Microblog: Careers with Minnesota Companies: Mayo Clinic

The Mayo Clinic, the #1 hospital in the world, sees over 1 million patients every year from all 50 states and over 150 countries. It began after William Mayo started his practice of medicine in 1864. His sons grew up and became physicians also, and began what is now the Mayo Clinic, a huge campus of buildings that see many different medical issues and also houses the Mayo College of Medicine. Some history: http://history.mayoclinic.org/stories.php#video-container

 

The unique thing about this giant medical center is that, when you are seen, all the specialists you might need are in this one place and you will likely see them all in the same day. Your test results will be processed immediately so that you  get your diagnosis quickly and can make a plan for treatment with your doctors. It is a collaborative and cooperative treatment center where top-quality doctors consider themselves colleagues and partners, working together to solve medical problems for the good of the patient. The 4500+ physicians are paid a salary, not by how many patients they see; this was the plan of the Mayo Brothers from the start. Anyone can be seen at Mayo, usually without a referral.

                                                                     Charles and William Mayo

 

While the location of the first Mayo Clinic- Rochester, Minnesota-is still its primary location, working with St Mary's Hospital and Methodist Hospital in Rochester, Mayo also has locations in Florida and Arizona.

 

Mayo is also a health care system with clinics located throughout southern Minnesota.


Mayo offers medical and graduate school:  http://www.mayo.edu/education/?_ga=1.17297274.272890092.1444934606


Here is their main website:   http://www.mayoclinic.org/




Employment at Mayo covers everything from building maintenance to specialists in dozens of types of practice. Here is a link to Human Resources at Mayo: http://www.mayoclinic.org/jobs


Examples of openings (besides physicians) currently available:

• Research
• Surgical Tech
• Home Health Care
• Personal Care Assistant
• Physician's Assistant/Nurse Practitioner
• Lab Assistant
• Housekeeping
• Dialysis Tech
• Pharmacy Technician
• Pharmacist
• Physical and Occupational Therapists
• Information Technologists
• RNs in many specialties, such as Cardiology, Pediatrics, Oncology, Psychiatry
• Transplant Specialists

If you want to work for one of the most-admired medical systems in the world, Mayo could be your employer. Check them out!

Job Description: Pharmacist

A Pharmacist does much more than just count out pills to put in prescription bottles.

 

A typical course of education for a pharmacist begins with a Bachelors Degree: 2 years of generals and then 2 years of classes such as Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Anatomy & Physiology, and pharmaceutical practices.


The doctorate degree includes education in laws involved with pharmacy practice, dosage, health management, and equipment used on the job. The schooling will then include a residency program lasting one to two years, similar to a medical doctor.


Education must take place at a school accredited by the Accreditation Council of Pharmaceutical Education (ACPE), and must pass the NAPLEX (Board certification exam) to obtain a license to practice as a pharmacist.

Here are some responsibilities of a pharmacist:

 

• Noting allergies:Does the patient have a reaction to a drug? What can be substituted?
• Filling prescriptions on a timely basis
• Knowledge of insurance coverage: there are many insurance companies to deal with, including people using Medicare or Medicaid or assistance with their prescriptions: What's covered, and the amount covered?
• Advising patients about their medications
• Staying up-do-date on new medications
• Being aware of any problems with medications such as recalls
• Knowledge of chronic illnesses and their medications, such as diabetes or heart disease

• Communicating with medical professionals such as doctors or nurse practitioners
• Knowing when two drugs cannot be taken together, catching that mistake, and suggesting a different combination, possibly to the physician
• Instructing patients how to take their medications: Does orange juice make it less powerful? Can you take it on an empty stomach, or not?
• Understanding how the drugs are going to work to combat a condition
• Warning patients of side effects
• Knowledge about over the counter  (not prescription) treatments

More details on the coursework:  http://study.com/pharmacist_education.html

 Here is a link to the University of MN's Pharmacy program:  https://www.pharmacy.umn.edu/
University of North Dakota:  https://www.usnews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-health-schools/north-dakota-state-university-200332
University of Wisconsin-Madison  (scroll down)  https://www.usnews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-health-schools/university-of-wisconsin-madison-240444

Traveling Nurse: Is it For You?

You may want to consider becoming a traveling nurse. These nurses register with a travel nurse agency, which then places them in jobs across the country. The positions are considered temporary, but may last anywhere from a few weeks to a year. As a traveling nurse, you would fill in for hospitals and other facilities when they have a shortage of nurses. This could be due to:

• Lack of applicants in their area
• Large numbers of nurses on vacation
• Nurses on maternity leave
• New facility that isn't fully staffed yet
• Nursing strikes
• Not enough Human Resources people to interview and hire nurses that are needed

Most agencies will want you to have a year of experience as a nurse. After that, you can register and be hired quickly.

 

Some facts about being a traveling nurse:

 

• Pay is excellent, commonly more than the average nurse's pay. This is because it is not a permanent position and requires you to move, even if temporarily, away from your home. It may be up to $48.00 an hour in some cases.
• Your housing, including furnishings, is paid for by your agency; you pay nothing for rent
• Travel to and from your temporary assignment is also paid for
• You do receive benefits from the agency who employs you, in many cases exactly like any other employer (medical, dental, 401K, etc)
• Licensure is something to be discussed with your agency; typically a nurse who has passed Boards is licensed only in the three or four states surrounding that nurse's home. Read more about licensing for traveling nurses here: https://www.travelnursing.com/news/career-development/have-license-will-travel/

 

In order to be a good traveling nurse, you must be

 

• Flexible-willing to accept a variety of assignments in a variety of locations
• Adaptable-you can tune into your temporary location's practices and get along with others
• You genuinely like traveling-you're not going to be 'homesick'
• You must have high level skills: the hospital or other facility you are sent to expects you to be excellent at what you do and not need a lot of training
• You need to be independent and able to manage your time well, and to find your way in a new location-to look at it as an adventure

And as with any position, a facility has the right to dismiss you if you don't work out for it; you are not in a union with a contract type of nursing job.

 

There are also opportunities for specialty nurses, such as an Oncology, Pediatric, Cardiac, or Neurological nurse, for examples. You can also travel as a Radiologic Technician, Occupational, Physical, or Speech therapist; Nurse Managers and Nurse Practicioners.

 

This is a site that hires traveling nurses. We are not recommending it, necessarily, but it gives descriptions of Traveling Nurse positions: https://www.travelnursing.com/what-is-travel-nursing/traveling-nurse-RN-salary-benefits-housing/


If you want to travel, make good money, get a variety of experiences and learn more about people and places, consider being a travel nurse!

Why We Care About Lead Poisoning

You may have heard about the water problems they're having in Flint, Michigan.

 

Here's the basics: Flint always took its water from Lake Huron, but to save money, the City leaders decided it would use the Flint River instead. That river is very polluted; in fact, some residents thought it was a joke when it was first suggested. It was to be a temporary solution, but went on for several years.

 

The water coming out of faucets in homes was brown and tasted bad. Not only did people hesitate to drink the water, but also to bathe in it or cook with it. Complaints were made, but nothing was done. Two years after the switch, some researchers came in and found the lead levels in the water to be much too high-19 times the amount found in Lake Huron water. The City of Flint hadn't followed Federal law regulating water quality. It was revealed that if the City of Flint had spent just $100 a day for a chemical to treat the water, the lead would have been eliminated or greatly reduced.

 

Where does lead come from?

• It comes from old paint, which contained lead. Lead is no longer allowed as an ingredient in paint. Children have picked off pieces of old paint and eaten them, and if there is lead dust in the air it can be breathed in.
• In the past, pipes used to set up water systems in cities were either made of lead or contained lead. Since this was so many years ago, replacing the pipes is a huge undertaking. Pipes can be lined with a safe coating that seals it off. 
• Lead was also present in window blinds made long ago. Dust from these blinds can get into the air and be breathed in.
• The ways it gets into our bodies is through eating or drinking things with high levels of lead or it can also be breathed in and absorbed through the skin.

It looks harmless...

 *Interesting to note that it is closely related to tin. In the 1600s, tin used to be called "plumbum candidum (bright tin) and lead used to be called "plumbum nigrum (black tin)"...you see where the term 'plumbing' came to be.

 

But it's not meant to be put into the human body.

Here are symptoms of lead poisoning:

• Brain damage, loss of IQ
• Tooth decay
• Hearing loss
• Anemia
• Seizures
• Short attention span, ADD, hyperactivity
• Abdominal pain and disorders
• Memory Loss
• Stunted growth-it affects the human growth hormone

Children are particularly vulnerable to brain damage; their bodies absorb lead very easily. Tests done on children from Flint show that they have lost several IQ points due to lead poisoning.   

People who work in these lines of work have often been exposed to lead, through breathing in fumes or through absorption through their skin-

• Welders
• Printers
• People who work with X-rays and do not wear protective gear
• Metal foundries
• Miners

 

The lead dust can be brought into the home on the clothes of people and thereby expose the rest of the household by breathing or through their skin.

You can read about the ongoing crisis in Flint here, and about the doctor that made a connection and proved there was a huge problem.

http://edition.cnn.com/2016/02/03/us/flint-michigan-water-crisis/index.html

The lines on these bones are from lead poisoning: they should not be there.

 

Here is info from the Center For Disease Control:

 

http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/lead/

Going Places: Careers That Involve Travel

There are plenty of ways to have a career in another country. Be aware, though, that simply wanting to do it needs to be coupled with a number of factors...

• Adaptability
• Ability to earn enough money
• Self-confidence
• Openness to other cultures

Obviously, being able to converse in another language will be key. It will always be helpful to include any studies about world economics, world culture, geography, and political science.

A great piece that explores things to think about: http://www.transitionsabroad.com/publications/magazine/0401/what_it_takes_to_life_and_work_abroad.shtml








Retail buyers buy merchandise to be sold for their companies. In other words, the company sends them to find things that will sell in their stores, the buyer figures out how many of each item they'll need in a store, and it's then purchased and shipped to the stores. Often, buyers are sent to countries where the products are made (they may be made in another country for less money) to choose what to offer their customers.

• Majors: Marketing, Business Admin, Business, Finance, Economics, Statistics, Merchandising.

An Au Pair cares for children in their home and usually also lives in the home with them. Typically, an au pair has her own room and possibly a small 'apartment' within the childrens' home.The Au Pair may travel with the family. 

• Majors: Elementary Education, Child Psychology, Nursing.

A Language Translator will always be in demand. The more languages you master, the more in-demand you will be. In some areas, there are widely different dialects, or versions, of the same language. See Triogenius, March 10, 2014, about work as a translator.

• Major: One or more languages, as well as Sociology, Linquistics, and Political Science. Study areas: foreign relations, social studies, economics
• You can also work as an English teacher in another country.

Geologists There is a constant need for fuel, and so geologists study resources worldwide. Geologists also work to improve roads, dams, and bridges, as well as cleanup of pollution of the earth. *look for a future blog at Triogenius about Geology as a career.

• Major: Geology, obviously, but if you plan to travel, include social studies and other world languages.

Here's one source that talks about different kinds of geologists: http://www.personal.kent.edu/~cschweit/Stark/whygeologymajor.htm

You could work for the State Department at one of our U.S. Embassies in another country. Jobs include Accounting, Visa/Passport Services, Legal, and Technology. http://careers.state.gov/work/foreign-service/local-employment

• Major in: Social Studies, Communications, Geography, International studies, World History; Law, International Law, Accounting

           
                                    U.S. Embassy, Rome, Italy
**WOW for 1-25-2016: Embassy: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/embassy ***



Doctors and nurses are always in need, here and in other countries. Organizations such as Doctors Without Borders, UNICEF, and World Relief, will be happy to have you working with them.


International Aid Workers are always in demand, whether you have a medical background or not. There is also a need for pharmacists and lab techs.
Majors: http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/who-we-need

• Medicine
• Nursing
• Social Work with an emphasis on Third World Economics

 

Archaeologists study past civilizations in other countries. If you're into relics, fossils, and generally uncovering the mysteries of centuries ago, consider this as a career (See Triogenius November 4, 2013)

Tech wizards can always find work in any country: Again, studying a foreign language will be helpful as well. Tech Security will be an ongoing concern worldwide.
Majors: Technology, Criminology, Sociology; coursework in International Studies.




If you love travel, Africa, and photography, consider leading Photography Safaris: Tourists take only pictures of the amazing animals they see. You help them get their best pictures, so knowledge of cameras and the art of photographing wildlife is essential. Other uses for photographers include map-drawing, and news photography.

• Areas of study: Photography, language, Political Science, Geography, International Relations, World History

You can travel for years or only for a while, or sporadically throughout your career. If you have a desire to see the world and meet lots of different people, consider a career involving travel.


For a post about studying abroad, see Triogenius May 5, 2014.