- Part 13

CLEP for Soldiers

The military lifestyle is unfortunately not flexible. It is almost impossible to earn a degree to either get the skills needed to excel in the Army or to become an officer, or to make the transition to the civilian career world much easier. Fortunately, CLEP or the College Level Exam Program, exists for military personnel to get a college degree while they serve and without even enrolling in a class.

CLEP allows soldiers to earn credit for undergraduate college courses through testing rather than classwork. CLEP exams are accepted for college credit in nearly three thousand schools across the U.S. including a number of online schools. Since CLEP exams are designed to replace full-blown courses for college credit, if you pass an exam, participating colleges will likely accept those credits.

Most tests are designed to replace ones-semester courses, but some correspond to full-year or two-year courses. There are two categories for the CLEP Examinations: General and Subject. The general examinations cover broader areas while subject exams are much more specific. The exams are either conducted online or on paper depending on whether the taker register to take the exam at a DANTES test center, an on-base education, or a college campus test center.

The DANTES (Defense Activity for Non-Traditional Education) funds the CLEP exams for eligible military service members and civilian employees. All active-duty and reserve military personnel, regardless of branch are eligible for DANTES funded CLEP. Although, anyone can take the CLEP, just not the DANTES funded CLEP exams.

Inactive and veteran service members are unfortunately not eligible for the DANTES funded CLEP, though their education benefits can help them pay for college classes.

CLEP exams are always free for soldiers who report to on-base and DANTES test centers while college testing centers require a small registration fee. Still, you can work toward a meaningful civilian career.

Healthcare Insurance

Health is rooted in everyday life. If you, or any of our family members become ill, you lose the focus on what is important to you—learning, providing for our family, building a home and family, and realizing our true potential.

In order for you to do all those things, you must take better care of our health. Therefore, the importance of healthcare insurance cannot be minimized. No one plans to get sick or hurt, but most people need medical care at some point in their lives. When that happens, when you need to see a doctor, you can afford to go with healthcare insurance.

Health insurance is there for the unpredictable, unexpected, and fundamentally uncontrollable problems the come up in people’s lives. You pay for it but you hope that you will never need it. And although you are still young and healthy, you will never know when you will require medical care.

One of the reasons why it is important to get health insurance is to avoid the risk of a financial ruin. When an unexpected medical care is needed such as in a sudden or serious illness or a traumatic event, paying high medical bills is expected. The inability to pay these bills is one of the reasons why people file for bankruptcy which can ruin your credit history and set you back for years.

Another reason is to have access to preventive and primary care. This means you are more likely to stay healthy and catch health problems early. The earlier an illness is detected, they are easier and less expensive to treat. Even young people benefit from this kind of healthcare coverage.

There are many other reasons why health insurance is important even if you are not sick. Having good health insurance provides you with an affordable way to get medical care when you need it.

DANTES Credit by Examination

Many students who are interested in credit by examination can take the DSST, or the DANTES Subject Standardized Tests. The DANTES (Defense Activity for Nontraditional Education Support) program by the U.S. Department of Defense is the program that provides the resources for DSST. One of DANTES main objective is to make college more affordable and less time consuming for active duty and veteran military members. Through DANTES, the DSST is started to offer support for service members who were working towards earning their degrees. That is why there is a DANTES credit by examination.

The DANTES credit by examination is a program that gives you the opportunity to demonstrate college-level achievement through a program of exams in undergraduate college courses. The examinations for DSST include 38 subjects which are similar to end-of-course test offered by colleges and universities. This will allow you to earn credits required for a college degree if passed.

There are a lot of positive reasons why you should take credit-by-examinations. One, it saves you money because an average college course can cost over $100 per credit, whereas the DANTES credit by examination is free for service members and only over $40 for civilian student per exam. You also don’t have to be enrolled in college to take the exams which is also one way for you to save up.

Taking the examination also saves you time and helps you skip ahead. An average college course takes three or more months to complete while you could spend less than a month preparing for each test depending on your stored knowledge. And by passing the examinations, you will not have to sit through a boring college course.

Moreover, taking the exams offers you flexibility. Since you are not required to take a college course, you can set your own pace and choose your own study materials.

Improved Patient Care

Health is wealth, as the saying goes. And for those who are not in good health, the next best thing that we can ask for is to receive the best patient care from our health care providers. With the increasing demand for better care, greater awareness among the public, more health care regulation, keener competition, the rise in medical malpractice litigation, and concern about poor outcomes, we can say that improving patient care should be a priority.

To improve patient care, there are medical and non-medical factors to be considered, as well as a comprehensive system that is “patient oriented” and improves both medical and non-medical aspects must be adopted.

Before anything else, it must be recognized by all those who work in the system that the patient is the most important person in a medical care system. This single factor makes a significant difference to the patient care in any hospital. With patients being the priority, the health care provider is able to create a management system that emphasizes on cost recovery. A patient who receives high quality services and can afford it is one way to tell that patient care has improved and at the same time patient satisfaction is higher.

The non-medical factors that should be considered to improve patient care are the following: accessibility and availability of both hospital and the physician should be assured to all those who require health care, waiting times for services should be minimized, information should be made very clear, check-in and check-out procedures should be “patient-friendly”, communication with the patient and the family about possible delay should be done, and ancillary services should be available to both patient and attending families.

Some of the medical aspects to be considered for improved patient care are: well-trained personnel, present and properly maintained equipment, use of proper instruments, use of appropriate medications, and use of newer technologies.

Studying Sociology

No one can live as an island. We have heard of this phrase countless times and it has been proven that indeed no one can survive being alone. If you have watched the movie “Castaway,” then that means you get the idea why humans thrive and develop off interaction with other humans. We need to be able to communicate in order to fulfill our physical needs and satisfy our emotional and mental development. Unlike domestic animals such as dogs, human beings are social animals.

Studying Sociology helps us understand what is going on around the world. It helps us look more objectively at our society and other societies. Sociology can provide insight into the way in which individuals, friends, families, and whole societies function and interact with one another. It directs attention to how the parts of society fit together and change, and the consequences of social change.

Sociology also improves communication skills, for both written and verbal communication. Human interaction is a vital part of studying sociology, and what better way for humans to interact than through communication? Discussions and debates are the basis of many sociology classes wherein people can explore and challenge the ideas of others. In order to defend our ideas or dispute others, as well as articulate the complex theories and abstract concepts of the principles of Sociology, good knowledge and command of English are required, thus, helping us improve our communication skills.

There are a lot of careers to choose from when we study Sociology. Aside from being “sociologists,” a job title that can be obtained through and MA or PhD degree in Sociology, many other opportunities exist such is becoming high school teachers or faculty in colleges and universities, advising students, conducting research, and publishing work. In some sectors, sociologists work closely with economists, political scientists, anthropologists, psychologists, social workers, and others.

Signs To Look Out For Before Considering Assisted Living Centers

When you were little, your parents were the ones who took care of you. From making sure you were eating properly down to bathing you every day. Therefore, moving a parent into an assisted living center is one of the hardest and heart-wrenching decisions of your life. You feel guilty because you want to return the care that your parents gave you. However, guilt is the last thing you need to feel when considering assisted living for your parents. Always remember that in an assisted living center, they are provided assistance to make sure they are safe and healthy.

Unlike a nursing home, assisted living centers do not provide medical care such as treatment for specific conditions or diseases, making it appealing as they offer a relatively high level of independence. In fact, residing in an assisted living center is similar to having a private apartment but with an added perk that a trained staff is on hand to help your loved one when necessary.

But when is it the right time to decide when to move a parent to an assisted living center? Take a good look at the present housing situation, health status, and medical needs. If your parent is telling you that they are eating but you see food go bad in the refrigerator. If your parent is covering up bruises from a fall. If your parent cannot bathe themselves, groom adequately and launder clothes. If they forget to turn the appliances when they are finished cooking. And if you do not see the same bright and vibrant person they used to be years ago. These are some of the sure signs that tell you it is time for you to make that decision.

All of us care for our parents. And moving a parent to an assisted living center does not make us care for them any less.

Hospice Care and How It Can Help

We need all the comfort and support we can get if we are going through a life-limiting illness or if a loved one is in the last stages of a serious illness. Everyone deserves the right to die pain-free and with dignity, to live each day as fully as possible. And the family also deserves the necessary support when a member is terminally ill.

In this stage of a person’s life, a specialized care designed to provide support by a team of healthcare professionals who maximize comfort by reducing pain and addressing physical, psychological, social and spiritual needs is on option. This specialized care is called hospice care which focuses on caring and not curing.

In a hospice care, the interdisciplinary team provides the following services: manages the patient’s pain and symptoms, assists the patient with the emotional and psychosocial and spiritual aspects of dying, provides needed drugs, medical supplies, and equipment, coaches the family on how to care for the patient, delivers special services like speech and physical therapy when needed, makes short-term care available when pain or symptoms become too difficult to manage at home, or the caregiver needs respite time, and provides bereavement care and counseling to surviving families and friends.

Most hospice care is provided at home. Typically, a family member serves as the primary caregiver and, when appropriate, helps make decisions for the person who is terminally ill. Aside from the primary caregiver, the hospice care team is composed of the patient’s personal physician, hospice physician, nurses, home health aides, social workers, clergy or other counselors, trained volunteers, and speech, physical, and occupational therapist if needed.

Dying does not need to be painful and emotionally hurtful. The goal of hospice care is to support the highest quality of life possible for whatever time remains. It affirms life and views death as a natural process.

Physician Efficiency vs. Patient Involvement in Patient Care

Having to go through a medical process can really be a frustrating experience especially when the patient is left unknowing about it. But how much does a patient want to know about and be involved in their own care? The response to this question cannot be fully relied on a single answer simply because many personalities and emotional complexities are involved when it comes to patient care.

Doctors like to simplify issues into neat categories, each of which have a clear management plan. This, however, is not necessarily applicable in patient care especially when it involves different personalities and emotions. One cannot simply eliminate the feelings of patients especially when satisfaction of the care they receive is involved.

In this case, the battle between increased physician efficiency through well-planned medical processes and better healthcare understanding buy the patient is the dilemma. Which of the two is best for patient care? There is reasonable argument for both.

A well thought of medical plan can be beneficial to an extent. There are physicians that prefer to spend their day practicing in a world of medical fact and deductive reasoning without taking into consideration patient reaction. The more practice, the less the mistakes are. But it can be argued that higher efficiency does not represent the rate at which patients are satisfied customers.

On the patient side, the ability of the medical team to involve them in their own care and make them aware of the plan lessen the patient’s frustrations with treatment. Doctors that are well-loved by their patients are those who spend time with them, to answer questions and provide a picture of what the coming days and weeks might look like. However, it can be argued that most of the questions can be answered not necessarily by the doctors themselves but by a less senior and equally able medical practitioners working for the admitting service.

Both have valid arguments and probably the best patient care in one that involves both as well.

Psychology and Memory

Psychology derives from Greek roots meaning study of the psyche, or soul. It is defined as the study of the mind and behavior. Psychology, as defined by the American Psychological Association, is an academic discipline and an applied science which seeks to understand individuals and groups by establishing general principles and researching specific areas.

With Psychology as the study of the mind, it leads us to memory. One function of the mind is to store and remember information. Memory is the sum total of what we remember, and gives us the capability to learn and adapt from previous experiences as well as build relationships.

However, our memory is not perfect or immune to errors. Sometimes we forget things from important to mundane that, one way or another, play such a pervasive and pivotal role in our daily lives. For example, forgetting a friend’s birthday or misplacing an important document.

Daniel L. Schacter, psychologist and memory expert, presented a framework designed to outline the seven major “sins” of memory in his book, “The Seven Sins of Memory.” These seven “sins” are transience, absent-mindedness, blocking, mis-attribution, suggestibility, bias and persistence.

Schacter describes the first three sins as those of omission (the memory is lost). Our memory fades over time, is easily distracted that is why we become absent-minded, and is blocked because we struggle to remember things when we know that we know it in the first place.

The last four sins Schacter describes as the sins of commission (at least some of the memory is there, but it is either wrong or unwanted. Our memory mistakes its source, is influenced by outside factors which triggers false memories, is influence by our current beliefs, and remembers things that we would rather forget.

Although our memory is not perfect, it allows us to adapt and interact in a world full of overwhelming information.

The Advantages of Advanced Placement Courses

One important decision to make in high school is whether or not to take advanced placement courses, college-level classes taught in high school. According to Allen Grove, a college admissions expert, you should take advantage of the courses offered in your school. Taking advanced placement courses will benefit you in both the college application process and undergraduate life.

In a world where entering college is a challenge, taking the AP courses will give you that boost among other college applicants. Your academic record is the most important part of college application thus, succeeding in difficult courses is the surest sign of your preparedness for college which will then impress college admissions counselors.

Advanced placement courses require high-level calculation and critical thinking that you’ll encounter in your first year of college. Therefore, if you’ve successfully passed an AP course, you have developed college-level academic skills which in turn will lead you to a fruitful college life.

If you take enough AP courses, this will help you in saving money in the long run. You can potentially graduate a semester or even a year early which is a good idea for students who are not receiving financial aid. Instead of spending tens of thousands of dollars for another semester or year, graduating early is a great option.

Choosing a major sooner is also one of the benefits in taking advanced placement courses. Each course provides in-depth introduction to a specific subject area and a high score on an AP exam often fulfills one of a college’s general education requirements. Therefore, it will give you ample time to explore different academic fields.

Colleges also honor credits earned from taking advanced placement courses. With this, you can take more elective classes that serve your interests like glass blowing or the occult. You can also add a minor or second major more easily because AP credits will make it more feasible.