I think I have finally chose a career that I am interested in...Finally....It's a Health Information Technician. I already have an associates degree in science but I am not certified for anything. This would be another associates but i would qualify to take the exam and get certifed and could follow it up with a bachelors in health information management. I would like to do something in the health field but I don't want to deal with people. I know sitting in front of a computer all day wouldn't appeal to alot of people but I really enjoy doing that kind of stuff. I was looking for a school that offers that program and I found DeVry and they offer that whole thing online. I have taken online courses before and did very well in them and enjoyed not having to get out and attend class all the time. I think it would be great now that Rylan is coming if I could do it all from home. Any opinions would be great and if anyone knows anything about that career, ups, downs, etc. or that school, ups, downs, it would be help me out alot. An advisor is supposed to be calling me later this week to discuss the program and everything.

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I don't know about that career, but a girlfriend of mine is taking a medical billing course from home right now. She does work in field already(she works for an oral surgery office), but wants to work from home now. She loves the courses online and says it is nice because she picks when and how much see works on it. I think it is a great idea to look into. It may offer you things that you could not find around you. Plus, if you are home more it will be nice for your family. Good luck, keep us posted.

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Thankyou so much for the support. That's why I wanted to do classes from home because it would be better on my family, and I wouldn't have to worry about daycare I could just have grandma or grandpa watch Rylan while I did my school work or do it during naps etc.....on my own time and not when classes are held. This is the only school I have found that offers the whole thing online too. I need to get my school out of the way and start working and get my career established in the next few years but I really didn't want to have to send Rylan to daycare before he is a year old. I want to spend as much time with him as I can.

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Manda - I think it is great idea. You might want to find some Health Professionals and talk to them about what you would need for a career at a hospital or in a office. I would call the HR department at a place you would like to work. Just to make sure you are on the right path. Devry tends to over promise paid positions in some fields, but I think your choice is a really good one. Just do a bit a research before your invest your time and money.

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That is some very good advice. Thankyou! I will call the hospital here on Monday and talk to someone about what I will need.

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I think somebody around here is in Hospital Administration...but I can't for the life of me remember who I'm thinking of. Hopefully, they would see this.

I don't have anything else to offer here but support Manda! I'm all for continuing education, whatever the nature. You can do it -- you'll find a way to make it work!

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Thanks for the support Steph!!

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Manda, Sounds great! The only thing I would check into would make sure that the hospital (or whatever type of employer you'd like to have) would hire you with a online degree. I saw on the news this week, that some companies are wary of hiring people with online degrees only because there are so many bogus ones out there. I've heard of DeVry, so I think it's a legitimate school, but you know what I mean. It'll probably be easiest to take the classes with Rylan small, since he naps a lot more then than when he's older & more mobile! GL!

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Pam-That's a great idea! Thanks I will ask them when I call on Monday.

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Good Luck, Manda! I'm glad you've found something you're interested in. I keep telling DH we can figure out a way for him to go back to school, but he still really doesn't know of anything he wants to do (and he's 32).
I'm sure it won't be easy, but it won't be any easier in 2 or 3 or 5 or 10 years. Check on all those questions people have brought up this week and go for it! Be sure to let us know what you decide.

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Well I called the hospital here where I live and talked to a HR person. She told me about some of the positions I would be able to get being a certified HIT I could also continue going online and get my bachelors and become a certified HIM and they have positions for that too! She said that it didn't really matter about the degree being done online as long as it is from an accredited program, which Devry is.

The advisor had called me this morning but I couldn't get out of bed quick enough to get the phone but I called her back and left a message and now i'm just waiting for her to call me back again. She might have been on lunch when I called her and left a message so hopefully I can do this because I am really excitd about it. It just feels really good when you finally make a decision about what career you want to work towards, and I really think I would absolutely LOVE doing this! I wanted an office job but didn't know of any that required a degree or paid very much and I didn't want to say I went to school to be a receptionist or secretary because you don't need any school for that ya know??

Thankyou for all of your support and I really hope that this advisor tells me good things today!

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manda- also if you plan to go on check with whatever school because i know alot of schools that offer mostly online have trouble transfering when you are ready to get more schooling. hope it works out for you

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Manda - Sounds great. I am glad you called.

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Sounds wonderful! GL!

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Crystal- I'm not sure I understood what you were saying but Devry offers the bachelors program all online as well as the Associates which is what I am wanting to do now. So I can just continue on doing the same online classes with Devry and get my bachelors that way.

The advisor called me back and we talked for a long time about Devry and the online classes and how everything worked. She is calling me back tomorrow to set me up with a financial advisor and I should be getting enough financial aide to cover all of the tuition and fees. There are 2 sessions to a semester session A is the first half where you have 2 classes that last for 8 weeks then session B is the last half where you have 2 different classes for the last 8 weeks. So I would only be taking 2 classes at a time. It takes 1 year and 4 months going nonstop to get your Associates but most of my credits will transfer over and I may be able to get done in 1 year or less. It is completely and totally online and the advisor I talked to today would be with me until graduation if I had any problems. She e-mailed me a bunch of enrollment forms to fill out and helped me with the application for addmissions and I faxed her all my paperwork today. I should be able to get set up with Devry within a week or 2 and then be able to focus on having Rylan and spend the first month getting the hang of things and then start school in March!

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Manda, that is great!!!

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Ok here's an update on the online school. I found a way to pay for it all and believe me it is not cheap! I will only have to take out $2,000 a semester for 4 semesters on student loans and thats with my grants I will be receiving, $1,000 per semester from one of my relatives, and paying a little each month out of pocket.. With Rylan being here money will be super tight around here but all we have is, at the most, 2 years to worry about $ and then hopefully we will be good. I can go to school totally online for 1 year and 4 months and receive my Bachelor's in Health Information Management, then take the Certification Exam. All of my credits from my Associates Degree will transfer so I can just go ahead and start the Bachelor's. I have 6 months to find a job before my loans need to be repaid and we are planning to use my first paychecks for the first 3-4 months and totally pay off the student loan. Then we can start using my paychecks for the family. I think it will be good because we won't have to worry about gas $ going back and forth to school everyday and since I'm not working right now we don't have to worry about daycare and I can spend the first 1 1/2 to 2 years at home with Rylan. Our families will help us too if we need financial help but I really think that this is the best for my family.

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