Training

A Community Health Worker (CHW) is a frontline public health worker who is a trusted member of and/or has an unusually close understanding of the community served. This trusting relationship enables the CHW to serve as a liaison/link/intermediary between health/social services and the community to facilitate access to services and improve the quality and cultural competence of service delivery.

A CHW also builds individual and community capacity by increasing health knowledge and self-sufficiency through a range of activities such as outreach, community education, informal counseling, social support and advocacy. (American Public Health Association CHW Section, 2009)

Additionally, CHWs have a variety of titles. Other names for a CHW include lay health adviser, Promotore(a), patient advocate, peer support specialist, community outreach worker and maternal child health worker, to name a few.

Dispensing opticians help fit eyewear and contact lenses to ensure patients’ corrective eyewear meets their vision correction needs. Dispensing opticians receive customer’s prescriptions, measures the patient’s facial features, and helps select appropriate lenses, frames, or contact lenses. They also educate customers about how to best care for their glasses or contact lenses.

Surgical technologists, or surgical techs, are an important part of a surgical team. They are responsible for ensuring an operating room and equipment is sterile and ready for surgery.

Additionally, surgical techs are responsible for organizing and passing instruments to surgeons and assistants as well as counting surgical equipment after the operation. They also prepare patients for surgery by cleaning, preparing, and disinfecting the surgical site.

Licensed Practical Nurses provide basic patient care, primarily in nursing homes and long-term care settings.

LPN’s monitor patient health, perform wound care, enemas, assist patients with moving, record fluid intake and output, and provide basic comfort services like bathing and personal hygiene.

Most LPN’s work in nursing homes and other long-term care settings, but the overall hiring outlook for LPN’s is not strong. Employers increasingly prefer hiring nurses with more advanced education, preferably BSN nurses.

Medical transcriptionists write down recordings from physicians and other health care professionals about medication, diagnosis, medical histories, and treatment plans. Medical transcriptionists work for hospitals, physicians’ offices, or third-party employers.

The Bureau of Labor statistics projects this occupation will grow slower than average, due to an unknown effect electronic records will have in health care.

Dental laboratory technicians are responsible for creating dental implants based on molds, diagrams, and measurements made by dentists and dental hygienists.

Dental laboratory technicians use these measurements to create the dental appliances like crowns, bridges, and dentures, ensuring they match the mouth of the patient.

Pharmacy Technicians – or pharmacy techs – assist licensed pharmacists dispense prescription medication.

Most Pharmacy technicians work in pharmacies you can find grocery or drug stories or in hospitals. They are responsible for working with customers to record information, count and measure medications, and package and label prescriptions.

Pharmacy technicians are also responsible for answering calls from customers and interacting with visitors. Becoming a pharmacy technician requires a high-school diploma and additional training or an associate degree.

Massage therapy dates back thousands of years, with examples in ancient writings from China, Japan, India, Egypt, and Greece.

Massage therapists use touch with the hands, elbows, or feet, or with stones or other tools to manipulate muscles and soft tissues to relieve pain, reduce anxiety, and alleviate some specific conditions.

Massage therapists often work in private offices, studios, hospitals, or sports facilities.

Certified Nursing Assistants (CNA) perform the basics of personal care for patients, providing hands-on care directly to patients.

The majority of these tasks include helping patients eat, bathe, and dress. A CNA may also be required to answer calls for help, deliver messages, serve meals, make beds, clean patient rooms, and assist patients getting out of bed.

Most CNA’s work in long-term care facilities, and despite their relatively low pay, the number of CNA’s are expected to grow over the next few years.