Care + Career

      Resources, news and fun for NHA certification candidates and alumni.

      The Ultimate Guide to Talking About Your Certification

      Putting in the time, effort and resources to earn an NHA certification can say something about your character and your capabilities. But how do you let people (especially hiring managers) know about your hard work and meaningful achievement?

      We put together some tips to help you talk about your certification — both on your resume and in an interview — to empower you to make the most of your NHA certification.

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      7 things to consider when selecting a certification provider

      Choosing an allied health certification provider is a decision that should be made carefully and with intention. After all, it is your career you are talking about. As you research your options, use these seven criteria to give you a clear picture of which provider may be best for you.

      1. Accreditation: Certifications should be recognized and respected by an
      accrediting body, not just a certificate of program completion. Look for the stamp of approval from a national accreditor such as The National Commission for Certified Agencies (NCCA). It sets standards to ensure that certification programs and their exams meet national industry expectations.

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      Health Science Program Offers the Opportunity to Experience Healthcare in High School

       Article originally featured in access™ 2018, volume II

      Contributors: Beth Brown, CTE Advisor
      Masud Shamsid-Deen, Executive Director of CTE


      Hospital Partnership Propels Success

      Career & Technical Education (CTE) in high schools is gaining momentum, and it’s easy to see why. It’s been proven to reduce dropout rates, increase graduation rates and even increase the likelihood of graduates going on to further their education after high school.*

      Plus, the demand for healthcare continues to rise. Getting students career-ready earlier can help students gain employment upon graduation. And if they want to further their education, that job not only can help support their tuition, but can also give them real-world healthcare experience to help them on their career journey.

      There’s no arguing that CTE works, and that health science in high schools is needed. But what makes a health science program successful?

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      CTE Program Offers a Holistic Approach to Career and College Readiness

       

      Article originally featured in access™ 2018, volume II

      Contributor: Collie Wells, Interim Deputy State Superintendent of Education, Career and Technical Education/Workforce Development Division 

      When the Alabama Department of Education set out to improve their CTE programming, they started with research, gaining insights from business and industry to determine what employers are looking for or lacking in potential candidates.

      “We want to make sure that students who exit secondary career tech programs are actually prepared with skills that are going to help them get employed,” says Collie Wells, Interim Deputy State Superintendent of Education, Career and Technical Education/Workforce Development Division. “We started having lots of conversations with business and industry throughout the state to find out, ‘What do you really need from potential employees? What are you missing? What are they lacking?’”

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      This Bilingual Medical Assisting Program is Setting a New Standard

       

      Article originally featured in access™ 2018, volume II

      Contributors: Robert Curran, D.C.,

      Hannah Weinstock, Executive Director Workforce Development
      Division of Adult and Continuing Education, LaGuardia Community College

      The wild success of a new program piloted by LaGuardia Community College and its partners — NYC Department of Small Business Services and the Washington Heights Workforce1 Career Center — is catching the attention of employers, students and medical assistant education programs throughout the country.

      A total of 40 immigrant New Yorkers graduated from LaGuardia’s first English Language Learners Medical Assistant Training Program* with an astounding 100% pass rate on not just one, but three NHA exams — for medical assisting, phlebotomy and EKG.

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      The ExCPT exam — what to expect and how to prepare

      For April S. in New York, the decision to become a certified pharmacy technician was easy,

      "I started my career in pharmacy ringing up prescriptions at a small retail pharmacy. Watching the impact the pharmacists and technicians had, I knew I had to become one myself! I studied and worked really hard and eventually became #NHACertified. I'm now right at the forefront of medical advances and I feel so honored to have such a pivotal role in patient care."

      Do you have a dream like April's?

      To become a certified pharmacy technician (CPhT), you'll need to sit for NHA's ExCPT exam. In this post, we'll share what you need to know about the exam — eligibility requirements, format, content and tools that can help ensure you are prepared come test day.

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      Have NHA practice exams? Make sure you're using Focused Review® too

      Are you using NHA's practice assessments to help you prepare for your exam?* They're more than just a practice test. All NHA practice assessments include a special feature called Focused Review®.

      What's Focused Review®?

      Every time you attempt a practice exam (you have 6 attempts at 3 versions of the practice assessments) a report is generated based on your performance on the practice exam. This report is called Focused Review® and it shows what topic areas covered in the practice test you may need to spend more time studying.

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      Allied Health Professionals Celebrate and Share Career Stories

      Working in healthcare you have the opportunity to impact other people's lives every day and for so many NHA certified professionals it's the passion for helping others that motivates them in their career.

      This year we celebrated Allied Health Professionals Week - the first week of November - by asking our certification holders to share their stories, and were overwhelmed by over 850 submissions from proud allied health professionals, students, and educators working toward their career dreams.

      Here are some of the stories we received...

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      What does a medical assistant do? It may be more than you think

      If you're thinking about making a career change, entering the medical assisting profession, or trying to figure out what to do next as an MA, you may have questions.

      What are the essential duties of this quickly evolving healthcare role? What is the job outlook for medical assistants? What is the value of getting certified? What other jobs can a medical assistant be qualified for with the right mix of skills, experience, and training?

      Let's take a look at the top questions about being a medical assistant.

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      How to read a test plan (the insider's study secret)

      Does your upcoming certification exam feel like a mystery? Wondering what’s going to be on it?

      Enter, the NHA certification exam test plan.

      There is a different test plan for each of NHA’s certification exams available for students and the trainers and instructors who are preparing them for the test. The test plan is used as the guide for creating the exam, as well as building the content in NHA study guides and practice tests*, and while it won’t teach you what you need to know to pass the test, it can be a helpful free resource for planning your studying – but how do you read one?

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