Continuing Ed Programs Bring Professional and Technical Members Up to Speed

Annette Smith, a Hemodialysis Patient Care Technician at Brooklyn's Brookdale Hospital

Among the consequences of today’s deep economic and healthcare crises is the demand on employees for more stringent requirements and standards, including certifications, advanced degrees and continuing education credits.

These demands are particularly stringent for many professional and technical employees. The mandating of higher standards by medical institutions and insurance providers threatens the jobs and livelihoods of even unionized workers. Especially at risk in the current period are dialysis techs.

Thankfully, eligible 1199SEIU members can take advantage of a unique safety net for certifications.

“I received a letter earlier this year from our (1199SEIU) Training Fund about the need to take a state certification test,” says Annette Smith, a hemodialysis patient care technician at Brooklyn’s Brookdale Hospital. “The letter stated that the Fund was offering prep classes for the exam, and I jumped at it.”

Smith – to her good fortune – is one of those workers who take to classes and exams like a fish takes to water. She completed the prep course in the spring, took the certification exam in June, and got the results two weeks after the exam and her certificate a few weeks later.

“The course was so good, I couldn’t help but pass the exam,” she says. “Our instructor went far beyond the requirements. I couldn’t have been better prepared.”

The Fund’s Institute for Continuing Education provides prep courses and extended prep courses during evenings and weekends at convenient New York City locations. Tutorial services are offered to individuals who feel they need them.

Smith and other 1199SEIU professional and technical workers attribute the excellence of the seminar curriculum in part to the care in assembling the committees. Each is composed of member volunteers who after extensive discussions put together the education programs.

The Training Fund also offers a number of accredited interdisciplinary and discipline-specific seminars for members to learn about the latest developments in health care and the role of the different members of the healthcare team. The seminars are offered on site in midtown Manhattan’s Times Square area; many are also available as live web and videocasts. Healthcare workers in Asia have even used the webcasts. The Training Fund offers tuition services for members seeking advanced degrees.

“There are so many great programs,” Smith says. “I think every member should take advantage of them. I also would advise every tech who has to take a certification exam to take the prep course. The programs are open to eligible 1199SEIU members at no cost, and to non-members for low fees. For further information, please visit the Training Funds’ Institute for Continuing Education at www.1199seiubenefits.org. Link to Continuing Education in the Training and Employment section. Or call the Institute at 212-894-4390 or email institute@1199funds.org. You also can also visit our Professional Workers page 1199SEIU.org.