Types of Health Care Certificate Programs

Learn about different types of health care career training.

Health care is one of the most in demand industries today. So it’s no surprise that it is among the most popular certificate program that prospective students search for on Campus Explorer.

People are always in need of health care, but this demand has grown with the number of aging baby boomers moving into retirement homes and in need of medical attention.

A certificate program can help people who have no background in the industry become a health care professional in one year or less. Many programs are adaptive to your schedule allowing you to take classes at night and on the weekend.

Medical Office Certificates

There are many important roles in a medical office. Getting a medical office assistant/specialist certificate prepares you to care for patients. In this program you learn basic medical office skills such as word processing, bookkeeping and medical office practices.

If you already have medical office experience, a medical administrative certificate will teach you accounting and billing protocol, communication, updating a patient’s records and scheduling appointments and laboratory testing. Similar certificates include a health and medical administrative services, medical office management and healthcare administration/management.

Interested in a behind-the-scenes health care career? A medical insurance biller/coder organizes a patient’s billing records and uses standard codes to determine how much the physician will be reimbursed by the insurance company. When choosing a medical billing or medical coding certificate, it helps to choose a program that teaches you from the three main coding manuals: CPT, ICD-9-CM and HCPCS.

Are you a good listener and fast typer? Medical transcriptionists listen to doctor’s audio recordings and transcribe them to a hardcopy that becomes a part of the patient’s records. A medical transcriptionist certificate program teaches you medical terminology, keyboarding and listening skills.

Health Care Assistant Certificates

Beyond having office support health care professionals need people to assist them during clinical procedures.

Occupational therapists (OT) help the disabled and injured to create a healthy daily routine for their abilities. When you earn your occupational assistant certificate, you learn to help the OT stretch patients, record the client’s progress and assist with movement if they are severely immobile. This certificate is a good idea if you are looking to start a career in rehabilitative services quickly.

In a medical/clinical assistant certificate program, you learn to help the doctor by performing a variety of tasks in the doctor’s office. Taking the patient’s vital signs, informing them of how to take their medication, sterilizing equipment and drawing blood are all tasks that a medical or clinical assistant can perform.

Students who earn a dental assistant certificate are taught normal chair side assistant techniques such as teeth cleaning, dental laboratory practices and some front office skills. Students interested in this certificate might also want to check out a dental hygienist certificate.

Nursing Certificates

There are several levels of nursing certificates. Some are geared towards people that have no nursing skills. These people will most likely get their nursing assistant certificate. Other programs are designed for students who already have their BSN and want to continue their education.

Students who already have their MSN can continue their post graduate work and earn their nursing science certificate. This allows established professional nurses to specialize in a type of nursing science.

Other Health Care Certificates

In order to get a radiation therapy certificate, you must have first received an associates degree in diagnostic radiology and typically have a few years of experience under your belt. A radiation therapist assists an oncologist by administering low doses of radiation to cancer patients.

An emergency medical technician (EMT) certificate teaches students the knowledge they need to pass the national EMT certification exam. Your courses teach you how to perform non-invasive treatments in medical emergencies. You are able to practice these techniques in real-world settings during the internship part of your certificate program.

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