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Angela Campbell works as an assistant professor in the Health Information Technology program. She has been with Northwestern College just over 4 years, with a total of 18 years working in higher education overall. Her own educational background is quite impressive.
Interested in a Health Information Technology Degree?
When you hear the word “healthcare,” many things can come to mind. It’s a huge profession—one of the few that can honestly say it touches the life of virtually every person living in the United States at one point or another. And anytime you visit a physician’s office, hospital, or medical clinic, you’re going to see all kinds of healthcare professionals, working in a broad range of capacities with an equally wide range of responsibilities, functioning together to meet the very distinct needs of each and every patient.
With such a “30,000 foot” view of the healthcare industry, it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that each of those healthcare professionals you see is fulfilling a unique role to make that organization’s operation move ahead seamlessly and successfully.
Think about the number of people who walk into a hospital, physician’s office, or healthcare clinic every single day. It’s a staggering figure. In fact, according to a survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Americans turned in more than 922 million physician’s office visits and nearly 126 million hospital outpatient visits in one year alone.
Now consider this: For every one of those visits, and every single patient being treated, there are healthcare records that must be prepared, updated, and organized.
Fortunately, with the advances in technology that have happened over the past decade, the procedures for maintaining the dizzying amount of healthcare records have been moved to computer systems, greatly streamlining and simplifying the process. At the same time, it takes healthcare professionals who bring specialized training and skill sets to be able to effectively and efficiently utilize the technology that drives and supports electronic medical records.
Enter the field of health information technology.
If you are considering a career as a dental assistant, there may be many reasons for your decision. The healthcare industry offers some of the most secure, stable, and rewarding jobs in the country. However, if you are going to succeed in your new position, you’ll need to arm yourself with some important skills. Certain characteristics can make a big difference in your overall success as a dental assistant, and the right certificate program can help you develop them.
Our next faculty spotlight is on Carol Wooten, Program Coordinator for the School of Health Sciences and Instructor for the Dental Assisting program at Northwestern College. This program is new to Northwestern College, with the first class starting in April 2017. Carol could not be more excited to utilize her experiences in the dental field, as well
Dental assisting is an incredibly important job that provides dentists with in-office and patient help. Dental assistants serve as the first point of contact for new and returning patients. They provide a friendly face to ease worries and also perform a variety of important functions for the dental practice. However, most people don’t know much about this growing profession and what exactly dental assistants do. Whether you are considering a dental assisting career or simply wish to better appreciate your dental assistant, these are some of the things you should know about the profession.
One of the main reasons that people avoid the dentist is fear. As a dental assistant, it will be your job to diminish patient fears and help them feel more comfortable. However, making patients feel at ease is much more complicated than simply telling them that everything will be okay. Dental assistants use a variety of skills and knowledge in order to keep patients calm and comfortable throughout their
Dental hygienists and dentists perform a wide variety of work that targets many different areas of a patient’s mouth or jaw. Indeed, many dental practices offer a wealth of services to their patients and do their best to perform everything from routine fillings to cosmetic dentistry procedures. Their success is largely dependent upon their knowledge and experience. It also relies quite heavily upon their dental assistants,
In honor of Heart Health Month, February’s faculty spotlight is on Northwestern College Associate Professor of Nursing Susan Dewar, MSN, RN, MA, CNE. Susan has been working at Northwestern College for one year and has about 10 years of experience in higher education overall. She brings incredible knowledge to Northwestern College students through her nursing expertise in rehabilitation, home health and hospice, and recovery in same day surgery.
With a Bachelor of Arts in Creative Writing and Foreign Language and a master’s in Elementary Education, one may wonder how Susan ended up in the field of nursing. She taught English as a Second Language (ESL) and Composition for many years. Throughout this time she realized that she is great with people and had a passion for teaching. She “just felt a calling. A real calling to become a nurse,” passionately adding that it was “just a good fit” for her. She went back to school to pursue her associate in nursing and eventually obtained her Master of Science in Nursing Education. Something she continues to instill in her students is that 75-80% of nursing is teaching, and you should always be educating your patients.
There is no doubt that a career in nursing is a rewarding one. Nurses have a vital role in the treatment and recovery of patients and they can make all the difference in the patient’s life, giving them the best care and making them comfortable when facing a hard moment. If a career in nursing is what you dream of, then getting the right preparation is the right way to go. A well-rounded education will give you the upper hand when training to become a nurse.
If you are already getting your training and are about to start your job search, getting prepared for the interview is a must. You must be confident about the skills you have learned and calm so that you can answer questions properly and show the hiring team all you are capable of.