Symptoms of Menopause

Menopause symptoms usually begin occurring in a woman’s midlife.  This usually means in her forties or fifties. It is a sign that her body is done being able to bear children.  It can be a time of relief for a woman and should help her transition into the next part of her life.  She will no longer have a monthly menstruation cycle and will not have to deal with the pain and negative symptoms that brings.  She may feel a loss of her youth but should be careful to realize this is the start of a new life stage and it can be a great time for a woman.

Menopause is usually recognized when a woman begins having the cessation of her monthly cycle. It can also be noticed through hot flashes, increased weight gain, soreness of muscles, and maybe a feeling of tiredness.  Just as a woman’s body has to work hard to produce the monthly cycle, it has to work hard to basically shut down that part of her body.  It may cause physical pain as the monthly cycle did but it will gradually decrease and a woman will be feeling better.

A woman going through menopause may feel nothing in the beginning except she will notice her monthly cycle is getting lighter and maybe more erratic.  This is the first stage.  She will experience night sweats and even hot flashes during the days.

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How to Get Kids to Help you with Household Chores

Household Chores and KidsHave you experienced doing all the household chores and multitasking just to finish them before going to bed, yet your kids are just sitting watching TV? Do you have a high school child who is soon to enter college, but doesn’t know how to do a single household chore? Do you want your children to take the initiative of helping you out in everyday house work? Then you definitely need to teach your kids how to do these simple tasks early in life.

Toddlerhood and preschool age are the best time to teach children about household chores because these are the times when children learn their autonomy and initiative. When they are constantly searching for autonomy, let them do some simple tasks and they will definitely do it on their own. During pre-school years, children also learn to employ initiative, so while they are learning this trait, you might as well include teaching them to take the initiative in helping you out with household chores.

To get your kids to help in the kitchen or in the house, you can try the following tips:

● Make the chores like a game

Unless the task involves fire, gas or electricity, you can have your child involved in the household chore by making it like a simple game. For instance, you could ask your child to help you make the bed. While doing it, you could have a role play with the small bed sheets and use them as the cape of a superhero. This way, they will see the chore as a fun activity rather than a burden. Also, if you are having your child in the kitchen, allow them to toss the salad. Make sure that you assist them so they will not end up having all the ingredients on the floor!

● Acknowledge the help that they give

Toddlers get the floor sweeper and do it on their own when they see their parents doing it. When this happens make sure to acknowledge their effort by saying, “Wow, you’re sweeping the floor!” That’s so nice of you darling”. This makes them feel that they have done something very good; hence, they will repeat it.

● Allow them to display what they did at school

When pre-schoolers get home with a new drawing, allow them to place it in the living room. Also, they may have done a flower origami, so you can place this as a center piece on the table. Doing so will allow them to feel their contribution in the house so they will learn to keep things in order.

● Make cleaning time a habit in a fun way

Instead of simply telling your child to keep their toys tidy, you could use a simple song that will get them to organize their toys. Singing, “clean up, clean up” will get them moving and will also let them feel that putting away their things can be fun. They can also play a basketball game by tossing their toys inside the toy box.

● Let them do the little things

You won’t expect your kids to be able to do everything like folding the bed sheets or cutting hard vegetables in the kitchen, but you can ask them to do easy tasks such as pair the socks or cut the string beans.

Children are very precious, but it doesn’t mean that they don’t need to learn to help you in the house. Teaching them about household chores will not only help you, but will also help them become more mature and helpful to others.

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Important Tips to Consider to Save Money at the Start of the School Year

7 Tips to Save Money at the Start of the School Year

Most parents get excited with the thought of their children going to school again, but at the same time the financial constraints that the school year may impose will make them stressed. For parents who haven’t prepared the finances that they will need, a new school year can be really stressful especially when parents need to incur additional debts from credit card companies. Due to this, a non-profit credit counselling agency has offered important tips to allow parents to prepare their children for school while making the expenses more manageable and reducing financial burn-out.

The use of credit cards to shop for school supplies leads to further debt problems especially if the family already has a lot of credit card debts. To help parents save money for the next school year, the following tips may help:

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Removing Violent Cartoons in Children will Cause Better Night-time sleep

Violent Cartoons And Their Effects on Children

Do you want your children to sleep better at night? Do you allow them to watch violent cartoon? Well, this is the time that you need to substitute Dora the Explorer for Tom and Jerry and Bugs Bunny.

A recent research found out that watching non-violent TV programs reduces the sleep disturbances that children experience at night. These non-violent TV programs should also be age-appropriate to make the effects better for their sleep.

 All cartoons may seem good for children because we always think that these animations provide kids with appropriate entertainment. However, the mere chasing of a cat and a mouse and frequent tactics to make the other surrender in Tom and Jerry makes it a violent form of cartoons. Now, there are a lot of cartoons that offer this type of theme and it makes them more appropriate for adults who want a stress reliever than kids who would want to sleep better.

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The Long-term Effects of Mental Abuse in Children

Effects and Signs of Mental Abuse in Children

Children are protected against physical abuse by many agencies. Physical abuse usually leaves physical scars along the way as well as other harmful side-effects. As much as physical abuse is detrimental for child development, mental abuse can also leave life-long scars.

Mental abuse may include threatening, belittling or ignoring a child and the effects of these kinds of abuse usually leave as much damage as sexual and physical abuse may cause. However, since mental abuse does not leave physical or evident scars such as bruises; teachers, pediatricians and other concerned citizens may have difficulties recognizing mental abuse. Aside from the absence of physical scars, there is also no universal definition of what constitutes mental abuse. Because of this, it becomes very difficult to recognize mental abuse from not-so-great parenting.

Effects of Mental Abuse

What experts say is that psychological abuse is just as detrimental as physical abuse. You may not be spanking your child, but your simple belittling may cause the same extent of damage to a child’s development. There are a lot of effects of mental abuse on children including:

- Loss of healthy self-concept

Children who suffer mental abuse may have poor self-concept because of the constant idea that they are not good. Parents who call their children names such as “idiot” may lead children to think that indeed, they are idiots.  Children are like sponges, they tend to absorb and develop things based on what they see and hear. Children who are abused psychologically also tend to have low self-esteem. Children who are both mentally and physical abused tend to report that the mental abuse they experience tends to hurt them more than the physical abuse. When their parents tell them rude things they tend to create more detrimental impact on their lives than the bruises and the wounds that they get.

- Loss of trust in everyone

Children also do not develop the sense of trust because in the first place, their parents who they should trust are inflicting damage on them. Mentally-abused children tend not to develop long-term relationships with other people because of trust issues.

- Poor school performance

Another serious effect of mental abuse is poor school performance in children. Since children are constantly bombarded with stress, they tend not to develop optimally at school.

These are just some of the more evident and concrete effects of mental abuse, but there may still be other things that go on inside the head of children that lead them to not develop healthily. Because of this, it is essential to recognize the signs of mental abuse in order to stop the cycle of inflicting harm on children.

Signs of Mental Abuse

Mental abuse does not involve a single scenario. Parents can inflict psychological abuse in so many ways such as:

- Chronic belittling

Calling names are the most common forms of mental abuse. This may include calling children idiots, useless and even “bad” most of the time.

- Humiliating a child in front of other people

Another way of inflicting mental abuse is through public humiliation. Parents may need to discipline their children, but make sure not to humiliate children in front of other people.

- Neglect

Neglect can be physical and psychological abuse in nature. Leaving a child in the crib all day long may constitute mental abuse because the infant does not develop trust.

- Withholding love and warmth

Children need constant love and warmth from their parents. Parents who lack emotional bonding with their children inflict mental abuse.

- Setting rigid expectations

Expecting too much from children and threatening children if expectations are not met is also a sign of mental abuse.

Suspected cases of mental abuse should be promptly reported to the authorities in order to prevent the potential long-term effects of psychological trauma.

Posted by Tessy Parker

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Organic Cotton Children’s Mattress

Help your Children Avoid Allergens at School

Children are usually very sensitive to environmental pollutants, which lead most children to develop allergies. The incidences of allergies in children have been continuously increasing over the years. There are a lot of factors that may contribute to their allergies and since children spend most of their time in school, there are a lot of environmental allergens that they may be exposed to there. So before your kids head back to school, make sure to teach them how to avoid common allergens present at school.

Allergies in children while they are at school contribute to the over 14 million absences in each school year. This data is especially true in the United States, but may also be apparent in other countries as well.

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Origin of the Names of the Months

Names of the Months

The months are the division of the solar year in twelve periods.  According to Hesiod, the Greeks divided the year in twelve months with a great variety of names among the different city-states of ancient Greece.  After the prevalence of the Roman Empire, a unified calendar was established and thus the names of the months – with slight changes, as for instance the duration of each month that has changes many times up to date (for instance August had previously 30 days until the time of Augustus Caesar where it became 31 days long etc).

According to the tradition, the first Roman calendar was drawn by Romulus himself (founder of Rome, around 8th century BC).  The Roman calendar was initially consisted by 10 months, starting from March and finishing in December, with an obvious blank period of around two months. Pompilius Nouma (second king of Rome, 715-673 BC) filled the blank winter period by adding two more months (January & February) in the Roman calendar and then, Tarquinius Priscus (fifth king of Rome, 616-597 BC) transferred the beginning of the year from March to January.  In around 44 BC, Julius Caesar reformed the calendar (Julian calendar) by issuing the duration of 365,25 days of the tropical year.  The Roman Senate decided to name the fifth month (Quintilis = fifth) after him – Julius (July).  In around 8 BC, Caesar Augustus continued Julius Caesars’ reform – he also gave his name – Augustus – to the sixth month (Sextilis) and removed one day from February adding it to August (total of 31 days), so «his» month would not have the less number of days compared to «Julius Caesar’s month».  Finally in 1582 AD, Pope Gregory XIII issued the new calendar, accepting the most «exact» duration of the tropical year, meaning the duration of 365,2422 days.

January – Janus’ month

Roman “Januarius” was initially part of the two-month period during winter with no specific name, until the time of Tarquinius Priscus, who transferred the beginning of the year from March to January and named this month Januarius (January), after the Roman god Janus, protector of doors and god of all beginnings.  This two-faced god (one face looking forward and the other backward) was, according to the myth, king of Latium.  He accepted Saturnus (Greek Cronus) when he was expelled from Uranus and for his help Cronus granted him the gift of “double-knowledge”, meaning the knowledge of both the past and the future.  Janus was a great god of the Roman pantheon – at times of war the doors of his temple were always wide open, indicating that the god went to war.  The gates of his temple were closing in times of peace, when the god had returned to the city, having conserved its safety.

February – purification month (Februa)

Roman “Februarius” was named after “Februa”, the Roman festival of purification and forgiveness for sins, which was held on February 15th (the word derives from the latin verb februare = to purify).  During this festival people and houses were cleansed and thus prepared for the entrance of the spring and the awakening of nature.

It has to be mentioned here that Pompilius Nouma issued also another month between February and March, which was called mensis Intercalaris (= inter + calendar month) or Mercedonius.  The Romans were adding this month in leap years (every two or three years, when it was needed) at the end of February, in order to length the year and ensure the best possible correspondence of the months with the seasons.  This month was abolished by Julius Caesar, by accepting the duration of 365,25 days of the tropical year and changing the duration of most months.

March – Mars’ month

Roman “Martius”, initially the first month of the year, was named (by Romulus himself, according to Plutarch) after Mars (Greek Ares), Roman god of war and father – by Rea Silvia – of Romulus and Remus, founders of Rome.  Mars was not only the god of war, but also god of vegetation and growth, a characteristic that doesn’t appear in the Greek god Ares and it is probably given to him by his connection to the god Quirinus, ancient war god of the Savini.  Mars is the equivalent of the Greek god of war, Ares, son of Zeus (Jupiter) and Hera (Juno).  The month Martius (March)
was named in his honor because it is the first month of spring, when all nature is blooming, but also because the warfare that was ceased during winter started again in March, so this month signified the beginning or the continuance of an expedition or war.

April – Aphrodite’s month

Roman “Aprilius”, second month of the initial Roman year, was dedicated to the Greek goddess Aphrodite, the Roman Venus, by paraphrasing aphro- to apro-.  Aphrodite (Roman Venus) was the mother of Aeneas, by Anchises, hero of the Trozian war and father of Iulus (Askanius) and ancestor of Remus and Romulus.  Julius Caesar, who was claiming that his family, the Julii, were deriving directly from Iulus, son of Aeneas, established the worship of the goddess in Rome.  Aphrodite was the goddess of love and beauty, but also of fertility, harmony in marital relations and protectress of birth.  She was born through the foams when the blood of castrated Uranus fell in the sea.

According to others, the name derives from the latin verb aperire, which means to open and it is connected with the blooming of the flowers in spring.

May – Maia’s month

“Maius” was dedicated to Maia, goddess of spring and growth, daughter of the Titan Atlas and mother of the god Hermes (Mercury) by Zeus (Jupiter).

June – Juno’s month

“Junius” was dedicated to the goddess Juno (Greek Hera), wife of Jupiter (Zeus) and queen of the Gods. Hera, daughter of the Titans Saturnus (Cronus) and Rea, was sister and wife of Jupiter (Zeus), queen of the gods.  Juno was worshiped as goddess of marriage and protectress of women and the couples’ fertility and birth.  Along with Jupiter (Zeus) and Minerva (Athena) they constitute the Trinity of the Capitoline, that protects the Roman State.

July – Julius Caesar’s month

“Julius” was named from the Roman Senate after Julius Caesar, as above mentioned.  July was previously called Quintilis, which means “fifth”, as July was the fifth month of the early Roman calendar.

August – Augustus Caesar’s month

“Augustus” was named after Augustus Caesar, as above mentioned.  Initially it was called Sextilis, which means sixth in latin, as August was the sixth month after March.

September – the seventh month

“September” took its name by septem, the latin word for number seven, as it was the seventh month of the early Roman calendar.

October – the eighth month

“October” took its name by octo, the latin word for number eight, as it was the eighth month of the early Roman calendar.

November – the ninth month

“November” took its name by nove, the latin word for number nine, as it was the ninth month of the early Roman calendar.

December – the tenth month

“December” took its name by decern, the latin word for number ten, as it was the tenth month of the early Roman calendar. 

Posted by Mina Jones

The Names of the Days of the Week

The Greek Pantheon Names Status & Symbols

How to Become a Medical Transcriptionist

Medical Transcriptionists – Career Path as a Medical Transcriptionist

Do you want to become a medical transcriptionist? Or perhaps you have been nurturing the idea of working alongside the medical industry seeking for opportunities to play roles that will save lives and restore hopes in people? Yes, practicing as a medical transcriptionist may just be the best way to step your foot in this field. The work does not involve handling badly injured patients or dealing with life-or-death situations, which is amazing. This article will help you to better understand who medical transcriptionists are, how to become one and the job outlook in the profession.

What Do Medical Transcriptionists Do?

Like the name implies, medical transcriptionists are those workers responsible for transcribing medical reports, correspondence and other administrative materials made by physicians and other healthcare professionals. They are also called medical transcribers and medical stenographers. The recordings they transcribe are generally given them on a special headset designed in such a way that they can be paused with a foot pedal when necessary. The transcriber then writes or keys the text version of the recording into a personal computer or word processor which can be edited at will for grammar, coherence and clarity. The resulting documents from the activities of medical transcriptionists include discharge summaries, history and physical examination reports, operating room reports, consultation reports, autopsy reports, diagnostic imaging studies and referral letters which are made part of patient’s permanent files after being reviewed, corrected and signed by the dictator.

However, just like every other profession out there, the medical field is filled with several terminologies and jargons which doctors, physician and other healthcare professional use often to interpret different situations. Hence a career as a medical transcriptionist entails a good understanding of these terminologies including other important medical practice areas like anatomy, and physiology, diagnostic procedures and treatment. They should also be familiar with the various abbreviations used in this field as these will not only make them employable but facilitate their work. Generally, transcriptionists refer to standard medical reference materials which come both in printed and electronic forms to help them better identify and understand terms more properly. It is also important that transcriptionists always follow the technological trends in the medical industry as these often influence their line of work. For instance, it is more likely these days for medical transcriptionists to receive dictation from a digital or analog equipment and with the emergency of the internet, most recording can be sent through the internet and the transcriptionist will be depended upon to turn out a piece that can be used for treatment and other patient treatment procedures. With regards to technology, transcriptionists working in more specialized arrangements like radiology or pathology may have high chances of working with a speech recognition technology. However, this is expected to widespread as the medical technology becomes more sophisticated.

These are not the only duties a medical transcriptionist may be assigned. Depending on the employer and experience, a medical transcriptionist can assume several other roles – mainly office and clinic duties. For instance, those working in physicians’ offices and clinics may also be involved with several other office duties like receiving patients, scheduling appointments, answering the telephone and handling incoming and outgoing mails. Sometimes or in some office settings, medical secretaries may also be trusted with transcribing roles.

Working Conditions

Medical transcriptionists can work in variety of facilities including hospitals, physicians offices, clinics, laboratories, medical libraries, government medical facilities or even from a home-based office as employees or sub-contractors for hospitals and transcription services or even as self-employed independent contractors. The only issue many people have with this profession is sitting for long hours which can initiate wrist, neck, back or eye problems due to strain. There is also the risk of repetitive motion injuries like carpel tunnel syndrome. This is not meant to discourage you though, but to make you device a working strategy that can reduce the risk and observe the safety rules at work. Like most other professions, you may be required to work the 40-week as a medical transcriptionist. However, self-employed transcriptionists can work irregular hours which may include part time, evenings, weekends or on-call basis.

In the year 2000, it was recorded that the medical transcribing profession held about 102,000 jobs the majority of which were in hospitals and physicians’ offices and clinics. However, there are still several employment opportunities emerging in other establishments including laboratories, colleges and universities, transcription services and temporary help agencies.

How to Become a Medical Transcriptionist

Completion of a post-secondary certificate program or obtaining an associate degree is often the pre-requisite for entry into this profession. Not that this is mandatory but over the years, employers have grown to prefer those who have this basic formal trainings as offered in vocational schools, community colleges and distance-learning programs. The courses are meant to acquaint the students with the necessary theoretical and practical knowledge of what their job entails. The courses include coursework in anatomy, medical terminology, medicolegal issues and English grammar and punctuation some which are delivered with supervised on-the-job experience.

After the formal program, it is advised that you get certified by a recognized body, like the American Association for Medical Transcription, AAMT. This body grants the Certified Medical Transcriptionist, CMT at the pass of written and practical examinations. In order to maintain this certification, it is required that all Medical Transcriptionists update their skills to be timely competent by earning continuing education credits.

Salary

This is one of the factors that will keep you motivated with your work. In the year 2000, medical transcriptions earned about $8 to $16 per hour depending on their qualification. Also, transcriptionists earned differently across different employment settings like offices and clinics of medical doctors, hospitals and mailing, reproduction and stenographic services and many others.

Other Related Occupations

Just enjoy typing, recording information and processing paper work but don’t like a career path in medical transcribing? Don’t worry, there are other occupations that can allow you to do what you enjoy doing which include court reporter, secretaries and administrative assistants, and receptionists and information clerks. You can also work as a human resource assistant, medical assistant if you still fancy a career in the medical field or as a medical records and health information technician.

Posted by Tessy Parker

Respiratory Therapists – Career in Science

Respiratory Therapists – Career Path

Respiratory therapists are one of those occupations with evident need in the society. They are responsible for evaluating, treating and caring for patients with breathing disorders. Think this is an occupation you’d like to join? The career education information provided in this article will help you to understand what respiratory therapists do in details, how to become one, the employment opportunities available and the job outlooks in the field and many other aspects of the occupation.

What do Respiratory Therapists do?

Respiratory therapists and respiratory therapy technicians, also called respiratory care practitioners, are those medical experts who evaluate, treat and care for patients with breathing difficulties. The work of therapists may include all primary respiratory care treatments, including the supervision of respiratory therapy technicians whose work entail following well defined care procedure to provide assistant and care services to patients according to the direction and under the supervision of therapists or physicians. However, in some work settings, the roles of therapist and technicians overlap, hence for the rest of this article we will refer to both as therapists.

The works of respiratory therapists include testing the capacity of the lungs of patients and analyzing oxygen and carbon dioxide concentration. They are responsible for measuring the acidity or alkalinity level of patient’s blood. After such testing and analytical procedures, therapists deduce whether there is a lung deficiency or any other respiratory mal-operation when compared with the patient’s age, height, weight and sex. Their practice is not also limited to a certain age group or population as they treat all sexes and age groups. They can effectively handle infants with under-developed lungs and or adults with diseased lungs. They are also trained to provide reliable health care services to those with chronic asthma or emphysema, including heart attack, stroke, drowning and shock victims.

Respiratory therapists work with certain materials like oxygen or oxygen mixtures, chest physiotherapy and aerosol medications. They are also responsible for connecting ventilators which deliver pressurized oxygen in the lungs of patients who cannot breathe on their own. In this case, they often keep a close check on the instrument and the patient to monitor any change that may occur with the oxygen, carbon dioxide or PH level of the blood in which case they will change the ventilator setting as directed by the doctor. If the service is an outpatient care or in home care services, respiratory therapists are responsible for teaching and showing patients and their families how to use ventilators and other life support equipments while visiting to monitor the performance of the machine and the response of patients. This practice may help to restore a patient’s lung and is also necessary for those suffering from lung diseases like cystic fibrosis – the cause of mucus collection in the lungs.

Respiratory therapists also provide patients with aerosols which are those liquid medications suspended in a gas to form a mist that is inhaled by patients. Their role also entails teaching patients how to inhale aerosol the right way for it to be effective. Depending on the work setting, you may also find respiratory therapists performing roles that fall outside their traditional roles like those related to cardiopulmonary procedures -electrocardiodiagrms and stress testing. They may also be entrusted with drawing blood samples from patients and keeping records of materials used and charges to the hospital.

Working Condition

Respiration therapists mainly work in hospitals and thus work about 35 to 40 hours a week. Depending on the work settings, they may also be required to work evenings, nights or weekends including holidays in some special cases. Owing to the nature of work, some people see that occupation as being strenuous. They stand on their feet and work around most of the time. They also work with a few hazardous materials like gases stored under pressure. However, there are safety precautions and regular maintenance and testing guidelines that must be followed to ensure optimum safety. Treating patients with infections and those with contagious diseases is also a source of risk for respiratory therapists. To minimize this risk also, therapist must carefully follow proper procedures.

Many people have been successful practicing as respiratory therapists over the years. In 2000, this occupation recorded about 110,000 jobs most of which were in hospitals working in departments like respiratory care, anesthesiology or pulmonary medicine. They also work in respiratory therapy clinics, offices of physicians, nursing homes, and firms that deal with respiratory equipment supplies.

How to Become a Respiratory Therapist

Formal education is, of course required before one can get registered and practice as a registered respiratory therapist. Formal programs are delivered from the post-secondary level and can be taken in medical schools, colleges and universities, trade schools, vocational-technical institutes and the Armed Forces. Depending on the length of the formal training, the degree also varies ranging from associate’s degree to bachelor’s degree. There are also some shorter programs through which one can be granted an entry-certificate. The major difference between the two, however, is that while those with associate or bachelor’s degree are certified as Registered Respiratory Therapists, those that went through the shorter programs are Certified Respiratory Therapists.

Formal respiratory programs include courses like human anatomy, and physiology, chemistry, physics, microbiology and mathematics. Depending on the State you may want to practice, you may be required to get a license. There are also rooms for voluntary certifications like those offered by the National Board for Respiratory Care, NBRC for graduates of CoARC-accredited programs. However, if you are still in the high school with interest in this occupation, subjects that will increase your admission chances are health, biology, mathematics, chemistry and physics.

Salary

The median annual salary of registered therapists in the year 2000 was $37,680. However, some earned as high as $50,660 while few were at the bottom of the leather at $28,620. Technicians also held an interesting salary scale with median annual earnings of $32,860 in 2000.  The highest of this group were at $46,800.

Alternative Occupations

If you don’t really like entering the medical profession as a respiratory therapist or perhaps just searching to get hold of other related occupations, other similar occupations include registered nurses, occupational therapists, physical therapists and radiation therapists.

Posted by Tessy Parker

Clinical Laboratory Technicians-Career in Science

Becoming A Clinical Laboratory Technologist Or Technician

Ever wanted to work in a laboratory as a technologist or a technician? Want to be involved in clinical laboratory works; detecting and treating diseases and making the world a better place, but wondering what career paths awaits you? Clinical laboratory activity is an interesting one with viable career paths for practitioners.

What Do Clinical Laboratory Technologists or Technicians Do?

Clinical laboratory is more of testing activities aimed at detecting, diagnosing and treating diseases. These are normally done by examining and analyzing body fluids, tissues and cells. Their work also entails searching for bacteria, parasites, and other microorganisms, analyzing the chemical content of fluids, matching blood for transfusion and finding out how a patient is responding to treatment by testing drug levels in the person’s blood. Clinical laboratory workers are also responsible for preparing and examining specimens, count cells and finding abnormal cells. Wondering how they do all these? Yes, these activities are less hands-on and more analytical through the use of automated equipment and instruments that can handle two or more tests at a time. Among these equipments and instruments are microscopes, cell counters and other sophisticated laboratory tools. Clinical laboratory technologists and technicians are only involved in testing specimens, analyzing the result and relaying the result to physicians who are in more direct contact with patients and thus administer all treatments. Generally, the work load, the complexity of tests performed, and the amount of responsibility placed on each laboratory worker depends on the person’s education and experience in the industry.

Technologist or Technician

It is good you know that medical and clinical laboratory technologists do not assume the same role with technicians. Technologists are generally welcomed into the profession with a bachelor’s degree in medical technology or in any of the life science courses. They can also have a combination of formal training and work experience which in most cases is an added advantage. These are the experts that handle complex chemical, biological, hematological, immunologic, microscopic and bacteriological tests. They are responsible for examining blood, body tissue and other body substances through microscopic means. Sometimes, they are required to make cultures of fluid and tissue with the provided fluid samples in order to determine the presence of bacteria, fungi, parasites or any other microorganism. Their work also entails analyzing samples for chemical content or reaction and determining blood glucose and cholesterol levels including matching blood samples for transfusion.

Technologists can assume different roles which sometimes depend on the place they are working. For instance, those working in small laboratories can assume several roles while those that practice in a relatively large laboratory tend to specialize. With regards to this specialization, you can either become a clinical chemistry technologist who are those that prepare specimens and analyze the chemical and hormonal contents of body fluids, the Microbiology technologists that examine and identify bacteria and other microorganisms, or the Blood bank technologists or Immunohematology technologists that collect, type and prepare blood and components for transfusions. There are also the Immunology technologists whose work entails examining the human immune system to determine how it responds to foreign bodies. Alongside that are Cytotechnologists that prepare slides of body cells and examine them microscopically for abnormalities which may indicate the growth of harmful organisms like cancer. Finally, there are the Molecular biology technologists that handle complex genetic testing on cell samples.

On the other hand, medical and clinical laboratory technicians don’t generally assume such complex tasks as technologists. They usually work under the supervision of technologists or laboratory managers. Their work may include specimen preparation and operating automated analyzers. In large laboratories, technicians tend to specialize, as in Histology technicians who cut and stain tissue specimens before microscopic examination by pathologists. There are also the Phlebotomists whose work involves collecting blood samples.

How Do Clinical Laboratory Technologist And Technicians Work?

Depending on the laboratory and type of employment, clinical laboratory personnel are often require to work in either regular shifts like morning, evening or night or in rotational shifts. Their works may also require that they are present on weekend and especially during emergencies. For instance, those that found themselves in large laboratories may work day, evening or night shifts, including weekends and some holidays depending on the work load.

As a challenge, clinical laboratory technologists and technicians may spend a great deal of their working time on their feet, including working with infectious specimens. Hence it is necessary that they observe the infection control and sterilization methods including the use of masks, gloves and goggles.

Employability

The employment opportunities for Clinical laboratory technologists and technicians recorded about 295,000 jobs in the year 2000. The primary employer for this profession is the public and private hospitals with more jobs erupting in medical laboratories, offices and clinics of physicians.

How to Become a Clinical Laboratory Technologist or Technician

To become a clinical laboratory technologist, you must have a bachelor’s degree with a major in medical technology or in one of the related life sciences. Programs leading to this certification can be obtained from universities or hospitals. However, those that took a combination of education, on-the-job training for this career path can also be taken.

On the other hand, medical and clinic laboratory technicians require an associate’s degree which can be obtained from a community or junior college or a certificate from a hospital certifying a satisfactory completion of the programs necessary for a career as a lab technician. This can also be offered by vocational, technical schools or the U.S Armed Forces. There are also some technicians that learn their skills on the job but this is becoming really unpopular these days.

Earnings

A career path in medical and clinical laboratory holds an interesting salary expectation which is expected to be on the increase as the need for their services increases. In 2000, no worker in this field earned below $18,000, with some technologists earning as a high as $55,000 per annum. Also, the salary scale in this industry may be different across various employment facilities like hospitals, colleges and universities, office and clinics, medical and dental laboratories and health and allied health services.

Other Related Occupations

Not so interested in answering a medical or clinical laboratory technologist or technician but still have the zeal to pursue a career path along side this practices? Other related occupations for consideration include chemists and material scientists, science technicians, and veterinary technologists, technicians and assistants.

Posted by Tessy Parker