When you begin to consider whether patient and health
advocacy is a good career choice for you, you may also
wonder what kind of education or training you might
need, and whether or not you need to be certified or
licensed.
Depending on the form of advocacy you choose to
pursue, there may be dozens of programs available. Of
course, the more there are, the more complicated the
choice may seem! This article is intended to make it a
little easier for you.
Here are some steps
you can follow to make the right choice for
yourself: |
| 1. |
Understand the status of advocacy
certification. |
| 2. |
Determine
where your paycheck will come from. |
|
3. |
Develop
your gap analysis. (employer
bound) or (self-employed,
independent) |
| 4. |
Choose your programs based
on the criteria you develop in #3 above. |
| |
|
Step 1:
Do you need to pursue patient or health advocate
certification or licensing?
As of early 2015, there is no national (or
international) certification or licensing for
health or patient advocates or navigators.
Yet many programs claim to “certify” their
graduates, or their graduates earn a certificate
so it seems as if they are "certified." So, you
wonder, how can they make that claim if there is
no certification?
The answer to this question lies in the
distinction between being certified and
receiving a certificate at the end of a program.
Many advocacy educational programs provide you
with a certificate saying you have completed
their courses or program. That piece of paper
means you are now certified as having completed
the courses offered by ABC University or the ABC
Advocacy Program.
But those programs have been developed ad hoc,
not based on any national criteria or standard.
The curriculum is their own experts’ best
guesses on the skills and knowledge an advocate
might need. They may be very accurate and
comprehensive. Even still, there was no
nationally recognized standard on which they
were based.
When you complete one of those programs, you
will have a certificate. They may even call you
“certified” – but you are certified only by
them. Later, when you apply for a job, or market
your private services, if you want to say you
are certified as an advocate, you’ll need to be
sure you state who certified you. Example, “Joan
S. Advocate, Certified by ABC University.
Make no mistake - there are excellent courses
and programs available to help patient advocates
grow their skills, capabilities, resources and
knowledge banks. But there is no reason to take
any courses or programs if your only goal is to
call yourself "certified."
(Learn more:
The Myth of Patient Advocacy Certification
) |
| |
| •
Next - Step 2: Determine
where your paycheck will come from. |
