August 5th, 2009 by Kate Lehnhof
What is A Sonographer?
Sonography, or ultrasonography is using sound waves to producel images of organs, tissues, or blood flow inside the body. Lay man’s terms: looking at your insides. Sonography is an alternative to radiology, which has been used for years to show pregnant moms their little nuggets. Sonographers operate the equipment, which collects the images that are photographed and examined by doctors. From these photographs physicians can diagnose patients.
By the Numbers
- More than half of all sonographers were employed by hospitals, and most of the rest were employed by offices of physicians, medical and diagnostic laboratories, and mobile imaging services.
- Diagnostic medical sonographers held about 46,000 jobs in 2006.
- Employment of diagnostic medical sonographers is expected to increase by about 19 percent through 2016—faster than the average for all occupations—as the population ages, increasing the demand for diagnostic imaging and therapeutic technology.
Preparation
Sonographers may train in hospitals, vocational-technical institutions, colleges and universities; employers prefer those who trained in accredited programs and who are registered. Colleges and universities offer formal training in both 2- and 4-year programs, culminating in an associate or a bachelor’s degree. Two-year programs are the most common.
Personality Profile
Hands and eyes would be great. Just teasing, but seriously hand-eye coordination is necessary to get good images. An affection or healthy tolerance for math and sciences is prime. People who go into sonography have to participate in continuting education. As technology advances and better images are produced, sonographers must learn about these new techniques and programs.
Perks
- Faster-than-average employment growth is expected.
- Sonography will likely become more popular and more in demand as people search for safer alternatives to radiology.
- Sonography doesn’t have the radioactive side effects taht radiology comes with.
Interesting Tidbit
Different specialities withing sonogrpahy include: Echocardiography (blood flow and blood vessels), Neurosonology (brain and spinal cord) and Gynecology (you guessed it, looking at little baby nuggets in the womb).
Show me the money
Annual earnings differed slightly between doctors’ offices and hospitals in 2002, averaging $50,390 and $47,530 respectively. The median overall earnings for diagnostic medical sonographers were $48,660. The highest and lowest ten percent earned $66,680 and $35,800 respectively, while the middle half made between $41,420 and $56,020.
Tags: health career, radiology, sonographpy
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August 4th, 2009 by alexi
Via the ever-popular blog Fashionista, word is that fashion bastion VOGUE magazine is going through a resources overhaul due to advertising numbers being down.
“That magazine needs a shake up in a big, bad way,” writes Abby Gardner. “But this is a good thing. I’ve always found that tighter budgets, in the end, lead to more creative solutions and final products.”
In hospitality and the food industry, budgets are being stirred around as well. In an article titled “The Re-Invention Revolution” for Hospitality Net, Karen Weiner Escalera explains that even the affluent are rediscovering more simple ways to spend, travel and self-express, and as such, products and services are being created to meet these needs. “Fashion mavens attend beading and jewelry design classes, purely for the creative fulfillment of it,” she says. “One Vancouver café is now doubling as an art studio. The Ace Hotel in Palm Springs lets guests dabble in summer camp-style crafts by hosting an ‘all-inclusive art-making weekend,’ with proceeds benefiting Children in the Arts.”
Even if you’re not the paper mache type, it’s clear that despite the field you are in, industries are making shifts to accommodate ever-tightening budgets.
It will probably be a long time before the world experiences characters like Bernie Madoff again, so here’s hoping that out of this Great Recession, our society may cascade into a 21st century Renaissance.
For more information about creative careers and job outlook, visit www.mycollegesandcareers.com.
Tags: fashion careers
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August 4th, 2009 by Kate Lehnhof
The Vampire Craze has been gone unchecked for months now. It started with Twilight and now the tentacles of this box-office boosting, blood-sucking beast have latched onto film and televisions with shows like True Blood and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. At some point the pandemonium will fizzle and only the real-life vampires will be left standing: Phlebotomists.Ok so they don’t exactly suck blood from people’s necks but they do collect it to be tested for medical purposes. Totally similar right? No? I really wanted to use this metaphor so just indulge me.
What is phlebotomy?
It is a skill employed by physicians and many professionals in the medical field including nurses, medical assistants, paramedics, cardiac physiologists (UK) and clinical laboratory scientists. While all of these people have this skill sometimes the workload of doctors and nurses in relieved by people who strictly collect blood call phlebotomists. Activites of the job include drawing blood from patients or donors, verifying records, taking vital signs and testing blood samples.
Preparation
Phlebotomiest must be 18 and have a high school diploma. Most train for 4 months to a year at a career center or trade school and the biggest requirement is being comfortable with blood. You either got it or you don’t in that regard! After that certification classes are required. They usually run 6 weeks and students can be certified by a number of agencies including the American Society of Clinical Pathologists (ASCP), the American Medical Technologists (AMT), the American Association of Medical Personnel (AAMP), the National Credentialing Agency (NCA)and the National Phlebotomy Association (NPA)
Perks
The demand for phlebotomists is high and expected to grow so finding a job will be easy.
Flexibility is a great part of the job because you can work lots of hours or or for short periods of time by contract.
By the Numbers
Phlebotomists fall are considered health care support workers, and last year there were about 185,000 in the workplace.
Interesting Tidbit
The names of common methods for drawing blood include venipuncture, butterfly, fingerstick, healstick and capillary puncture.
Tags: health care support worker, phlebotomists, phlebotomy
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August 3rd, 2009 by alexi
Not everyone is dieting to lose weight, but when they go out to eat, they face a lot of nutritional snafus that would otherwise be known when cooking at home. A pasta cream sauce, a breaded-and-fried meat dish, or even a salad dressing can be a huge gamble to one’s overall health, let alone to those who are on strict health diets. Those working in the food industry are notorious for adding extra butter and otherwise unwanted calories for the sake of enhancing a food’s flavor. A study reported by the Orlando Sentinel found that expert dietitians miscalculated calorie counts of restaurant entrees by 200-600 calories per item! With overweight population percentages approaching 70 percent in the USA, lawmakers and food industry veterans alike are at a loss if disclosing caloric information effects consumer behavior, but this rift in opinion is precisely at the core of a new food lawmaking fight.
Photo: L.A. Times
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Tags: Catering Management, News, Restaurant Industry
Posted in Healthcare, Legal | No Comments »
August 1st, 2009 by alexi
Want a career full of parties, food, people and colleagues decked out a la Dan Humphrey as ‘cater-waiter’ in the last season of Gossip Girl? Need we say more?!
NATURE OF THE WORK
Food service catering industry events range from corporate lunch box drop-off to full-service wedding receptions. However, usually an event caterer’s responsibility involves managing wait staff serving tables or self-serve buffets at banquets, conventions, and weddings.
Although food is the focal point, caterers also oversee decorations, such as table settings and lighting. Catering companies will as such, execute the client’s envisioned decoration theme or color scheme. Aesthetically-pleasing (and good-tasting) food alone can appeal to the senses, but caterers must keep in mind the decor and ambiance needed to make an event successful. Catering is usually sold on a per-person basis, meaning that there is a flat price for each additional person. Caterers need to keep the budget in mind to make a profit.
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Tags: catering, food, Hospitality Management
Posted in Career, Culinary Arts | 1 Comment »