2. WHAT TO EXPECT
I had no idea what to expect from Health Academy. I knew that there
was classroom work and rotations but not much else. So the first day
I got lost trying to even find the classroom but once I did I was
greeted very warmly by Mrs. Hang. She went through all the details
of what we’d be doing the next few months and tried to answer all of
our questions. The thing I was most excited for was the rotations but
we didn’t even get to do those for at least the first two weeks. So in
the meantime we had speakers come in and talk to us about what to
expect, went on tours of both hospitals, and had small career
assignments to prepare us for what career we might be interested in.
That first week told me that I had a great opportunity in front of me.
16. CAREER CHOICES
Registered nurses (long term) have the largest health
occupation. This is one reason why I am interested in this job.
Wherever I go I could help people and I would love to work with
people in my job. To become a registered nurse, you must get
your bachelor’s degree, associate’s degree, and a diploma from
an approved nursing program. To get these degrees, schools
require the classes of
anatomy, physiology, microbiology, chemistry, nutrition, psycholo
gy and other behavioral sciences, and nursing. Some things I
could do to get myself into these programs and obtain a position
in nursing would be to volunteer at a hospital, start in a small
career like working at the front desk at a medical center, or
taking extra classes or going to lectures over the subjects you’re
interested in.
17. CAREER CHOICES
Endocrinologists (long term) are specially trained doctors that take care of
conditions including: diabetes, thyroid diseases, metabolic disorders, over
and under production hormones, menopause, osteoporosis, hypertension,
cholesterol (lipid) disorders, infertility, lack of growth (short stature), and
cancers of the endocrine glands. This career choice interests me because
I have a younger brother with diabetes and I have learned a lot more
about the subject. Because of this I am now interested in this field of
medicine. Endocrinologists have to take more then 10 years over all. They
start with 4 years of medical school, then 3 or 4 years in an internship and
residency program, then 2 or 3 more years learning how to diagnose and
treat hormone conditions. Some things that might help me get involved in
a program for this type of occupation would be to research it, go to
lectures over it, or even interview an endocrinologist to show that I am
truly interested in the field.
18. CAREER CHOICES
Optometrists (long term) do anything dealing with the eye. They help
with vision problem and eye disease. I am interested in this field of
medicine because I have an uncle that is an eye doctor and he really
enjoys it. This field has a large amount of available positions. To be
an optometrist, you must complete an accredited Optometry school
and a license in the state of the practice. To receive a degree, 3
years at college before being accepted into a 4 year Optometry
school are required. I would also have to take Optometry Admissions
Test (OAT). I think that volunteering or working at my uncle’s office
would help my chances at getting into a program relating to this field.
19. CAREER CHOICES
Home Health Aides (entry level) works closely with
nurses. They keep records of patient’s progress,
giving medicine, changing dressing, checking patient’s
vitals, and helping with walking aides. Home health
aides must take a certificate program which takes
about 1 or1 and a half semesters at a college. To
become certified you must learn medical terminology,
life support systems, and math to learn medication
amounts. I am interested in this field as a start
because it would let me get my feet in the door to
becoming a nurse. I would also get to experience and
learn how to work with people directly before having to
do more difficult tasks later on. I think that if you
volunteer and get into any programs that would show
that you work well with others then it will increase your
chances of getting into the certificate program.
20. CAREER CHOICES
Physical Therapist Assistants (entry level) help
to relieve pain, restore physical function, and
prevent further disability. I am interested in this
position because I would love to help people in
their road to recovery. It’s amazing how
someone can comeback from something so life
changing and push themselves so hard. It would
be a very rewarding job. I would have to take 2
full-time years at college to prepare myself for
the national licensing exam. Classes I could take
would be
anatomy, physiology, kinesiology, massage, orth
opedics, pain control, pediatrics, neurology, and
geriatrics. Some things that would increase my
chances of getting into a program like this would
be to volunteer, research what it’s all about, and
seem very interested in the subject.
21. NURSING
I was excited to listen to Teresa Vetter talk about nursing because this is the career I would
like to go into. She went over many different things but the main things that a person needs
to be a nurse is being able to process things, make a plan, and putting that plan into action.
After all that you should be able to ask yourself: Did I make a difference?
To be in nursing you should like sciences, people, lifelong learning, thinking on
your feet, and working with people as a team. Once you’ve acknowledged that you do like
all these things, there are many places you could work! Nurses work in
hospitals, research, schools, clinics, public
health, offices, traveling, military, education, home health, and many other places. The
typical starting pay for a nurse is $19/hour-$30/hour. But the need for nurses is growing
because the US Department of Labor says they predict a shortage of 500,000 -1,000,000
nurses in the next 20 years because there are many older people from the baby boomer
generation that will be retiring.
When going into school for nursing you must look at the curriculum, size of the
program, NCLEX pass rates, mission/philosophy, faculty, and much more to make sure that
your experience in nursing is the best as it can be. While looking at the different programs
consider if you want an associate degree or a BSN. There is a movement for most nurses
to become BSN but it is not required. There are many positives with getting your BSN
verses just an associate degree. There is more job flexibility, it prepares you for graduate
programs, and in some cases the pay is different.
22. RESPIRATORY THERAPIST
Breathing is something that comes so natural that people don’t even think about doing it.
Well that’s all that a respiratory therapist thinks about. The job of a respiratory therapist is
to help you breathe easy. Margaret Trumpp spoke to us all about respiratory therapy: the
history about it, what the therapists do, and some facts about the therapy itself.
Respiratory therapy is only a 65 year old profession. It started with informal
classes and evolved from there. The therapist works with premature babies to the elderly.
The therapy involves a lot of equipment; all high-tech and high-touch. It works with the
heart, lungs, and kidneys, everything that involves breathing.
The two types of therapists are RRT (registered respiratory therapist) and CRT
(certified respiratory therapist). They both work under the direction of the physician, as she
said: “the ears and eyes of the physician.” The job is fast paced, always changing, salaries
are rising, and you’re always learning new things. Normally jobs begin in the hospital then
can expand to doctor’s offices, nursing homes, children’s hospitals, medical equipment
companies, and so many more places.
After you graduate, you have to take the exam to become a RT within 6 months
after graduation. It’s $70 per year for license renewal in the state of Kansas. You must also
have 12 hours of continuing education. The average income is $52,200 per year and there
is an estimated 21% increase in this job through the year 2018. This profession is pretty
new but it is growing rapidly. I did take in interest in what Margaret talked about and I think
I will consider becoming an RT.
23. PHYSICIAN
How much will my morals and values play into my job? Dr. Diana Crook now lets her
faith influence her practice of being a Natural Family Planning doctor. She took the
risk of losing patients and being judged by others but it was worth it. She ended up
losing only a few patients but gained many more in return.
She started her career path when she was young. Her mother was a nurse
and that’s what she wanted to go into. Her mother told her that she would be a much
better doctor because she likes to give orders instead of get them. So that was the
beginning of her career path.
She started by going to college and getting her degree then took a year off
and then went to med school. She had kids and takes time off to spend time with her
family. She has now been in a private practice for twenty years. Sometime in her
practice she started to struggle with her Catholic identity. This is what led her to
become an NFP doctor.
She went to a class to learn more about NFP and when she came back she
stopped prescribing birth control. A question came to mind: Why isn’t NFP taught in
medical school? She said that it isn’t because NFP is a political matter. This is
absurd! Why is the government not providing doctors with good information for young
women to be healthy? Dr. Crook believes and has proof that birth control messes with
hormones. I am glad that Dr. Crook stood up for what she believes in, it takes a lot of
courage and there should be more doctors like her.
24. OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY
Occupational Therapy would be my second choice in a career because I love working with
people with disabilities. Clint Stucky went into more detail and explained that OTs work with
people with physical (spinal cord injury, stroke, or head injury), psychiatric (mental illness),
and developmental (Down syndrome, ADHD, autism) disabilities. The main goal of an OT is
to help people become more independent.
OTs work in hospitals, nursing homes, schools, and homes. Their areas of concern
are self-care, work, and play. Some examples he gave were: working on hand-writing with a
child, working with a man in the hospital after a bad accident, recreation for people with
physical disabilities, or showing people how to use “adaptive equipment” (this equipment
helps fills the gap that medicine could not fix).
What is the difference between occupational, physical, and speech therapy? Well
they divide the body into three sections. Anything at the Adam’s apple and up is the job of
the speech therapist (talking, chewing, and swallowing). Anything at the naval and down is
the job of the physical therapist (walking). Anything between naval and the Adam’s apple is
the job of the occupational therapist (anything that is done with the arms ).
I could become an OT or just an OT assistant. There are some slight differences
other than the amount of education I’m receiving. An OT assistant is responsible for
assisting with evaluation, updating goals and plans, may write discharge notes if the OT co -
signs, and performs most OT treatments on most patients. The OT is responsible for patient
evaluation, the initial treatment goals and plan, discharge summary, and can perform all OT
treatment on all patients.
25. FORENSIC BIOLOGIST & DNA
ANALYST
When I think of health care, I think of working with people and their medical needs. Then I learned that
you don’t have to even work directly with people but you can still help their medical issues. Now I
learned another part of health care is after they’ve passed away. Well I got to hear Shelly Steadman talk
to us about her career as a forensic biologist and DNA analyst. She has been this career for fourteen
years and she loves it!
A forensic laboratory is spilt up into many different things. I could work in toxicology and look
for any drugs in the body and what type they are. I could work in drug id and look for use of illegal drugs.
There is also trace evidence which investigates fires and how they might have been started.
Firearms/tool marks tests all the guns that might have been used at a crime scene.
There is DNA on anything that comes off of a person, so with advances in technology many
criminals are being caught. There is a process that occurs with every crime but if there is DNA it is
always tested so it can be used in court. This DNA is collected by medical investigators who are working
24/7. They are the eyes and ears of the cornier.
Shelly Steadman said she had six months of training after school before she was allowed to
work her first case. She has had many cases. Some examples she gave were: a headless woman,
coach with sex charges, finding DNA from a bloody rug, a homicide of a Goddard school teacher, rapist,
a woman beat to death with a baseball bat and then left in a trunk, and her most famous was the BTK
case. She is able to deal with the fact that she is working with horrible events by keeping interested in
her work, knowing that she can’t fix what has happened but can help, and she just doesn’t get involved
with the victims.
27. FINAL REFLECTION
Overall I really enjoyed
the Health Academy
program! I am privileged
to be able to have this
experience and get a
first look at the medical
field. It just reassured me
that I do want to become
a nurse. I had a great
semester with the Health
Academy program!
