Unitek College Blog

Unitek College’s LVN program is the most accelerated, full-time, accredited LVN program available in the SF Bay Area today. Unlike Community Colleges and Universities, there aren’t a handful of pre-requisite courses necessary (such as Anatomy & Physiology, Microbiology, and Pathophysiology) just to apply, or even be considered, to their nursing program. Unitek’s LVN program bypasses this lengthy step with its 3 week “crash course” in medical terminology. The crash course is plenty enough because it properly and adequately prepares the student for the 11 month long, three level, and accelerated nursing program.

Unitek allows the eager nursing student to put his/her foot right in the door, without the uncertainty of the application process or the extra two year waiting list. But don’t be fooled by its easy admittance standards; the LVN program is really a tough and demanding curriculum! As a 33 year old with a Bachelor’s degree and several IT certifications, I can honestly say that this is the most challenging (and most rewarding) learning experience in my academic career. The course materials include topics such as the fundamentals of Medical-Surgery, Pharmacology, and practical nursing skills. Each level is increasing more difficult and more demanding than the previous. The program is condensed and moves at a high speed! And yes, you will be a critical thinker & learner!

Having said all this, I’d like to share with you my personal insights for the would-be Unitek LVN student: Read the rest of this entry »

With beautiful back roads and a wonderful climate, Northern California is a natural environment for the motorcycle enthusiast. Its hard to avoid the allure of riding a two-wheeled wonder through the canyons and twisty forest roads during a beautiful Sunny day. However being that Northern California is a haven for motorcycle enthusiasts, crashes and accidents are inevitable.

The likelihood of injury is extremely high in these motorcycle accidents, more than 95% of accidents result in some kind of injury to the motorcycle rider, and of that, 45% resulted in more than a minor injury. With the increase of popularity of motorcycles will mean the increase the number of accidents as well. With these alarming motorcycle statistics one can only wonder what the can do to help.

Luckily, the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that employment of EMT’s and paramedics will increase by 59,000 new jobs between 2002 and 2012, an estimated growth rate of 33 percent. By becoming an EMT you can help those that are destined to become hurt with their motorcycle follies. This job is especially important since 50% of all paramedics often have to travel to back roads in the country to retrieve fallen riders and are extremely vital to their survival. For more information about becoming a paramedic visit our EMT and Paramedic training information page.

Technology’s beautiful isn’t it? It does great things. One minute, it’s letting us watch movies on our brand new iPhone. The next, its advances in medicine are revamping the entire healthcare industry by increasing the need for all health care workers. This has led to a wealth of opportunities for people who have always dreamed or at least thought of a fulfilling career of doing something that helps people on a daily basis.

The most traditional way of pursuing this path was becoming a doctor. Yet, the prospect of going through medical school (fulfilling undergraduate prerequisites, MCATS, applications, 4 years of medical school, 3-7 years of residency, and the licensure and certification that happens during it) isn’t exactly everyone’s cup of tea.

Fortunately, this same demand for great people in healthcare has also reinforced the importance of so many other existing positions in the field.

Medical Assistants for example, are expected to see employment grow by 35 percent in the next four years, according to the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics, making it one of the fastest growing professions. Increasing the demand for Medical Assistants is the fact that they are also now finding employment in both private and public hospitals, as well as inpatient and outpatient facilities.

And it doesn’t take a decade either. Most programs can be completed in 8 months time, part time, so you don’t even have to quit your day job. While getting certified isn’t required, it’s a safe bet as it is a way to guarantee competency of a medical assistant at a job-entry level.

At the end of the day, it all comes back to one of the primary reasons you considered healthcare in the first place. You get to help people. You also gain valuable administrative experience. So if you end up becoming a Medical Assistant (MA) you can thank technology’s advances for your job and your new iPhone.

For one of our 2008 nursing graduations, Unitek College put together a National Anthem video with some nursing pictures. Check it out.

For details about the Unitek College RN training program, please visit Unitek College.

Pharmacy Technicians work under the supervision of registered pharmacists, assisting them with the filling of drug prescriptions, reviewing orders for dosages, allergies, incompatibilities and interactions. It is a job that requires an astute knowledge of chemistry, biology & math. A Pharmacy Technician often also interacts with the customers they service, so a Pharmacy Tech must be personable and patient when dealing with people who are sick and not necessary in the best frame of mind.

This is the perfect job for someone who enjoys multi-tasking and having different things to do each day they come into work. Some days you come in and you have lots of prescriptions to fill as well as long lines of customers to service. Conversely, there may also be those days when you are able to quickly fill the few prescriptions you have as well as service the handful of customers and then you are free to assist the registered pharmacist in other aspects of the laboratory.

Other things a Pharmacy Technician will get to do include mixing, measuring, packaging, and delivering medications as well as maintaining computerized lists of the medications in circulation and checking with the pharmacists before delivering any medication, to see whether those are the right drugs. They may also be called upon to clean and sterilize the instruments, transporting medication and pharmacy equipment to clinics and nursing units, answering various questions about non-drug products, or calling physicians’ offices for prescription refills.

Many people choose a pharmacy technician career for a variety of reasons. First of all, the working conditions are very good. Pharmacy Technicians work in clean and organized areas, which are well ventilated and well lit. Secondly, Pharmacy Technician jobs are always in high demand and you will have the ability to start at a higher salary if you have a Pharmacy Technician certification.

There is no requirement for formal training or licensing as pharmacy technician. However, on-the-job training is less available nowadays, and employers prefer individuals who hold a pharmacy tech certification issued by a training institution. There is a voluntary exam that future pharmacy technicians can take, known as the National Pharmacy Technician Certification Examinations.

Do you know anyone right now who is a Pharmacy Technician? What have they said about their experiences?

With the ever increasing demand for EMT Training from the east coast, our sales staff have had their desk phones forwarded to their cell phones for early morning inquiries. Last month, we had a reality check when Verizon Wireless sent us a gigantic phone bill. Our CFO nearly had a coronary, and asked us to look at other options.

After careful analysis, it seemed that AT&T Wireless / Cingular had a much better corporate plan (they also have the iPhone, but we neglected to mention that to the CFO). Unfortunately, we have a bunch of rabid ‘Verizon lovers’ around the office that insisted that Verizon had much better coverage around the Fremont, CA area. So, to shut them up, we decided on a road test. We had two volunteers drive around Fremont doing the ‘Can you hear me now’ thing. The first volunteer drove out from Unitek to the Mission hills (filthy rich people such as our CEO live up there, watching over us mere mortals) and then drove along Mission Boulevard to the extreme north end of Fremont. The second volunteer drove from Unitek to the extreme northwest point in Fremont (close to the Dunbarton bridge). On day 1, they used AT&T phones, and they used Verizon phones on Day 2. Continuous talk time was approximately 1 hour on both days.

Alas, those !#$!@#% Verizon lovers were right !! Verizon consistently delivered better cell quality throughout Fremont, and didn’t drop calls (AT&T did, occasionally). Much as we hate the gigantic phone bills (and love the iPhone), we’ve decided to stay with Verizon Wireless and hope that they come up with better corporate plan for their long-suffering customers. Can you hear me now, Verizon?