Month: October 2021

APA – Continuing Education Standards

As part of their charter, the American Psychological Association has long taken it upon themselves to monitor and recommend ways in which mental health professionals can further their learning after graduation and even well into their practice. As part of this responsibility, they have the APA continuing education standards, which they call The Principles of Good Practice. These principles are there for professionals to look at as a guide to help them to learn in the best way possible and to teach others in this same way. When implemented correctly, it can lead to widespread advancement in the field of mental health.

One might ask what the purpose is behind the APA continuing education standards. They have answered this question thoroughly in their own literature. One of the main reasons behind it is to guide institutions of learning in developing curricula that can best model a furtherance of professional teaching post graduation. The institutions can use the standards to not only review their current training material, but to develop new material and classes that can be used by mental health professionals around the world.

One of the most important standards is the use of needs in developing new learning modules. Anyone in charge of developing articles, classes, or other programs should first examine whether or not there is justification for the program in the first place. This can be done in a variety of ways, but mostly it should involve a survey of the intended audience. This can not only serve as a determination of whether the program is necessary, but it can highlight the major needs of that audience. A new program can then be perfectly tailored to meet those needs.

Additionally, the APA continuing education standards call for precise learning outcomes to be written and examined before a new program is developed or put into use. The developers should ask themselves what it is they want their students to get out of the material. What are the main principles they should take away? Once this has been determined, they should examine those outcomes to make sure they are necessary or even important. If not, they should consider revising the material or doing away with the program altogether.

When it comes to any field, it is important to keep learning after graduation. Nowhere is this more true than in the mental health field. New research is being conducted every day, and new ways of learning are being perfected just as quickly. By keeping these new learning modules held to a standard, the APA can ensure that the learning is purposeful and effective.…

Engineering Continuing Education – What Is the Future of Engineering?

With the current down turn in the economy many engineers have loss their jobs or worried that they maybe losing their job soon. Budget constraints both in the public and private sector are forcing to think about how secure the jobs really are. But as we all know this recession will not last forever. Sooner or later the promised recovery will begin. The question is what engineering will benefit from the renewed economy and which ones will not fair so well? There is no real crystal ball, but there are clear indicators that every engineer should be aware of and make preparations accordingly.

Engineers will need to continue their education to stay up with the latest technologies to offer their clients the best solutions. Most of the State Licensing Boards require Professional Engineers to renew their professional licenses periodically with a minimum number of continuing education units. These units are usually Professional Development Hours (PDH) or Continuing Education Units (CEU). One PDH is equivalent to one hour of course education, and one CEU is equivalent to ten PDH or ten hours of course education. Some may find that their profession is not growing or trailing behind may need to change careers or strength their technical knowledge.

One of the best indicators of upcoming markets is to know what the baby boomer generation needs and wants. The baby boomers, the individuals born between 1945 and 1964, are now approaching retirement age. Many will be retiring and will require some medical and health assistance. They will also want medication to appear young as long as possible. Obviously fields that support this industry will do very well. The most likely profession to benefit is Biomedical Engineers. They are necessary to improve new medical devices and equipment. In addition, new facilities will be required for the aging population. Independent Living Facilities and senior communities will rise in demand. This will definitely improve prospects for Civil and Mechanical Engineers.

Another field that will continue to have a high demand for engineers is the environmental fields, which includes new green products, renewable energy, water resources, and waste-water management. The United States will continue to encourage renewable energy including wind and solar power with government grants and other types of funding. These projects will generate numerous jobs for many different professions. As the population continues to expand a greater demand will be placed on housing and our water resources and waste-water management. These increased demands will increase jobs for Electrical, Mechanical, Civil and Environmental Engineers.

Due to the increasing population and aging facilities, the government will also need to expand and improve the country’s infrastructure. Roads, bridges, dams, railways, airports, and utilities throughout the country will need greater attention. These improvements will also increase the demand for Civil Engineers.

According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Occupational Outlook Handbook”, 2010-11 Edition, over the next decade, 2008 to 2018, the engineering field should grow by 11%. In 2008 engineers held 1.6 million jobs in the United States. A little more than 45% were employed by the three leading professions; Civil, Mechanical, and Industrial Engineering. As expected the three smallest engineering professions are highly specialized; Agricultural, Mining and Safety, and Marine and Naval Engineers.

Another surprise was that about 3 percent in 2008 were self-employed, many as consultants. This means that 97% of engineers are employed by the government or private firms.

One would think that most engineers are employed by the government, but according to the report about 12 percent in 2008 were employed by the Federal, State, and local governments, and about half of them were in the Federal Government, mainly in the U.S. Departments of Defense, Transportation, Agriculture, Interior, and Energy, and in the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Many engineers in State and local government agencies worked in highway and public works departments. Approximately 45% are employed in three professions; Civil, Mechanical, and Industrial engineering.

Three leading employed professions

Civil Engineers- 278,400

Mechanical Engineers – 238,700

Industrial Engineers – 214,800

Three lowest employed professions

Agricultural Engineers 2,700

Mining and Geological Engineers, including mining safety engineers 7,100

Marine Engineers and Naval Architects 8,500

The three engineering professions expecting the highest growth rate over the decade are Biomedical, Environmental, and Civil. These professions provide professional services in the industries which are expected to have the most significant growth. These fields include Health and Medical, Environmental Technologies, Infrastructure including transportation and utilities, and Water Resources and Waste Management. These industries also require the engineers to be local to provide the necessary services.

In addition to openings from job growth, many openings will be created by the need to replace current engineers who retire; transfer to management, sales, or other occupations; or leave engineering for other reasons.…

How to Become a CPA

For those seeking a lucrative and in-demand profession based on numbers and math, as well as potential involvement in the world of business, then learning how to become a CPA will be a great decision. CPAs, or certified public accountants, are licensed accountants who have successfully passed a fairly rigorous standards process to advance their careers and open up the doors to more job opportunities and advancement.

The first step in the process for how to become a CPA will be to ensure you’re the right kind of person for this field. If you struggle with math and numbers, and you don’t like working those kinds of problems and figures, then being a CPA won’t be for you, simply put. However, if that has always been a strong point for you, and it’s something that you’re comfortable with, then you’ve already passed the first test in your journey and can begin thinking about moving ahead.

CPAs are all required to have a bachelors degree. Most commonly, individuals will graduate with an accounting degree, however, you may have chosen a business or finance diploma, perhaps with a minor in accounting. Your choice will largely depend on whether you knew from the start you’d like to become a CPA, and also what your intentions are in the field.

This is important to think about as well as you career plan. Is your end goal with gaining CPA licensure to be a full-time accountant, either for your own business or with a large firm? Or do you want this kind of background to potentially enter the business or entrepreneurship realms? These questions will help you choose the right bachelors degree program, as well as the right postgraduate program, if applicable.

One major question that people have as they learn how to become a CPA is whether or not they need a masters level diploma. The short answer is that no, they don’t, however, the majority of states require CPAs to have 150 credit-hours of education, as opposed to bachelors degrees which are based on 120 credits.

Therefore, many people decide they may as well obtain a masters while they’re at it, and they get a masters in accounting or business administration. However, many accounting bachelors programs are actually 5-year programs designed to get you all of those credits at once without a masters.

Once you’re done with that educational path, the next step for how to become a CPA is to pass the CPA exam. It’s an intense four-part Uniform CPA Examination, which is given by AICPA, or the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. Less than half of people pass all four parts in their first try, and that’s not a necessity. The requirement is simply that you need to pass all four within 18 months.

From there, to gain your full CPA license, you may need on the job experience, and you’ll need to maintain your status with ongoing education credits. If you can make it through this, then you’ll be able to enjoy the benefits of a career as a CPA.

To find out how to become a CPA right now as well as other useful job, education and career training resources go to …

Mental Health Continuing Education Formats

No matter which health care field you are in, you will find that you must pursue education after college and post-college training in order to maintain your competitive edge and often to become certified as well. If you need mental health continuing education, you will find a wide range of formats available to you. By choosing the format that best fits your schedule, you can continue to meet the needs of your patients while pursuing the education vital to your career.

Online Courses

Online courses offer one of the most convenient ways to pursue a new certification or simply refresh your mind about topics important to your career field. Online mental health continuing education allows you to study on your own time schedule. If you need to be in the office for a 12-hour day, you can postpone study for the next day when you have few patients scheduled. You can read or listen to a lecture on your lunch break, or you can finish the entire course in a short time frame to earn your credits quickly. If flexibility is what you need, the online courses will work well.

Evening Classes

Some times the best way to ensure that you get the mental health continuing education that you need is to sign up for an evening class or two. Set aside one or two evenings a week, dedicate them as time spent furthering your training, and then use those evenings to attend a course at a college in your area. It may take a while to earn a certificate or complete a degree on this schedule, but you should be able to get enough credits to maintain your certification, while still keeping your schedule free to help your patients.

Seminars

Seminars provide mental health continuing education in a condensed format. Instead of returning to the university week after week, you set aside a day or two to hear speakers talk about hot topics in the psychotherapy field. You come away with a wealth of information covering many topics, as well as a few credits to add to your resume. When you attend a seminar, the time spent away from the office yields valuable information and practical tools you can bring back to the clinic to implement with your patients.

Online Seminars

Sometimes the best speakers and trainers do not come to your area. Rather than traveling long distances to find a seminar, see if you can find online seminars, or “webinars” that cover the topics you need to learn more about. This combines the flexibility of online coursework with the condensed training found in a seminar. Best of all, you do not have to leave home to earn your mental health continuing education credits.

Each of these formats has benefits and drawbacks. Some require an ongoing time commitment, while others may require you to close up shop for a few days. You must weigh these benefits and drawbacks carefully as you decide which format for training best fits your needs.…

Continuing Education: A Great Option for Massage Therapists

If you are currently in a massage therapy job on entry level and desire to take your career to the next level, then you must make certain efforts towards your mission. If you are an experienced massage therapist, hold license and want a good break in the lucrative health care industry, there are certain rules you require following. So what to be done under these circumstances and many more to accomplish your mission and fulfill desires? Well, the rules are not tough to follow. All you require doing is to focus on Continuing Education. This will definitely equip you with skills that can take your career to the next level.

These days, you would find numerous Continuing Education options online. You can easily choose some of these options to enjoy better career options and renew your license whenever required. A little research online will let you know that most of these courses have been specifically designed for training massage therapists. These courses will allow them to stay updated with current trends. These courses will also satisfy their curiosity and create novel ideas in the related field such as the following:

•Prenatal massage

•Canine massage

•Sports related massage

•Eastern massage

•Medical massage therapy

The most interesting fact is that you can learn more than about eighty different types of massage. You would also be able to gather vital information on varied types of modalities that exist as per the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Continuing Education classes will definitely benefit you as a person. This is not all. These classes will also benefit your profession. You can learn many new modalities. You may even specialize in precise populations. This will ultimately result in increasing your clientele. This means that you can now increase your hourly rate. This will depend on the massage type you perform.

The more information, understanding and practice of various advanced massage techniques you possess, the more you can define the requirements of your clients and support them via using massage therapy. This is also a great way to formulate specified pre-massage assessment that directly benefits the client and in return, enhances the likelihood of him/her turning in to a repeat client.

Some of the other major reasons for taking up Continuing Education courses include the following stated below:

1)To obtain advanced massage therapy degree

2)To obtain valuable Advanced Certification in massage therapy

3)To obtain Continuing Education (CE) credits and renew your state license/professional membership

An advanced degree in massage therapy will let you successfully explore advanced concepts in human physiology and anatomy, neurophysiology, neuroanatomy, medical massage, and other varied other topics that are usually not covered in a basic or entry level training Program for Massage Therapy Certificate. Advanced degree in hand will let you equip yourself with advanced skills and practice massage therapy in a hospital or rehabilitative massage clinic. An Advanced Certification in massage therapy has been specifically designed in a fashion to offer advanced knowledge to students who have already accomplished their entry level training as a massage therapist.…

Nursing Continuing Education – An Introduction

Nursing has always been an inextricably integral element of healthcare management system. However, the ongoing developments in the field of medicine, along with the changing social dynamics of the patient-doctor relationship, place several challenges for practicing nurses. This means it is no longer enough to simply have practical and theoretical knowledge of the technical aspects of nursing. They are also required to showcase leadership skills and take initiative to enhance their career growth. They must attain appropriate standards of care and adopt ‘cost-effective healthcare strategies.’ The right online nursing continuing education can help achieve all this.

Nursing Continuing Education -State Requirements

Healthcare being a top priority of most state administrations, nurses and doctors are required to comply with the best standards to be able to get their licenses re-registered. This is yet another area where online courses have an edge. Anyone can pursue these courses while still working and save themselves the need of attending classes. While choosing an online course, make sure that its curriculum covers all state prescribed requirements (different for different states).

Nursing Continuing Education -Cost Effectiveness

If you want a nursing continuing education course that complements your limited budget, then online education is the best option for you. Classroom-based courses tend to have a negative impact on two fronts. First, you will have to attend them after your working hours or take leave to attend them. Besides, the whole process can be very tiring, eventually impacting your work.

Online training has no such disadvantages. You can study whenever you want, as they have no fixed schedules; although you can attach a deadline to them for your own benefit. Now even the state regulatory authorities are accepting these online courses.

Nursing Continuing Education -Where to Look For?

If you are looking for an online continuing education program for nurses that also conform to your state regulations, Certification Plus is the answer for you. They offer several competitive nursing courses including a course for advancing your career options. The institute also specializes in offering other online training, which include insurance, real estate and occupational safety. For more information on their latest offerings and trainings, please visit .…

Continuing Education Counseling Classes

As a counselor you likely encounter a variety of issues. Whether you specialize in marriage counseling or youth counseling, you probably feel sometimes like you have seen everything imaginable. Even though it may seem like this, it is probably not the case. Most likely there is much more for you to encounter and most of all learn how to encounter. This being the situation, continuing education counseling classes are essential whether or not they are required for you to be a certified counselor.

Perhaps in your main training you had a variety of broad classes for the counselor. Now that you have had a practice for a time, perhaps you are seeing what really interests you the most and are interested in specializing in a certain area. You will have the opportunity to specialize more by taking continuing education counseling courses. You can always be taking one if you would like and if it fits into your schedule.

There are many different continuing education counseling institutions available today where you can take a wide range of courses. Some institutions have both in the classroom classes as well as online situations. Others focus more on just the online courses, webinars, webcasts, and reading courses. The latter are a good option for those with a very busy schedule where it would be virtually impossible to schedule a class into the day.

Another option to consider if you do not have an actual requirement for classes is to discipline yourself and schedule a time every day for study and learning in a particular area of need or interest that you have. Perhaps you have been dealing with a large number of marital cases in recent months. This might drive you to try and learn more techniques and options that are out there when it comes to helping couples. It will really depend on where you have a need or desire.

An important consideration when looking for the actual institution for courses is to consider what associations as well as licensing boards approve of the institution. It is wise to work with one that meets the standards of associations such as the American Psychology association. This will give your course more value, and it is especially important to check into this if they are required courses to get in a certain number of hours for licensing.

Once you do find an institution that meets what you are looking for, you are on your way to being a more knowledgeable counselor. This is beneficial not only for your clients but also for your future as a counselor. Being able to specialize in a specific area may help you to have a more profitable business because you will be able to focus on that one area and strive to be the best in your field.…