The MIT Institute Career Assistance Network (ICAN)

The Institute Career Assistance Network (ICAN) connects MIT alumni with each other and with students to facilitate career strategies, gather quality advice, and open up important networking connections. More than 3,000 alumni across an array of fields have offered to share their wealth of experience as advisors. Advisors may communicate by telephone, e-mail, or in personal meetings.

As a member of the ICAN, I see tremendous value in the college alumni network. If you're plugged into your college alumni network, what are you waiting for? Find your classmates on social networking websites like Facebook or LinkedIn. You can probably find classmates by using Google too. Discover what they're doing and reconnect. Learn from their stories. Get inspired. Ask them to introduce you to other executives in their professional network.

Employment statistics based on your education

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics has published an interesting article comparing employment statistics (and unemployment statistics) based on your education. As expected, if you have a college degree or higher, then you're more likely to have a job and you're more likely to be receiving a higher salary. Some interesting statistics:

For the College Educated: Increasing Employment ...

... Lower Unemployment ...

... and Higher Earnings

You can read the entire story here: Back to College BLS Spotlight on Statistics

6 Non-Clinical Medical Jobs for Recent College Graduates

This is a guest post by Kyle Simpson. If you'd like to submit a guest post, please contact me.

6 Non-Clinical Medical Jobs for Recent College Graduates

So you've got your degree, and you know you want to work in the healthcare industry, but you're not ready -- maybe never will be -- to get into a clinical role. That's probably a good thing; the industry is getting top-heavy and there's a massive market for non-clinical medical personnel. Here are six places that you might have an easy time envisioning yourself:

Medical Transcriptionist
This is for all you grads with 80+ word per minute typing skills. If you can listen to doctors -- bonus pay if they're ESL -- and type out what they say using headphones and a special foot pedal to control the audio, you can set yourself up to make a good forty thousand dollars per year. The sheer volume of work that needs to be transcribed makes this a very high-demand job -- and salaries are increasing every year to prove it. The downside? Listening to doctors with strong Hindi and Mandarin accents all day can make it harder to understand your family when you finally take the headphones off.

Medical Secretary
Medical secretaries are one of the top ten highest-demand jobs in America. Experts anticipate a growth rate between 10% and 20% for years to come. If you've got a Bachelors degree, you can clear forty grand per year easily -- and if you keep up with your continued education requirements, that number will only grow.

MRHIT -- Medical Records and Health Information Technician
Another of the fastest-growing careers in America, MRHITs are a vital element of every hospital, nursing home, and clinic in the nation. Their job is to process and maintain patients' records. As electronic health records adapt to new technology, MRHITs must learn, adapt, and adopt new practices while remaining organized and quick. A MRHIT working for a larger organization can clear forty-five thousand dollars per year.

It's great to reconnect with old friends and colleagues (social networking)

It's been great to reconnect with old friends and colleagues through social networking websites such as LinkedIn and Facebook. It's hard to believe that college was really that long ago! Yet, I'm still reconnecting with classmates from MIT and even with some people from high school.

Have you been expanding your social network? As the world of social networking continues to expand, I find it fascinating to reconnect with people to discover that they have pursued some very interesting career paths. Many have chosen non-traditional careers in the world of health care. Several of my MIT classmates are physicians but they're also entrepreneurs or they're working in non-clinical sectors in various industries such as pharma, business, consulting, medical devices, writing, medical communications, etc. It's also great to reconnect with old friends who are now very active bloggers. I don't feel so alone!

If you'd like to expand your network, I encourage you to start by joining our Member Page (http://members.nonclinicaljobs.com/). Then, if you're on LinkedIn, make sure to join our LinkedIn Group. I look forward to connecting with you!

Thinking about going back to school?

Do you miss college? In so many ways, I wish I could go back in time and relive my four years at MIT. Those were some of the best years of my life. I've met many professionals who are seriously considering the option of going back to school to pursue a healthcare career. This might mean full-time or part-time education for the next few years to become a physician, pharmacist, nurse, nurse practitioner, physician assistant, pharmacy technician, etc. (the list could really go on). This could mean some post-bac programs, additional courses, and then four or more years in graduate school. Other people want to find a way to get into Technical Schools. Some hate the idea of taking another standardized exam like the GRE or MCAT. For those who find themselves struggling with standardized tests, I encourage them to find personal tutors to help them with their problem areas.

I've also run into high school students who are looking for career advice in the healthcare arena. Some high school graduates may be thinking about Career Colleges. Others have no idea what they plan to do with their lives. When I give advice to high school students, I refer them to something like the NCES (National Center for Education Statistics) College Navigator. It's hard to keep up with all the changes and the latest trends across different colleges and universities in the United States, let alone the rest of the world. As a member of the MIT Educational Council, I'm very familiar with the trends at MIT. However, that doesn't reflect what's going on in other schools.

So how about you? Here I am writing about non-clinical jobs for healthcare professionals who wish to leave the clinical setting to work in the business side of healthcare. Are you thinking about getting some education so that you can work on the clinical side? 

Reconnecting on LinkedIn

I just found out that a college friend (MIT alumni) will be relocating to my neighborhood. I haven't seen him in over 10 years! How did I find out? Through LinkedIn. Isn't social networking amazing?

He's starting dental school this fall and I want to wish him the best. After over 10 years of consulting and marketing, he's now entering the clinical world of dentistry. It's understandable to see people shifting from the non-clinical side (i.e., corporate America) to the clinical side. Given today's economy, you could have an MBA from Wharton and still be unemployed if you over-qualify for some of the positions that are out there. Marketing budgets are shrinking and pharma companies and merging and restructuring. It's a scary world out there, but if you stay on the clinical side of healthcare, things appear to be more promising. Well, I just wanted to share another story about how social networking sites can help you get reconnected.

Online Master of Science in Health Communication

Boston University (BU) offers an Online Master of Science in Health Communication. For those of you who are considering a career transition into medical communications, you may want to look into this relatively new degree program. I miss my days in Boston. It's such a wonderful city for a college student. However, if you don't live in Boston, you can still get educated by some of the great colleges in New England. Boston University is an internationally respected university with a reputation for excellence and extensive research and ranks among the Top 100 National Universities according to U.S. News & World Report college rankings. Boston University is regionally accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges, Inc. (NEASC).