Since its founding more than 130 years ago, Chatham College has earned a reputation for providing its students with a high-quality learning experience at its Shadyside, Pennsylvania campus. Now the College is taking this same level of learning online by providing continuous education courses for students all across the country.

"For students in the health care field, online learning provides a great opportunity for professional development," said Stephen Anspacher, vice-president, Chatham College School of Continuing Education. "Taking online courses enables students to put themselves in a position to move up in their careers or to explore other facets of the health care industry without having to leave their current jobs."

Chatham College currently offers a number of online degree programs in the health care field, and is launching even more this fall. These include an RN-to-Bachelor of Science in Nursing; Master of Arts in Wellness; Master of Arts in Gerontology; Master of Education in Health; Master of Physician Assistant (post-professional); Master of Health Science and a Professional Doctorate of Occupational Therapy (OTD). While most courses are available to anyone with a bachelor’s degree, some, like the OTD, Physician’s Assistant and RN-to-Bachelor of Science in Nursing, require that students be licensed, and the OTD also requires a master’s degree.

"One of the main things that differentiates our programs from other online graduate programs is our open-entry admissions process that makes it easier for busy adults to gain admission to the program," said Anspacher. "There are no complicated applications to fill out or tests to take; in fact, students can often start within one day of applying."

There are many benefits to taking advanced courses through an online program, according to student Joanie Campsie, who has been part of Chatham College’s RN-to-Bachelor of Science in Nursing program for nine months. "Because it is an accelerated program, I will be able to finish it in about half the time of a conventional program," she said. "And because it’s online, I can continue to work full-time while I’m taking it."

Campsie says she most likes the flexibility of the program, which allows her to set her own parameters. "Another thing I like about it is that when you post your papers on the discussion board, you get a lot of feedback from other students about your work," she said. "You wouldn’t get this kind of sharing with your peers in a typical ‘brick-and-mortars’ class, where the only person who would see your work is the professor."

According to Anspacher, online courses are set up to offer the same benefits of traditional classes, including a small student-to-professor ratio of about 15 to 18 people. Instructors mediate the learning environment electronically, and courses require the same reading as their on-ground counterparts. Students are expected to log on roughly three to five hours per week, as well as work independently.

Campsie, who hopes to enter a nurse anesthesia program after receiving her degree from Chatham College, says that she believes online courses help to develop self-discipline. "People shouldn’t think that this is just a correspondence course—it really isn’t," she said. "It requires a lot of independent learning, and you have to be motivated. There’s no one to push you but yourself."

Most of Chatham’s health care programs take between 12 and 18 months to complete, and the cost per credit is the same as an on-ground course, with credits ranging from $583 each for an undergraduate course to $622 per credit for graduate courses. Most are three-credit courses.

"In addition to all of the advantages of taking an online course, such as the convenience and flexibility of working within your own schedule, students at Chatham can also take advantage of all of the other benefits of higher education, including financial aid, and bookstore and library support," said Anspacher. "We make it easy to get back into the classroom."

And easier to move up in the health care industry. "In the next 10 to 15 years, we are going to see a tremendous boom in health services occupations," said Anspacher. "This is a great time for career professionals to get the training they need to position themselves for success."

One of the fastest growing occupations in the U.S., according to the Department of Labor, is health information management – a healthcare profession that combines medical science with information science. Health information management professionals maintain, collect, analyze, transcribe, secure and organize the voluminous amounts of data in medical records. There is already a need for skilled workers in the field, and as American hospitals undergo the transition from paper to an integrated electronic medical record system in this decade, that need is expected to increase by 50%.

Gerri Smothers, MPA, RHIA, CSL, CPHQ, a Registered Health Information Administrator and entrepreneur, is eager to help people tap into the enormous career potential in the HIM field. Smothers is the founder and president of Professional Dynamic Network, Inc., a health care staffing agency, and an advocate for health information careers. In her work within the staffing industry, Smothers recognized that hospitals and physician offices need workers with better skills at the clerical level. "I wanted to have a pool of more proficient workers to draw from, to supply the health care industry, but I couldn’t find them. I realized that I was going to have to create them myself, so I started the Jordan Evans Institute in 2000 to train workers."

The July 2006 graduating class of Jordan Evans Institute. Top row (l-r): Enkhtuul Drougas, William Craig Yuska, and Malea White. Bottom row (l-r) Heidi Childs, Quincy Jones.

JEI was established as a workforce training school with a focus on HIM services and is the only school of its kind in the nation. The school’s three certificate programs, offered monthly, share a basic curriculum that includes customer service, medical terminology, computer fundamentals and communication skills, plus courses in the chosen area of concentration:

• Health Information Assistant certificate program, a 6-month program that teaches multiple job functions within HIM;
• Release of Information Specialist certificate program, a 4-month program that teaches local, state and federal laws regulating release of health information;
• Document Imaging Associate certificate program, a 3-month program that teaches medical document prepping, scanning, indexing and quality control.

Enkhtuul Drougas is a 2001 graduate of JEI whose career path has advanced rapidly. She began working in health information management at Northwestern Memorial Hospital shortly after graduation. She then completed a one-year coding program, advanced to a new coding position, and is currently enrolled in a two-year program to become a Registered Health Information Technician.

JEI has two goals, according to Smothers: first, to teach a skill set that makes a person employable; and second, to introduce the student to a career in health information management. JEI has had 167 students enrolled so far and has a completion rate of 95%. The school will graduate its eleventh class in August. JEI is approved by the Illinois State Board of Education and by the Workforce Investment Act (WIA), and has a pool of 35 faculty members, 80% of whom are credentialed in HIM. To be eligible for admission, students must be high school graduates or have a GED; student age ranges from 18 to 50. The JEI program is distinctive for providing every student with an internship and mentor. Many graduates find employment through their internships, while others work through the Professional Dynamic Network job placement service, with a career counseling team to offer support and guidance.

Enkhtuul Drougas works in medical coding at Northwestern University Hospital.

According to Smothers, the skills learned at JEI are useful immediately, and are relevant in any area of health care. "Information is the lifeblood of the health care system. Doctors, nurses and other providers depend on information to provide patient care, and HIM professionals facilitate health care delivery by effectively managing that information," she says.

HIM encompasses medical transcription, coding, data analysis, medical record management, medical transcription privacy protection, privacy protection and corporate compliance. Linda Kloss, CEO of the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA), says that building a skilled workforce and advancing the field are two of the organizations objectives. "This effort to educate and certify entry-level employees for jobs in health information/medical record services is innovative and most certainly needed," says Kloss. "AHIMA estimates that there will be a shortfall of 4,000 trained workers per year for the rest of this decade. Certificate programs such as JEI are essential to filling the gap."

Smothers would like JEI to be a stronger presence in Chicago’s health care institutions, so that department heads and administrators across all professions and departments are aware of the value of the JEI training. "Often these workers are the first in the health care setting to have contact with the patient. Customer service skills are therefore very important," she says. "We also recruit persons who are already working in health care and wish to enhance their skills, advance within their institution, increase their earning power or take their career in a new direction. We had one student with a four-year degree who had been unable to find a position; he took our 6-month program, got a job in HIM upon graduation, and will use that job as a steppingstone to the career that he envisions for himself.

"There is a tremendous need for better skilled workers in healthcare at the clerical support level," she says. "Anyone interested in an entry level position in health care should consider health information management training through JEI. There are numerous job opportunities, a chance to make a living wage rather than minimum wage, and excellent potential for advancement."

To learn more about The Jordan Evans Institute or to apply for admission, visit www.jeisuccess.com

Health care institutions that are interested in serving as internship sites for Jordan Evans Institute students, and health information professionals who would like to become JEI mentors, should call (312) 326-6370.

The devastation wreaked on the Gulf Coast by Hurricane Katrina, flooding up and down the East Coast and the threat of a bird flu pandemic all point to the vulnerability of man in the face of nature.

These events also emphasize the need to upgrade the nation’s public health infrastructure and incorporate disaster management into public health planning. To help achieve that aim, Benedictine University’s Master of Public Health program offers the Certificate in Disaster Management, one of only a few such programs in the country.

The Certificate in Disaster Management program is geared toward health care professionals, emergency workers, and government and law enforcement officials. The program employs conceptual and real-life approaches to train students to assess risk, plan, communicate with other professionals and laymen, and improve disaster response and recovery.

Moreover, the Disaster Management program’s many community initiatives provide students with the opportunity to put into practice what they learn in the classroom.

The Disaster Management Certificate program requires 16 credit hours and is taught by faculty who are experts in planning, communication, mitigation and recovery. Students will also learn about the psychological and sociological response to disasters by those affected and those who work in the field.

Students can also choose to work toward a master’s degree in Public Health with a concentration in Disaster Management. The Disaster Management concentration, established in 2002, is designed for the widest spectrum of health care professionals as well as officials in government, law enforcement and emergency services.

The Disaster Management concentration requires students to complete 24 credit hours.

Classes leading to either a certificate or a concentration in Disaster Management are offered in the evenings and on weekends. The certificate program also offers open enrollment, which means students can begin at any time.