine. These courses can be chosen on the basis of modules or on an hourly basis. The course material covers the history, theory and techniques of acupuncture. Courses that offer tools such as acupuncture DVD and video are ideal for acupuncturists or students of acupuncture to improve their clinical expertise.

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Medical Billing And Coding – Get Training For A Rewarding Career At Schools And With Online Courses

March 16th, 2011

There is a need for more people in the medical billing and coding fields, so if you are looking for a career option, this might be a good thing to look into.

Although it is possible to get trained for this field on the job, it probably isn’t very easy to find this sort of position.

Most employers prefer that candidates are already trained through an accredited program. Candidates who are certified are even more in demand. Some reputable campus and online schools provide job placement for graduates of their courses with employers, so it’s worthwhile to look into one of these schools.

Medical Billing Vs Medical Coding

Medical insurance billing and coding are two separate fields, though many people combine them to make themselves even more in demand in the job market. Medical billing involves sending out the actual bills to insurance companies, patients, Medicare and Medicaid for the services that have been provided. Medical coders go through the records of the services that were performed for a patient and assign the appropriate ICD and CPT codes for use in billing. Each procedure has a separate code, and these professionals need to learn how to figure out which codes go with which procedures.

Types of Programs

There are a number of options for medical billing and coding courses. You can choose between certificate programs, associate’s degree programs, and bachelor’s degree programs. If you are thinking of getting certified, it is preferable to get at least an associate’s degree, as some certifications require at least this much education. Certificate programs will get you ready to start working in less than two years, which associate’s degree programs take two years and bachelor’s degree programs require four years to complete.

The American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) and the Commission on Accreditation for Health Informatics and Information Management Education (CAHIIM) accredit programs of study in this area, so you should look on the AHIMA website for a list of available accredited programs. Although there aren’t accredited programs in every state, there are a number of distance education options so that everyone has access to an accredited program, either online or in a classroom.

Medical Billing And Coding Certification Exam

Once you have completed your training, it is wise to seek certification from one of the professional organizations the have these available. One of the better known organizations for these certifications is AHIMA, though there are a number of others that you can look into as well. Employers know that in order to become certified you need to pass an exam, so if you are certified they know that you have a certain level of knowledge in your career field and they are more likely to hire you than someone that doesn’t have the certification.

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An Overview Of Medical School And Its Requirements

March 14th, 2011

A degree in medicine is an enormous undertaking for any student. Many cannot handle it; the length of education is longer than most, and the difficulty in subject matter is bound to be intense. However, a career in medicine is bound to be very rewarding once the degree is won. It is important to understand the major steps and decisions behind this type of education.

Future medical students must first consider their undergraduate degrees. To enter medical school, they must get a Bachelor of Science degree, but it can be in almost any science field they enjoy. Students can pick from Physics, Chemistry, Biology, and even Engineering, all excellent undergraduate majors that will get students ready for intensive coursework later on.

Once ready for medical school, students may have to decide upon receiving a DO degree or an MD degree. MD stands for Doctor of Medicine, and it comes only from Allopathic schools. As usual, this graduate degree will add an additional four years to a medical student’s education. It may rely on traditional, medicinal forms of care, as well as technology.

A less popular medical degree to get is the DO. It stands for Doctor of Osteopathy, and students can only receive that degree from an osteopathic school. This is a school that teaches a slightly different form of medicine that is just as strict in standards as any other; however, the main difference is in the way students are taught. They may be instructed to spend more time on patient care and less time on medicating, attempting to find better solutions for illnesses.

Getting accepted into the right medical school is far from easy. It can be very competitive. Therefore, it is important that students have excellent grades and decent MCAT scores. The MCATs have become very important to getting accepted to medical school, so students are expected to do well. Another factor is their extracurricular activities. Having volunteer activities and being involved in clubs really gives students an extra advantage for getting into the school of their choice.

Future doctors will have to select a medical specialty probably by the end of their time at medical school. This will be a good time for them to consider what kind of doctors they want to be from that moment on. A fascination with the nervous system could lead to a career as a Neurologist whereas a desire to cure children may lead a student to Pediatrics. There are so many possibilities! Others include Surgery, Urology, Gynecology, and even Psychiatry.

Residents are doctors in training. Residency usually comes right after medical school, and students already have their doctoral degrees. As residents, they will practice for several years under an experienced physician’s close supervision. This is an excellent opportunity for students to learn everything they need to know about practicing medicine.

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Medical Coding – The Prospects

March 12th, 2011

Are you organized and enjoy administrative joining any Medical Coding Programs can give you good career prospects and administrative power in medical care industry. A graduate of any Program have many options to work in highly sought-after positions within the booming healthcare industry.

Medical Coders and Billers are like accountants, only that theirs is an office. These Programs prepares student to deal with the rigorous job of running the administrative duties of health care establishments, so to speak. This programs train students to use their acquired knowledge of Medical Terminologies, Human Anatomy and Physiology, Ethics, Coding, Medical Software and Computerized Billing, Business English, etc, as a means of communicating the medical procedures performed in various healthcare environments to the health care stakeholders.

Numerous career opportunities exist in hospitals, physician offices, clinics, home health agencies, government Ministries, and other healthcare establishments. The basic is a requirement to acquire a degree in Medical coding is a high school diploma. The hierarchy of qualifications are standard – Certificates, Associate Degrees and Diplomas, Bachelor’s Degrees and Master’s Degree.

Graduates in Medical Coding are equipped with knowledge to make proper use of terminologies, process and insurance billing forms, use standardized medical and insurance billing code and perform medical office administrative tasks.

Medical coders work closely with healthcare providers, medical billers, and health information department professionals in healthcare establishments to coordinate the challenging billing needs of healthcare providers and professionals.

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