Notes for Careers in Health Science
- Careers are divided into 5 pathways:
- Therapeutic Services – works directly with patients, treats patients
- Diagnostic Services – testing to help in diagnosing and treatment
- Health Informatics – manages health information
- Support Services – maintains therapeutic environment
- Biotechnology Research and Development – scientist who study disease and treatments
- Major Careers in Health Care:
- Laboratory Science
- Imaging
- Nursing
- Medical
- Dental
- Veterinarian
- Community and Social Work
- Mental Health
- Rehabilitative
- Emergency
- Information and Administrative
- Environmental
- Biotechnology and Research
- Educational Requirements:
- On-the-job training
- Certification – special training and testing required
- Associate’s degree – 2 year
- Bachelor’s degree – 4 year
- Master’s degree – must have a Bachelor’s degree with one or more years of schooling afterwards
- Doctorate degree – must have a Bachelor’s degree with four or more years of schooling afterwards
- Desirable qualities of a Health Care Worker:
- Believes in the importance of health care
- Gets along well with others such as co-workers and patients
- Enjoys working with people
- Caring
- Sympathetic
- Kind
- Tactful
- Listens well to others
- Dependable
- Honest
- Adaptable
- Willing to Learn, teachable
- Care’s for own health
- Neat appearance
- Clean
- Accurate
- Considerate
- Follows Rules and Instructions
- Helpful
- Gracious
- Polite
- Communicates well
- Controls temper
- Able to manage stress
- Organized
- Careers in IT can be in institution, hospital, doctor’s office or pharmacy.
a. patient demographics, medical records
b. progress notes, part of the medical record
c. problems, can be shared among physicians
d. medications, prescriptions
e. vital signs
f. past medical history
g. immunizations
h. laboratory data
i. radiology reports, digital imaging, ultrasounds
j. billing and coding
Radiology and digital imaging
1. X-rays
a. Traditional vs. digital x-ray
b. Mammography
2. Ultrasound
3. Digital imaging
a. Computerized tomography
b. Magnetic resonance imaging
c. Positron emission tomography
4. Bloodless surgery
a. Interventional radiology
b. Stereotactic radiosurgery
c. Focused ultrasound surgery
d. Other applications
5. Computer-assisted surgery
a. Computer-assisting surgical planning
b. Robotics
c. Minimally invasive surgery
d. Endoscopic surgery
e. Laparoscopic surgery
2. Prosthetics
a. Myoelectric limbs
b. Microprocessors
c. Computer technology for vision and hearing
Structure of a Hospital:
Complexity of organizational structure depends on size of healthcare facility; large acute care hospitals have complicated structures, whereas, the smaller institutions have a much simpler organizational structure.
Why is this important?
It’s important to know who is responsible for each area of the hospital.
(see pyramid)
Examples of Jobs in each Service:
Administrative:
Managers – responsible for policies and procedures
President, Vice President
Department Heads and Executive Assistants
Information Services:
Admissions – checks patients into hospital ER or other areas
Billing and Collections
Medical Records
IT – maintains computers and networks
Health Education – keeps staff up to date on patient related education
Human Resources – payroll, hiring/firing, employee benefits
Therapeutic Services:
Physical Therapy (PT)
Occupational Therapy (OT)
Speech/Language Pathology
Respiratory Therapy (RT)
Medical Psychology
Social Services
Pharmacy
Dietary
Sports Medicine
Nursing (LVN, RN) some facilities nursing is a service by itself (such as home health)
Diagnostic Services:
Lab
Imaging
Emergency Medicine
Biotechnology Services:
Finds cause of illness or injury
Study disease and find new treatment
Invent medical devices to assist patients
Improve accuracy of diagnostic tests
Support Services: (sometimes called environmental services)
Central Supply – all the supplies needed
Biomedical Technology – keeps all the equipment running
Housekeeping and Maintenance
Resources:
(search health care)