A community of 30,000 US Transcriptionist serving Medical Transcription Industry

For those of you going back to school - sm

Posted: Oct 19, 2013

I'm just curious what you are all going back for? I just made a huge decision in my life and have decided to go back to college and get my bachelor's degree in public health and then my master's degree. I have my associates, so I'm hoping I will be all done within 4 years and being an MT will just be a distant memory!

Estate jewelry, GIA online study. nm - Rockabilly

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no msg

Love it! (nm) - You Go Girl

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x

Thanks! Nice to do something I actually enjoy! nm - Rockabilly

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no msg

Tell us more! Tell us more! - CuriousCat

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So, you will go to estate sales and will have been trained to pick all the best stuff? And then what? Sell yourself? Work for a jeweler? How did this notion come into your mind? Info and backstory, please! :)

Got interested after reading a book on gems (sm) - Rockabilly

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while in the waiting room when my son had his tonsils out (1988). Bought first piece of jewelry on Ebay, read a bunch of books about diamonds, pearls, gold, brooches. Luckily, we have a friend who is a jeweler and does appraisals. One thing leads to another.

I put a link inside for GIA if you want to look... - Rockabilly

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see link

I'm kind of old - so...

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I am not wanting to invest much money in any new schooling, but I did take a class in Excel, as I noticed a lot of office jobs require Excel knowledge.

Some people are not going for degrees, but they are going for credentials--CNA, for instance.

Best of luck to you and don't you feel good that you took control and are working towards getting the heck out?

GoingBack - DoneThat

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Statistics are proving that college is not offering a big payback in this economy. Most end up with student debt that cannot afford because getting "the good job" is like finding a needle in a haystack. I'm an advocate of education just for itself as it enriches you as a person and also boosts your self-confidence. If you have the wherewithall and the motivation to do all that, go for it but jobs seem to be disappearing in all sectors of this economy on a daily basis. The media is a bunch of hype telling us the economy is getting better. Many trend forecasters are saying that within 20 years, robots will be pretty doing what we do today. Went back to school myself and got a BS in premed 10 years ago, still doing MT but that is just me.

What do you plan to do with those degrees? - Sorry about no paragraphs!

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Just edited to say that there were paragraphs in this when I wrote it.

That is a great degree plan from an academic standpoint, but I am wondering what job you plan to get with it. I'm not trying to rain on your parade, but to prompt you to be sure that you end up with what you need to get a worthwhile job.

There really are few jobs to be had in public health at the bachelor's level. The few that there are probably pay poorly because they are low level. The APHA looked at those programs and the jobs grads were getting. See the link below.

That type of program is really more something you do to get a foot in the door to professional schools in medicine, pharmacy, etc. In your case, you are planning on a master's degree, but you do not say in what.

Here is my caution . . . you have little chance of getting a job with the bachelor's and not much more with a master's in public health unless you hold another medical degree. There are jobs for nurses, doctors, veterinarians, etc. In terms of return on investment, that is a disaster.

If you get an MBA or MHA, then you will be ok, because those jobs are reasonably available. However, those programs are expensive and highly competitive. Your job prospects will depend on the school, so you will need to get into a great school, but your chances of that are not guaranteed. You would then end up with an unusable bachelor's. Or, you would end up at a for-profit, getting a useless but still very expensive MBA that employers did not respect.

You may have considered this and have a plan, and these concerns may not worry you. I'll share a better option and explain how it is similar and where you can go with it.

Rather than a public health program, consider a bachelor's in health informatics and/or health information administration. They are very similar, but the HI/HIA lead directly to what is called a terminal degree, i.e., to the highest degree you need to get a job, and to the definitive credential required for those jobs, the RHIA. [For PH, the terminal degree is the MPH, but you usually need an MD, DVM, DD, PhD, etc., first.] .

That alone enables you to work. It qualifies you for even high-level jobs. If you never got another degree, you would be fine. Salaries are very good.

It also qualifies you for the same master's degree programs as your other plan. You could do an MPH, a master's in informatics, or an MBA or MHA, and your job prospects would be fine.

BS in HI/HIA (RHIA) --> job $$ + experience --> MHA while working, with experience --> job $$$ + low or no debt

BS in PH (no credential) --> no job or $ --> MPH --> no job or $; or an MBA while not working, no experience --> job $ + huge debt

I am not blowing smoke here. I am very familiar with both fields and know first-hand.

If you choose the HI/HIA route, there are many schools offering AHIMA-accredited programs leading to the RHIA, but the one at Western Governor's is probably the best in terms of time, cost, and pass rate on the RHIA. Your expenses would be minimal, you would graduate in less than 2 years with everything you need for any HIA or HI job, and an RHIA. You would be working in the medical field in a well-respected capacity, and then you could continue on. I would estimate your total cost to reach this point at as little as $6 to 12 K.

Just a suggestion. Might not appeal to you, but someone else might find it useful.

Thanks for your reply, but you sound like - sm

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a recruiter for WGU!! I appreciate your response, but going for the RHIA or an informatics degree is not what I want. I have been accepted to UMass and I will get my Master's degree there also and specialize in biostatistics. With my degreees, I will work in research, clinical trials, etc. This is my true passion and what I want to do. I live in Boston and there are a lot of jobs here for this type of work but only if you have a Master's degree, which I will have one day.

Biostatistics - sm

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If you had been clear about the biostatistics, I would have agreed with you.

There is a big difference between "public health" and biostatistics. I am in a position to know, too. Fortunately, biostatisticians, or any statisticians, have an expanding job market. You really can't go wrong with that.

One does not have to be a recruiter to recommend a school. You may have had someone recommend the U Mass program, and I am sure you did not accuse them of recruiting. As it happens, the program at WGU is very good, takes far less time than traditional RHIA programs (which can take up to 6 years and cost as much as an MBA), and is well-suited to adults. I do not think they even have "recruiters." If you did not live in Boston to have access to all those good schools, and if your math skills were not as good as they apparently are, you would be very grateful to find WGU.

Show me where these high paying jobs are for - health informatics

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especially when you have no experience and you're fresh out of college because I'm just not seeing them. Most health informatics jobs I see the employer wants a clinical degree of some kind or at least 5 years of experience. I personally know two people who have their RHIA but cannot find a job in it and are struggling.

Maybe you are looking at the wrong kind of - informatics jobs

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Sounds like you are looking at the wrong kind of informatics. Health information informatics does not require clinical degrees. Nursing informatics, pharmacy informatics, and physician-type clinical informatics would.

Pretty much everyone still has to begin in entry-level jobs, same as always.

that's why i went back for something completely different - tired of this side of the biz

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x

I also am going back for my bachelors with hope of a - masters one day in social work

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I have one more semester next year of community college and then will transfer to a university next either in the summer or fall, depending on how my financial aid works out. I have a meeting with vocational rehab next month to determine my eligibility for services with them since I have bone and joint issues.

Good luck!

School - my plan

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I'll be starting coding with Andrews in a few weeks. From there I will either get my Post-Baccalaureate Certificate in Health Information Management (RHIA)or a BA in Health Informatics -- I haven't decided yet, although I'm leaning toward the BA in Informatics. I already have a BA in another field as well.

Make sure the BA in Informatics - is an RHIA

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Make sure the informatics program, whether a bachelos's or master's, qualifies you for the RHIA. If it does not, you may find yourself shut out of a lot of jobs. At that point you would have to go back to do the postbacc anyway.

Yes - anon

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Good point. Personally, I knew that in my head, but failed to put it out there for others' sake. Glad you added that info.

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