10 Most Popular Health Care Programs

Whether you want to be a dentist, a doctor, a nurse, a pharmacist or any thing related to the health care field – these are some of the most popular health care programs in North America.

At many of the ivy league schools in both Canada and the United States is also where you will find the most popular health care programs. Many future health care professionals know that if they have a degree on their wall that is coming from a highly regarded school, this will improve their chances of being able to garner the best business and work in the best places in health care field.

McGill University is one of the top universities in Canada for studying medicine. Located in Montréal, Québec, the competition to get into the school is as competitive as all of these schools that will be mentioned.

The University of Toronto is another school with an excellent reputation when it comes to studying medicine. Again, the competition is rough and top marks, as well as strong experience and references are needed.

McMaster University has a terrific reputation when it comes to its medical school. Their medical school is also quite unique because they will also accept exceptional students that did not study pre-med before entry into the medical school. This gives people who have studied in another field such as psychology or even in the humanities a chance to pursue a medical degree.

The University of Calgary also has an excellent medical training program with a top-notch reputation.

York University is developing a medical school, however their nursing program has a strong reputation. As well, Ryerson University and Humber College also have reputable and popular nursing programs.

Conestoga College in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada also has a strong nursing program. Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario also has a good nursing program.

The University of New Brunswick has a strong nursing program and the University of Waterloo, back in Ontario can prepare many people looking to get into the health care field, as well as Wilfred Laurier University near by.

In the United States, there are many reputable institutions for doing everything from nursing, dentistry, optometry, medical school, pharmacy and many other fields in health care. Here is a list:

● Columbia University
● University of California at Berkeley
● Georgetown University
● Harvard University
● Princeton University
● Yale University
● Cornell University
● Northwestern University

10 MOST POPULAR DESIGN PROGRAMS

DESIGN IS SUCH A FASCINATING FIELD OF STUDY AND IT CAN BE HARD TO FIND THE BEST SCHOOL TO STUDY AT. HERE IS A LIST OF THE 10 MOST POPULAR DESIGN PROGRAMS IN CANADA. THERE ARE ACTUALLY A FEW MORE THAN 10 BECAUSE IT WAS SO DIFFICULT TO NARROW THE LIST DOWN TO JUST 10.

THE ONTARIO COLLEGE OF ART AND DESIGN (OCAD) FOCUSES EXCLUSIVELY ON EVERYTHING HAVING TO DO WITH ART AND DESIGN, AS THE NAME STATES. OCAD FOR SHORT HAS ONE OF THE BEST REPUTATIONS IN THE PROVINCE OF ONTARIO, CANADA AND HAS PRODUCED GRADUATES THAT YOU CAN FIND IN EVERY FIELD OF ART AND DESIGN. FROM PAINTERS, TO SCULPTORS, TO GRAPHIC DESIGNERS TO INTERIOR DESIGNERS, OCAD PRODUCES SOME TOP QUALITY PEOPLE AND HAS SOME EXTREMELY FAMOUS FACULTY MEMBERS, WELL-KNOWN IN THEIR FIELD. THE SCHOOL IS DEVELOPING SO MUCH, THEY ALSO HAVE ADVERTISING PROGRAMS AND MASTER'S DEGREES. THERE HAS BEEN SOME DISCUSSION ABOUT THE SCHOOL ALSO OFFERING A DOCTORATE DEGREE IN A NUMBER OF YEARS.

YORK UNIVERSITY'S FINE ARTS PROGRAM HAS A REPUTATION THAT IS INTERNATIONAL. THIS SCHOOL OFFERS TERRIFIC PROGRAMS IN DESIGN AND EXTREMELY STRONG DESIGNERS HAVE GRADUATED FROM THE SCHOOL THAT CAN BE FOUND ALL OVER THE WORLD.

RYERSON UNIVERSITY SITUATED IN THE HEART OF DOWNTOWN TORONTO ALSO HAS A STRONG DESIGN PROGRAM. MOVING OVER TO THE WEST PART OF CANADA, THE EMILY CARR INSTITUTE OF ART AND DESIGN IN BRITISH COLUMBIA HAS A GREAT REPUTATION THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY AND HAS PRODUCED SOME EXCELLENT DESIGNERS.

KEEPING TO THE WEST PART OF CANADA, THE BANFF SCHOOL OF FINE ARTS HAVE SOME SUPERIOR DESIGN PROGRAMS THAT ARE HIGHLY RESPECTED IN THE INDUSTRY. THE BANFF SCHOOL ALSO OFFERS SPECIAL SUMMER PROGRAMS THAT HAVE JUST AS STRONG A REPUTATION AS THEIR LONGER TERM PROGRAMS.

THE BRITISH COLUMBIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY IS ANOTHER PLACE THAT HAS A POPULAR DESIGN PROGRAM. IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO STUDY A DESIGN VIBRANT CITY SUCH AS MONTREAL, YOU MAY WANT TO CHOOSE ACADÉMIE INTERNATIONALE DU DESIGN INC. OR DAWSON COLLEGE. NOT FAR FROM MONTREAL IN OTTAWA IS A DESIGN PROGRAM AT ALGONQUIN COLLEGE.

HEADING OUT EAST, THERE IS A DESIGN PROGRAM IN HALIFAX AT THE NOVA SCOTIA COLLEGE OF ART AND DESIGN.

TORONTO HAS MANY EXCELLENT DESIGN PROGRAMS AT CENTENNIAL COLLEGE, DURHAM COLLEGE IN AJAX (NOT FAR FROM TORONTO), GEORGE BROWN COLLEGE, HUMBER COLLEGE AND SENECA COLLEGE ON YORK UNIVERSITY'S CAMPUS, ALSO KNOWN AS Seneca@York IN THE SCHOOL OF COMMUNICATION ARTS.

10 Most Popular Culinary Arts Programs

Looking to make cooking part of your career? There are many terrific culinary arts programs throughout North America where you can turn your flair in the kitchen into a profitable lifestyle choice.

George Brown College has one of the most reputable culinary programs in Toronto, Canada. Many of its graduates have gone on to work in some of the most famous kitchens in Canada and around the world, as well as opening their restaurants. In many of your favourite restaurants you will find a George Brown graduate who either owns it or works there.

Humber College is another school with an excellent culinary arts program. Located in the outer limits of downtown Toronto, the students get a chance to test out their culinary skills at many of the great eating places right on campus. This brings real life experience before they hit the job market.

If you are interested in studying culinary arts in the United States, there are a number of schools that offer associate's degrees. They are:

● The Art Institutes
● Atlantic Culinary Academy
● Scottsdale Culinary Institute

Coming back to Canada, the Globe and Mail has listed the Vancouver Community College as having one of the most popular culinary arts program in the country.

If you are looking to study in the capital city of Canada, Le Cordon Bleu Ottawa Culinary Arts Institute offers a comprehensive program with many terrific restaurants from cultural backgrounds around the world to work in after graduation in the city.

For major American cities, the Pennsylvania Institute of Culinary Arts offers a program in how to become a chef. In New York, The French Culinary Institute at the International Culinary Center. There are so many great restaurants in a city like New York, with a culture that likes to go out to eat, there would be no end to places where you could work after graduation and also finding employment would not be a problem. Chicago is another city where its residents like to go out to eat and Kendal College Culinary Arts School in that city would be a great place to learn the art of cooking.

Montréal, Québec with all of its varied restaurants and being like New York and Chicago where many of its residents enjoy going out to eat, you can study at the Pearson School of Culinary Arts in Lasalle, Québec. This school has also been featured on the public broadcaster's CBC Montreal.

Paralegal

A paralegal does the administration work for a lawyer, working under the lawyer’s direct supervision. Everything from criminal to corporate to family law – you can find paralegals. They are hard at work to make sure the multiple and time-consuming tasks of a lawyer are handled well.

Both private and public colleges offer courses to become a paralegal. There are also opportunities to pursue more advanced degrees to become a paralegal such as a bachelor’s or master’s degree that would help you earn more money with your starting salary.

Statistics in the United States report that the average annual salary for a paralegal is above $45,000 USD as recent as May of 2006. Many paralegals that work for governments in North America can earn about $53,000 a year. State and local governments pay about $34,000 USD. The big money is in the corporate world where a paralegal can make over $100,000 USD.

The profession of a paralegal is a growing and thriving field.
Many paralegals do become certified through such organizations as the National Association of Legal Assistants (NALA) and the National Federation of Paralegal Associations (NFPA) in the United States. The Canadian Association of Paralegals is just one of the ways to become certified too.

Other related fields and useful searches include:

• Community college
• Contract attorney
• Lawyers

You can find all the information that you need at www.edulocator.com.

Online Education

There is still an increasing debate over the validity of online education, especially when it comes to higher degrees.

Most people tend to believe that education is still at its true value when done face-to-face. Some people find the ease of online education with their busy lifestyles a lot easier to manage than having to attend classes at a university or college. Online education also gives the flexibility to do course work that is outside of the area where you live. Schools such as the University of Phoenix are famous for offering online graduate degrees to busy professionals.

When it comes to higher degrees such as masters and doctorate degrees there are a number of online universities in North America that offer these kinds of courses. Schools such as Athabasca University in Canada have an extremely strong reputation. There have been a number of problems with some of the accrediting policies with schools in the United States. One university that is accredited in the states is Capella University, however some people have had bad things to say about it on the Internet.

In order to do PhD-level work, there is a university called Charles Sturt that is based in Australia where you do not need to do course work and simply work on your thesis or dissertation. Depending on the reason why you would want to do your PhD, it may or may not be seriously recognized in academic circles. There is another school called Texas Tech in the United States that also offers online graduate degrees, even at the PhD-level.

If you decide that you would rather go the traditional route with your education, many U.S. schools offer great stipends that can pay for your tuition and your rent if your grades have been high in previous education. It would mean making the major transition to uproot your life, however more colleges and universities throughout North America are starting to ask for PhD-level education to get your foot in the door of academia. Many Canadian schools also offer the same incentives in scholarships, bursaries and teaching assistantships, as well as the opportunity to teach a class sole-responsibility.

Medical Transcription

Medical transcription involves transcribing the voice recordings of dialogues between a doctor, or group of doctors and the patient. Skills in understanding different kinds of accents, as well as knowledge in English as a Second Language can be extremely useful in this field. These requirements are just secondary to knowing how to type really, really fast.

It is important that when the medical transcription, or MT as it is also known is done; the document is formatted and presented well. These documents need to be clear and easy to read by various healthcare professionals who rely on this information to provide the best care to their client and/or patient. Accuracy is extremely important.

Many doctors will send digital sound files of their meetings with the patients via the Internet to the MT so the transcription can be done. There is also special software available to the MT to help in their work. This is a huge change and improvement from the days when this work was done with a typewriter and tape player. Most MTs can type at the alarming rate of 200 words per minute – about the speed of the average voice speaking.

The educational requirements to do medical transcription are not high. A high school diploma, or GED in the United States, coupled with one to three years experience working can garner this job. There are some schools that offer extra training and some MTs look to become certified to add more credibility to their work.
The pay for medical transcription can vary widely. Generally to start you can expect to make about $8 USD to $12 USD per hour. With about two years of experience it can range anywhere from $12 to $20. With an increase in years of experience, there is also an increase in the hourly rate of pay.

Dental Hygienist

A dental hygienist is a specialist when it comes to oral hygiene. He or she helps the dentist provide the client with preventive dental care. US statistics report that the median hourly wage for a dental hygienist is about $30.00 USD.

Dental hygienists deal with local anesthesia, scaling and root canals, radiography, dental sealing, bleaching and fillings. Although most people are afraid to go to the dentist, good oral hygiene is part of complete health and as a dental hygienist you would be part of a health team for your patients.

Working under the supervision of the dentist in charge, the dental hygienist would undergo some of the more detailed work related to oral care such as root canals. When it comes to the basic cleaning of the teeth, the dental hygienist may even get the opportunity to work unsupervised.

Some other duties of the dental hygienist include:

• Assessing and gathering data about the patient’s medical history
• Performing a dental hygiene diagnosis: this would include interpreting data from materials such as ex-rays
• Evaluating the effectiveness of the oral health plan performed for the patient

To become a dental hygienist, formal education is required. There are many private and public colleges that offer programs to become a dental hygienist. The program can take anywhere from one to two years.

Other related occupations include:

• Dental assistant
• Dental therapist
• Dental technician
• Dentist