| Dear Reader,
As we are in the galley stages of preparing the new 2005-06
edition of the Health Professions Career and Education Directory,
our thanks to the 60% of health professions education programs
who completed the annual survey. The updates and data you've
provided will help ensure the accuracy and completeness of the
Directory (release date: February 2005).
So again, our thanks to you and to the many professional associations
and accrediting bodies who helped encourage survey completion.
And thank you for all the work you do on behalf of allied health
and for ensuring the continued quality of US health care.
Happy Holidays!
Fred Donini-Lenhoff
HEALTH PROFESSIONS E-LETTER, December 2004
1. Radiologic sciences: Enrollments
up, job vacancies down
2. Turning on students to health
professions careers, Part II
3. Charting the changing role of
dental hygiene practice
4. Media messages:
--- - Worker
shortages continue
--- - The
CSI effect
--- - Hospitals
need interpreters
5. Lack of health professional diversity
= health disparities
6. Health information technology
stymied by federal regulations
7. Medical myth dispelled: Poor/uninsured
not clogging emergency rooms
8. Pathologists' assistants can
now obtain national certification
9. Correction: Dietetic technician
was Oct. Profession of the Month
10. Poetry therapy is "Allied
Health Profession of the Month"
11. CAHL: Seeking the allied health
leaders of tomorrow
12. Treating insomnia: Talking it out may beat pill-pushing
1. Radiologic sciences: Enrollments
up, job vacancies down
Students are still entering educational programs in the radiologic
sciences, but at a slower pace than in the previous 3 years,
reports the American Society of Radiologic Technologists.
Nearly 16,000 first-year students were enrolled in radiography
programs in fall 2004, up 6.9% from 1 year earlier -- but
a slowdown from the double-digit enrollment jumps in 2002
(20.5%) and 2003 (11.5% for first-year students).
Many programs are at full capacity, with programs turning
away nearly 30,000 qualified students this fall because of
lack of space: http://enews.ama-assn.org/UM/T.asp?A40.576.1945.2.197721
At the other end of the pipeline, ASRT data show that the
vacancy rate for radiographers fell from a national average
of 10.2% in January 2003 to 7.7% in September 2004:
http://enews.ama-assn.org/UM/T.asp?A40.576.1945.3.197721
2. Turning on students to health
professions careers, Part II
In our November issue we profiled two programs, in Pennsylvania
and New York, designed to get youth interested in health professions'
careers.
Another good example is the Health Care Workforce Coalition
in Mobile, AL, which includes area health care providers,
Mobile and Baldwin County public school systems, and postsecondary
schools.
The coalition has hosted two interactive health occupations
career fairs, in fall 2003 and 2004, attended by over 1,000
area students. "It really expands your horizons,"
one student remarked.
Other coalition projects include a summer health careers
immersion experience, launching a new speakers' bureau, and
developing a health care academy.
For more information, contact Michele Rumpf at Michele@mobilechamber.com
or call 251 431-8631.
NOTE: Check out the new Allied Health
Information and Advocacy page on the Health Professions Network's
site:
http://enews.ama-assn.org/UM/T.asp?A40.576.1945.4.197721
3. Charting the changing role
of dental hygiene practice
A new federal report looks at the changing role of dental
hygienists in the oral health care system and the impact of
these changes on access to oral health care, particularly
for underserved populations:
http://enews.ama-assn.org/UM/T.asp?A40.576.1945.5.197721
4. Media messages:
--- ---
- Worker shortages continue
--- ---
- The CSI effect
--- ---
- Hospitals need interpreters
Serious staffing shortages in Massachusetts: The vacancy
rate in 2003 for ultrasound technicians at hospitals was 11.7%,
10.5% for radiologic technologists, and 7% for pharmacy technicians
("Not just nursing shortage -- hospitals have difficulty
filling critical positions," Boston Business Journal,
November 8).
"The interesting thing about those jobs is that there
are programs at community colleges," Massachusetts Hospital
Association's Paul Wingle told the Journal. "People can
become radiology technicians, a good-paying job, with an investment
in an associate's degree." But higher education cutbacks
have exacerbated the shortages. See: http://enews.ama-assn.org/UM/T.asp?A40.576.1945.6.197721
**********
A recent article in National Geographic News describes the
"CSI Effect," in which average Joes are quick to
tell trained forensic investigators, "Hey, that's not
the way they do it on TV."
http://enews.ama-assn.org/UM/T.asp?A40.576.1945.7.197721
**********
More than one third of Alameda County (CA) residents speak
a language other than English at home, but they may have trouble
finding someone who can communicate with them at a local hospital,
reports the Sept. 24 San Francisco Chronicle ("Many hospitals
lack interpreters"). "Health care without language
access is no health care," said Alice Lai-Bitker of the
Alameda County Board of Supervisors. Read more at:
http://enews.ama-assn.org/UM/T.asp?A40.576.1945.8.197721
5. Lack of health professional
diversity = health disparities
Lack of diversity in the US healthcare work force contributes
to health disparities in racial and ethnic minorities just
as much as the problem of inadequate health insurance, according
to a new report by the Sullivan Commission on Diversity in
the Healthcare Work Force.
Among its 37 recommendations, the report, "Missing Persons:
Minorities in the Health Professions," calls for a culture
change in health professions schools, with commitment to diversity
at the highest institutional levels, and developing new and
nontraditional paths to the health professions. See:
http://enews.ama-assn.org/UM/T.asp?A40.576.1945.9.197721
6. Health information technology
stymied by federal regulations
Besides legal issues related to the privacy and security
of electronic health information, various federal laws and
regulations may be preventing more widespread adoption of
e-health info, according to a recent federal report: http://enews.ama-assn.org/UM/T.asp?A40.576.1945.10.197721
In related news, HHS has awarded $139 million in grants and
contracts to promote the use of health information technology:
http://enews.ama-assn.org/UM/T.asp?A40.576.1945.11.197721
7. Medical myth dispelled: Poor/uninsured
not clogging emergency rooms
A new finds that "emergency departments serve as a safety
net, not just for the poor and uninsured, but for mainstream
Americans, and in particular those with serious and chronic
illness."
Eighty-three percent of ER visits were made by people who
had a doctor or clinic or were HMO members; 85% had medical
insurance; and 79% had incomes above the poverty level. Abstract
at:
http://enews.ama-assn.org/UM/T.asp?A40.576.1945.12.197721
8. Pathologists' assistants can
now obtain national certification
Through an agreement between the American Association of
Pathologists' Assistants (AAPA) and the American Society for
Clinical Pathology (ASCP) Board of Registry, pathologists'
assistants can take a certification examination through the
Board: http://enews.ama-assn.org/UM/T.asp?A40.576.1945.13.197721
9. Correction: Dietetic technician
was Oct. Profession of the Month
In our November issue, article #7 ("Recreational therapy
is Allied Health Profession of the Month") should have
been titled "Dietetic technician is Allied Health Profession
of the Month." Recreation therapy was the featured profession
in July, not October. Thanks to Carla E.S. Tabourne, PhD,
CTRS, of the University of Minnesota for noting the error.
10. Poetry therapy is "Allied
Health Profession of the Month"
Now featured on the Health Professions Network's Web site
is the profession of poetry therapy:
http://enews.ama-assn.org/UM/T.asp?A40.576.1945.14.197721
To request that HealthProNet.org feature your health profession
in the future, send an e-mail to: webmaster@healthpronet.org
11. CAHL: Seeking the
allied health leaders of tomorrow
Applications for the Coalition on Allied Health Leadership
(CAHL) Conferences are now available. Those selected will
attend two week-long conferences in Washington, DC, where
they will learn leadership, problem-solving, and decision-making
skills and consider regulatory and legislative issues facing
allied health.
See: http://enews.ama-assn.org/UM/T.asp?A40.576.1945.15.197721
12. Treating insomnia: Talking
it out may beat pill-pushing
A recent study suggests that many patients with sleep-onset
insomnia "can derive significantly greater benefit from
CBT [cognitive behavior therapy] than pharmacotherapy and
that CBT should be considered a first-line intervention for
chronic insomnia." And, unlike sleeping pills, CBT can
offer a long-term solution to insomnia.
Study abstract at: http://enews.ama-assn.org/UM/T.asp?A40.576.1945.16.197721
ABOUT US . . .
The Health Professions Career and Education E-letter is produced
by the American Medical Association (AMA).
This periodic newsletter covers educational trends and career-related
issues for more than 60 professions that participate in the
delivery of health care, including diagnostic and rehabilitative
services, therapeutic treatments, health or information services
management, counseling for psychosocial and cognitive needs,
or related services.
Newsletter readers and contributors include staff of health
professions accrediting agencies, educational programs and institutions,
professional organizations, certifying/licensing boards, and
media contacts.
Previous issues are available online at: http://enews.ama-assn.org/UM/T.asp?A40.576.1945.1.197721
GIVE US YOUR STORY IDEAS AND FEEDBACK
What's happening in the world of health professions? If you
have any leads or story ideas, please contact us. Also, let
us know what you think about this newsletter--and feel free
to forward it to your colleagues.
Direct suggestions, comments, compliments, gripes, to
Fred Donini-Lenhoff
American Medical Association
Medical Education Products
515 N State St, Chicago, IL 60610
312 464-4635
312 464-5830 fax
fred_lenhoff@ama-assn.org
http://enews.ama-assn.org/UM/T.asp?A40.576.1945.1.197721
SUBSCRIBE/UNSUBSCRIBE
To subscribe to this E-letter, visit:
http://enews.ama-assn.org/UM/T.asp?A40.576.1945.17.197721
Also: Please add the domain name "@enews.ama-assn.org"
to your address book or spam filter "whitelist" or
tell your organization's IT group to allow this address to pass
through any filtering software they may have set up. |
