HS 470/Career Planning in Health Care Services
Canyon College
Health Administration Program
 
 
Syllabus - HS470


Career Planning in Health Care Services
 
Students enrolling in this course have completed all other degree requirements

Your instructor welcomes you to this course! Please print and save this information!
Dale Mueller, EdD, RN, NHA
dmueller@canyoncollege.edu
http://www.love2learn.com
office 909.920.5854
fax 909.920.6046

Course Description | Overview | Course Objectives | Weekly Assignment Objectives

Course Policies | Grades | Weekly Schedule | Required Text | Contact Instructor


I. Course Description

This course is intended as the final course in the undergraduate program for the Health Administration degree with Canyon College. This independent study opportunity is made available to students at the conclusion of their core course of study, and is designed to assist students in preparation for and selection of employment opportunities in the health care field. This course provides a platform for the necessary synthesis of information and experiences obtained in prior courses in this program together with student goals and career preparation for positions in the health care field. This course also includes a survey of specific market availabilities and identification of the major health care employers in a selected area of health care services. Students will be given an opportunity to arrange an interview with selected health care professionals who may serve as mentors or future employers. Students in this course will also make contact with relevant professional organizations, societies, and journals, and begin to network with professionals and organizations in a chosen area of concentration and service.


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II. Course Objectives

At the conclusion of this course, students will be able to:
  1. Illustrate key applications of knowledge gained in prior courses to selected job functions within the health care field
  2. Identify opportunities and potential employers for a selected job function within the health care field
  3. Identify any licensure or certification requirements for selected jobs
  4. Identify associations, journals, and meetings representing a selected sector of the health care field
  5. Identify potential mentoring opportunities among professionals for career growth
  6. Discuss potential barriers to career growth
  7. Create a personal action plan designed to facilitate growth toward a selected career goal

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III. Overview

This course is intended to assist the student to integrate the concepts and knowledge obtained in prior courses, while focusing on a selected job, job function, or entrepreneurial opportunity in the health care field. This final course provides an opportunity to investigate career opportunities using the skills and knowledge that have been acquired in this undergraduate degree program, together with the student's individual life experiences in the field of health care services. Course assignments are designed such that they are individually tailored within an area of focus as selected by the student, thus supporting the specific career interest of each student. The first half of this course provides integration of information and key concepts obtained in previous courses and life experiences within this degree program. The second half of this course is designed to support job seeking activities, networking opportunties, and career planning endeavors.

When preparing for a particular job in the field of health care, it is helpful to gain perspectives from established professionals currently employed in the field, as well as from institutions engaged in offering a particular kind of care or service, as each venue of care and each community of service may vary in subtle ways from a textbook description. To this end, this independent study course is offered to Canyon College undergraduates to assist them in launching a successful career in a selected area within the health care field.

This course has weekly homework assignments or activities, which will draw upon numerous and varied resources. These activities and assignments include identifying and integrating major topics covered in previous courses in this degree program, preparing a list of resources and annotations from Internet sources, and investigating information about the health care field in the student's home community. There is a midterm activity paper due in week #4, consisting of an assignment designed to summarize key aspects of prior learning. There is a final activity paper due in week #8, consisting of annotated Web resources for future reference. Requirements and specific details for these papers and weekly homework are given in the weekly assignment section of this syllabus, and may not be available for public view without an enrollment password issued by Canyon College.


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IV. Textbook
Unlike previous courses in this degree program, there is no one assigned textbook. Students will rely on materials obtained in prior courses, networking and mentoring through local resources, and public information available in published media including the Internet, as indicated in the weekly assignment detail.

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V. Weekly Assignment Objectives

Upon successful completion of Week 1 assignments, the student should be able to:
  1. Describe and analyze a selected job, job role, or entrepreneurial opportunity of interest to the student
  2. Integrate information from HS300 Health Care Services Today that supports a selected health care service or job role
Upon successful completion of Week 2 assignments, the student should be able to:
  1. Discuss and analyze selected information from HS320 Human Resources that describes key functions, responsibilities, and accountabilities of the selected service or job role
  2. Discuss and analyze selected information from HS310 Managing Change in Changing Environments that describes key functions, responsibilities, and accountabilites of the selected service or job role
  3. Create a sample job description for a selected job or function in a selected service area
Upon successful completion of Week 3 assignments, the student should be able to:
  1. Describe and analyze aspects of HS410 Quality Concepts and Management Tools that are relevant to a selected job function or opportunity
  2. Discuss selected information from HS430 Health Care Regulatory Environment that describes key accountabilites of the selected service or job role
Upon successful completion of Week 4 assignments, the student should be able to:
  1. Describe the relationship of key aspects of the health care environment to success in a selected service area opportunity or selected job role
Upon successful completion of Week 5 assignments, the student should be able to:
  1. Identify major health care employers or opportunities in a selected geographical or service area
  2. Describe entry level employment requirements for a selected job or range of jobs, or startup requirements for entrepreneurial opportunities
  3. Identify local, state, or national organizations or societies that serve as professional organizations for a selected job or range of jobs, or provider endeavors
  4. Identify sources of employment information or business opportunity for future availability and success
Upon successful completion of Week 6 assignments, the student should be able to:
  1. Report on interviews or site visits
  2. Discuss and analyze strengths, opportunities, weaknesses and threats to the targeted future endeavor, including regulatory, financial, human resource, and professional practice factors
Upon successful completion of Week 7 assignments, the student should be able to:
  1. Develop a personal action plan including recommendations and action steps for future career planning and success
Upon successful completion of Week 8 assignments, the student should be able to:
  1. Complete an Internet subject reference guide for future use

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VI. Course Policies

On-Line Participation. Since this course is offered over the Internet, which allows students to participate at "any time, any where," it is important to plan your time carefully. Students are expected to sign in to the class conference forum at the beginning of each week, and to send required assignments to the instructor by the due dates. Students are expected to make use of the Internet information available that will enhance learning in this course.

Course Week and Due Dates.
Monday is the first of the course week, and Sunday is the last day of the course week. Assignments scheduled for completion during a class week should be sent to the instructor via email or fax by end of the day Sunday, determined by your own time zone. If a student is sending assignments through the postal service, please make prior arrangements with instructor, as there is no postal delivery on Sunday. The student is to understand that unless the instructor authorizes a time extension, all assignments received past its due date will receive a grade score penalty. The student will receive a confirmation of receipt from the instructor within 72 hours of sending the assignment. If the instructor has not replied within 72 hours to the student, it is the student's responsibility to follow-up on all submitted assignments and email messages sent to the instructor.


Submitting Assignments - Instructions. Students may submit work in MSWord (any version) or Excel (any version) or HTML and send as an email note or file attachment. If you use another word processing program (such as Works), please save as an .rtf file.

Formats for files received other than those specified here that your instructor cannot open using MSWord or a Word converter program for PC or Macintosh will be returned to you for reprocessing, and will be considered late. Any questions on formatting of your file attachment documents, please Email your instructor with any questions now and we can find a format that will work for your particular needs. Thanks in advance on this matter.

Please include name, reply address, title of assignment, title of course, and date submitted on the document itself, in addition to the email text. Please indicate "HS470" in the subject line of your email.


Late Assignment Penalties.
Weekly assignments and quizzes must be received by the instructor not later than Sunday midnight (your time zone) of the week assigned. Late work will incur a point penalty at the discretion of the instructor. Students who anticipate that their schedule may cause assignments to be out of compliance are advised to contact instructor at least one week in advance, as an extension may be permitted with prior mutual agreement. No class-work posted after the last Sunday of the online term will be accepted. No extensions will be granted without prior consent, and require seven days advance notice. Instructor discretion regarding point penalties for any late work will be considered final.

Absentee Policy.
While this course is designed to be completed through independent study, "attendance" is recorded through assignment submissions in a timely manner to the instructor's email address (or via post or fax). However, please note that any student who has not participated (completed assignments) for 14 consecutive days without prior discussion with the instructor regarding such absence shall be recommended for administrative withdrawal. The school shall make recommendations to the instructor as to what action will be taken.

Academic Honesty.
Canyon College policies are in effect. All work must be your own. Presenting as one's own the words, ideas, or expression of another in any form is cheating through plagiarism, and will not be tolerated.


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VII. Grading
Assignments will be graded based on completeness, correctness and timeliness of submissions. There is a total of 100 points possible.
Homework.
Weekly assignments may have more than one component, and the point value for each component is worth 5, 10, or 15 points as shown on th assignment detail.

Midterm Paper and Final Project.
The Midterm grade is determined by aggregate point performance of work submitted for assignments designated in weeks 1-4.
The Final point allocation is determined through aggregate points for all weeks of the course.

Final Letter Grade.
Letter grades will be assigned at the conclusion of the eight weeks based on cumulative points achieved over the entirety of the eight week course. The grading scale based on 100 possible points is as follows:
A =
B =
C =
D =
F =		 90 points to 100 points
80 points to 89 points
70 points to 79 points
60 points to 69 points
below 60 points


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VIII. Course Schedule

Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 7 | Week 8

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