Office administrators are the backbone of organization and efficiency in a work environment. They’re also great problem-solvers and are able to think quickly on their feet. When you are faced with decision-making challenges in your career, you will need methods in place to be able to clearly and effectively make choices. With solid action plans, your confidence will soar, and you will be in control of your responsibilities.

A popular method is the IDEAL (Identify, Define, Explore, Act, Look) model, outlined by Bransford and Stein in their book, The Ideal Problem Solver, in 1984. It has since undergone various tweaks and modifications for different purposes. Read on to learn how you can use this model to identify the focus of an issue and tackle the most important part.

Why this Strategy will Help when you Become an Office Administrator

An employee is more valuable when they bring solutions to the table, rather than adding problems. Office administrators are trusted with tasks involving human relations, record-keeping, organization, and more – all of which require sharp judgement and good solutions. Taking on projects independently is a fulfilling opportunity for administrators and the more you show your problem-solving skills, the more likely you are to be given these responsibilities. You’ll gain respect from your colleagues and will be able to show off your skills beyond office administration training, demonstrating your worth in the real world with all of its unpredictability.

Presenting solutions to your manager will show them how valuable you are

Use your Career Training to Identify Problems and Opportunities

A positive attitude is easier when approaching problems with the mindset of opportunity. The first step in the IDEAL model is “Identify”, using facts and information to isolate the root issue at hand. A common example is a leaky roof in the office, where instead of placing a bucket under the leak we would identify that the root issue is a hole in the roof that needs to be fixed before it causes more complications. This might point to an opportunity to check for other holes in the roof or make more repairs (and as an administrator, it would give you an opportunity to step up outside of your day-to-day duties and show leadership). The next step, “Define”, calls for describing potential solutions and strategies, and choosing what will work best using the third step, “Evaluate”. Thinking of pros and cons can help when trying to choose from a list of possible solutions.

Seeing challenges as opportunities helps you maintain a positive attitude and enjoy your work

IDEAL Leaves Room for Re-Evaluation to Ensure you Chose the Right Issue

The final two steps of the IDEAL model are “Act” and “Look”. After evaluating your options and choosing the best solution, acting on that strategy means using your career training and soft skills combined to apply that solution. After you’ve acted, the “Look” stage encourages you to look back on what you’ve done, see if it worked and learn from the experience. At this point, if the solution didn’t work, you apply what you’ve learned to revise your strategy and try again. Giving yourself time to slow down and evaluate your work will make you a more efficient administrator in the end and keep you learning new things for the duration of your career.

Do you want to become an office administrator?

Contact KLC College for more information.

In your career as a dental assistant, you will work under the supervision of a dentist, performing an array of tasks and duties. Dental assistants need to possess a wide range of skills to be effective and successful in their careers. In your training program, you will learn many of these skills that you can apply directly to your first job in the field. From human relations training to radiography and infection control, practical skills will keep you successful and effective in your field.

Read on for some of the job-ready skills you’ll pick up in your program!

1. A Good Dental Assistant Diploma Program Provides Infection Control Training

Often, dental assistants are the point people for infection control in dental offices. It’s a big responsibility and very important to prevent infection and maintain proper safety, screening, hand hygiene, and protection. The Royal College of Dental Surgeons of Ontario has specific guidelines for standard of practice in infection prevention and control in dental offices.

Dental assistants prepare examination areas, develop infection control protocol, clean up after procedures, and sterilize equipment and instruments. Having infection control skills ready to go for your first job is crucial to your success, as the office may even place you as their infection control officer.

2. Human Relations Skills will Help you after Dental Assistant Training

Human relations skills prepare you to interact with different people effectively, manage and lead others, as well as make people feel comfortable and have positive interactions. As a dental assistant, you will probably be required to calm clients down who are feeling anxious and ensure that people who come into the dental office have a comfortable and positive experience when interacting with you.

Dental assistants often schedule appointments and help clients feel comfortable

Dental assistants are often responsible for interviewing patients, scheduling their appointments and providing customer service with a professional demeanour. Your effective communication skills from career training will help the office run smoothly and ensure that tasks get done.

3. Radiography Training from a Dental Assistant Diploma Program is Essential

Intra-Oral duties include technical procedures, for example dental radiography. Radiographs, or x-rays, are commonly used to evaluate dental health and will be conducted often in a dental office. Dental assistants who are qualified will take and develop x-rays, as well as maintain equipment and proper sterilization of the rooms and instruments used in the process.

Technical skills from your program will help you take and develop x-rays in your career

Having training with this technology prepares you for the demands of a busy office with many scheduled procedures.

4. CPR and Standard First Aid will be Required after Dental Assistant Training

Dental assistants are required to assess emergency situations and need training in CPR and First Aid. Getting this training through your dental assistant diploma program is the simplest way to receive updated emergency skills and be qualified for your first day on the job. You must be able to recognize signs of a dental emergency so that you can keep people safe. These skills are also applicable to your daily life, as you can help others and yourself in emergency situations.

Are you interested in dental assistant training?

Contact KLC College for more information.

Medical office administrators play an essential role within health care teams, making sure that the administrative side of clinics and hospitals run smoothly so that patients can reliably receive the care and services they need.
In doing so, they draw on a broad range of skills and competencies – including a general knowledge of medical terminology. For some, learning complex and unfamiliar terms like xerosis, epistaxis, and fasciculation can seem challenging, but it doesn’t have to be. With the right methods and some practice, anyone can master the vocabulary of the medical field.

If you’re interested in training for a rewarding office administration career in a clinic, hospital, or government health agency, here are some helpful tips you can use to memorize medical terminology.

1. Knowing the Roots Will Help When You Become a Medical Office Administrator

Many medical terms are derived from Greek and Latin roots. Although medical terminology can sometimes seem complicated, becoming familiar with these basic roots can help make it easier to understand and easier to memorize. By knowing the roots of a word, you can also guess the approximate meaning of unfamiliar terms, by looking at which roots have been combined to create them.

Take the medical term hepatitis, for example. Hepatitis is formed from the combination of two roots: hepato, which refers to the liver, and itis, which is Latin for inflammation. By familiarizing yourself with these roots, you can guess approximately what the term refers to – an inflammation of the liver – and more easily understand and remember related terms, such as hepatic artery (the artery that supplies blood to the liver) and dermatitis (inflammation of the skin).

2. Flashcards Can be a Great Way to Learn New Vocabulary

Another great way to learn the vocabulary you’ll need when you become a medical office administrator is through the use of flash cards. If you’re not familiar with the flashcard method of memorization, it generally involves using index cards, with a term written on one side and its definition on the other. You can then either flip through terms, guessing at the correct definition, or flip through definitions, guessing at the correct term, always checking your answers as you go. This method can be very effective for learning full medical terms or common roots, as it provides instant feedback and can be done anywhere. With new dedicated mobile apps, you can even practice with flashcards on your phone.

Flashcards are an effective and portable way to practice new vocabulary

3. Experiment with Different Methods to Learn What Works Best For You

It’s useful to remember that each person has a different learning style, and one of the best things you can do when memorizing new medical terminology during medical office administration training is to find the specific method that works best for how you learn.

Auditory learners, for example, learn best by using sound. If this describes you, then you might consider recording yourself sounding out vocabulary so you can listen back to it throughout the day, or creating tunes or jingles to help remember unfamiliar words. If you’re a visual learner, on the other hand, coming up with memorable mental images to associate with each new word might work better.

If you experiment with different methods, you’ll eventually find which ones work best for you. After that, it’s just a matter of practice!

A strong grasp of medical terminology will help when you become a medical office administrator

Are you ready for a new career in the medical field?

Contact KLC College today to learn more about our career training in medical office administration.

When many people think of occupational therapy and physiotherapy, they often assume the two terms are interchangeable. This confusion may be due to the fact that both were originally part of the same profession known as reconstruction aides, which provided rehabilitation services to war veterans. As the profession developed, new practices and techniques began emerging which offered better, more comprehensive approaches to physical rehabilitation, introducing the different areas of occupational therapy (OT) and physiotherapy (PT).

The ultimate goal of both professions is to improve a patient’s mobility and quality of life. While the two provide similar hands-on rehabilitative services, they often use separate approaches to their work. This means that there are a few distinct differences you should know if you’re considering a physiotherapy or occupational therapy career. If you’re interested in finding out which one might be right for you, read on to learn more.

Physiotherapy Emphasizes Body Mechanics and Gross Motor Function

Physiotherapy operates around the core idea of evaluating, diagnosing, and treating the physical source of a client’s injuries. A focus on how the body moves and operates, known as body mechanics, is a defining feature of physiotherapy. Body mechanics involves gross motor function, which is a set of physical skills that helps coordinate the overall movement of our body’s muscles to perform certain actions, such as swimming, climbing, or running.

A career in physiotherapy emphasizes improving the way the body moves and operates

If you want to become a physiotherapist assistant, it’s important to understand the context you’ll be working in. Physiotherapists generally work towards improving strength, balance, and range of motion, so if someone has broken their arm, for example, they might visit a physiotherapist to work with them and advise them on injury prevention—including what physical activities they should avoid as they heal—as well as help them practice exercise techniques to improve mobility in their injured arm.

Occupational Therapy Professionals Work to Improve Daily Living Skills

While physiotherapy focuses on overall body mechanics, occupational therapy trainig puts more emphasis on improving fine motor and cognitive skills. Fine motor skills are more particular than gross motor skills, and involve small muscular movements such as picking up objects between your fingers, writing, or turning the pages of a book. Occupational therapists—depending on their workplace setting—can include physical exercise in their work to promote the use of these fine motor skills, but they are more often focused on the cognitive side of physical rehabilitation.

Rehabilitating an injury is more than building back physical strength. It also involves the process of reintroducing and adapting yourself to your new physical environment. That same person who has broken their arm might visit an occupational therapist to improve their ability to perform daily living activities such as writing or buttoning their shirt with a non-dominant hand. OT professionals also assist their clients in areas such as self-care, homemaking, and socialization as a way to increase their overall sense of independence, as well as direct them to community resources that may improve their quality of life during and after their rehabilitation.

Physiotherapy training can teach students to treat clients in many areas of physical rehabilitation

Finding Common Ground with Physiotherapy Assistant Training

Although physiotherapy focuses more on the body itself, and occupational therapy on lifestyle, both are two sides of the same coin—physical rehabilitation. PT and OT professionals operate from the same principles of pursuing health and well-being through hands-on care and client education, with PT treating the body through the muscles, and OT treating the body through the mind.

Understanding how both of these practices work together to heal the body is important when starting your new physiotherapy or occupational therapy career, which is why physiotherapy assistant training offers the best of both worlds. Comprehensive physiotherapy and occupational therapy training teaches you the anatomical and physiological knowledge you need to perform the right physiotherapy techniques, while also allowing you to explore different subjects such as ethics and professionalism, psychology, and neurology, that can enrich the overall quality of your services.

Whether you decide to follow your interests into physiotherapy or occupational therapy, you can use the skills you learn to build your foundations to a long and rewarding career helping others through the healing process.

Are you interested in taking the next step towards a career in physiotherapy?

Contact KLC College for more information about our career training.

Medication can be sold or administered as tablets, creams, injections, drops, capsules and more. These different ways that pharmaceutical drugs are administered, along with the physical forms that they take, are collectively referred to as drug dosage forms.

One of the most important responsibilities a pharmacy assistant has is preparing pharmaceutical drugs for customers. A part of that responsibility includes understanding what drug dosage forms are, how they are used and the advantages and disadvantage of each form. If you’re considering a pharmacy assistant career, read on to learn more.

Pharmacy Assistants Should Know About These Drug Dosage Form Categories

There are two categories under which the different types of drug dosage forms fall: route of administration and physical form. Route of administration refers to how the drug actually enters the body, such as by being ingested or applied topically.

Different routes of administration include, but are not limited to:

• Oral
• Topical
• Inhaled
• Subcutaneous
• Rectal
• Intravenous

The physical form, on the other hand, refers to whether the drug is administered as a solid, semisolid, liquid or gas. There is a lot of overlap between the route of administration and the physical form a drug takes. A drug that can be inhaled, for example, such as an aerosol, will come in a gaseous form. One that is applied topically, on the other hand, will come in a semisolid form.

Pharmacy assistant training teaches students that drugs come in many different physical dose forms

Pharmacy Assistants Understand Why Different Drug Forms Are Used

Various circumstances, such as the condition being treated, the needs of the patient and how the drug is best absorbed by the body, will determine which drug dosage form is best. Once you’ve completed your training and become a pharmacy assistant, you will find that most people tend to prefer drugs that are administered orally, especially as tablets or capsules. However, oral medication is not suitable for everyone. The patient may be uncooperative, such as if they suffer from dementia or if they are young children. Also, stomach acid and enzymes may interfere with how the drug is absorbed. In such cases, a suppository or an injection may be more practical for administering the drug.

Pharmacy assistants work with oral medication frequently, since it is generally preferred by patients

Suppositories and injections are both invasive and many patients, especially young children, tend to dislike them. The career training you’ll receive in a good pharmacy assistant program will help you understand the basics of pharmacology, including which dosage forms are more invasive than others. For example, a non-invasive drug dosage form, like a topical cream, may be ideal for a patient who has a rash or muscle pain. The downside with topicals, however, is that they are absorbed into the body at a slower rate than other forms of medication, such as intravenous, for example, which allows the medication to enter the bloodstream rather quickly.

There are various other factors to consider when choosing the right drug dosage form. Some dosage forms are easier to measure than others, while some need to be absorbed into specific areas of the body. As you will learn, there is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all drug dosage form and understanding the basic differences between each one is part of the job of a pharmacy assistant.

Are you interested in enrolling in a pharmacy assistant training program?

Contact KLC College today to learn how you can get started!

Like many other healthcare specialities, prevention is often better than cure in dentistry. While modern dental professionals can treat a wider range of complex conditions and issues than ever before, they are still careful to emphasize the importance of preventative dentistry to patients.

The idea of preventative dentistry is that dental professionals encourage patients to take active care of their teeth through healthy oral hygiene habits, regular dental visits and preventative treatments in order to limit the risk of developing serious dental problems. In doing so, they help to save patients a lot of time, money and discomfort.

Dental assistants play a huge role in preventative dentistry, assisting in treatments and helping to educate patients about proper dental health. If you are considering this career, keep reading to learn more about what preventative dentistry involves and why it’s so important.

Dental Assistant Program Grads Promote Preventative Oral Health Habits

One of the most important components of preventative dentistry is ensuring patients adopt a regular dental health routine. By brushing and flossing on a daily basis, they can dramatically reduce harmful plaque buildup which could cause tooth decay or gum disease.

In addition to encouraging regular brushing and flossing, it’s important that patients are educated in how to do it correctly. Brushing too hard or for too long can wear away tooth enamel, while flossing too aggressively can damage the gums. Dental assistants are often tasked with demonstrating the proper techniques to patients.

Professionals with dental assistant training can demonstrate proper brushing techniques to patients

The Role of Nutrition in Preventative Dentistry

During their Level II dental assistant training at KLC College, students complete a module called Preventive Dentistry and Nutrition. The reason these two areas are grouped together is because they often go hand in hand. Dietary habits can have a huge bearing on how likely a patient is to experience dental problems.

In order to limit risks, dental assistants should encourage patients to limit the amount of sugars and carbohydrates in their diets, as these foods can increase the risk of tooth decay. They should also promote a diet that is rich in certain vitamins and minerals that can help strengthen teeth. Calcium is arguably the most important, as it strengthens tooth enamel, but Vitamin D is also crucial, since it increases mineral density and helps our bones to absorb calcium. Dairy products are an excellent source of both. Vitamin A, which is found in root vegetables like carrots and sweet potatoes, can play a big role in oral health too, because it helps to keep gums strong.

The Importance of Regular Check-Ups and Preventative Dental Treatments

While good oral health and nutrition will severely lessen a patient’s risk of developing dental problems, it is still important they have regular check-ups. This is a crucial part of preventative dentistry, as it allows dental professionals to identify any issues early, making them easier to treat.
A dentist will be able to catch the early warning signs of many dental problems through a physical examination, and can also use x-rays to spot issues which are not visible to the naked eye. Graduates of KLC College’s Level II dental assistant diploma program are qualified to perform dental x-rays in the province of Ontario.

Dentists may also provide a number of preventative treatments for patients, such as topical fluoride therapies, which can make teeth stronger and more resistant. For younger patients, dental sealants are another option, and help to protect the chewing surfaces of teeth from wear and decay.

Students learn how to take dental x-rays during their career training

Do you want to become a dental assistant?

Contact KLC College today to find out more about the career training we provide.