Breast cancer is one of the oldest forms of cancer that we know about. This is because unlike most other cancers of the internal organs, breast cancer can be felt and sometimes seen without the use of technological equipment. Sadly, however, simply because it is easier to diagnose breast cancer does not mean it is easier to treat. When breast cancer becomes plainly noticeable, there is a great likelihood that it is already in later stages of development. Today, we are aware that the best fight against any cancer is early detection. In regards to breast cancer, mammograms are the most common form of regular testing and are recommended for all women over 40 years old to get tested every few years. Mammography utilizes low-energy X-rays that detect irregularities in the breast tissue. Up until not long ago, film was used as a way of detecting and recording the mammogram results, known as film-screen mammography. Today, with the advancements of digital technology, film is being replaced with digital detectors, otherwise known as full-field digital mammography. What are some of the differences between the two systems and what are some of the advantages of digital mammography? Density Digital mammography is far more sensitive when it comes to creating images than film mammography. Because the X-rays must penetrate breast tissue, which can be very dense, the more sensitive the detector the better the quality of the image. More importantly than image quality is the digital capability of perceiving or picking up on things that would be concealed under tissue density with film. Radiation Digital mammography uses lower doses of radiation than its predecessor. There is always a slight risk that when undergoing regular X-ray examinations, that radiation could cause cancer, although this risk is negligible compared to non-detection of tumors. Nevertheless, the lower the radiation, the better. Storage and Transmission Digital mammograms create digital images which can be altered or modified whereas film images cannot. This means that factors like lighting, blurriness, and magnification can be easily manipulated with digital images. Also, because they are digital, they can be copied, stored and sent electronically much easier than with film. The speed and ease of patient information-sharing plays a strong role in the optimal treatment of cancer. Full-field digital mammography is an example of how health and technology work together to provide more accurate and more efficient detection of breast cancer, which results in fewer cases of breast cancer mortality. The one significant disadvantage to digital mammography is the cost of the equipment, and thus fewer people have access to this equipment for the time being. But in the long run, the considerations of cost are far less important than providing the best medical services and ultimately saving lives. Healthcare training should continue to maximize the use and understanding of digital technologies as much as possible. With the progress made in mammography as an example, digital technology should extend beyond cancer detection into all aspects of the healthcare industry. Visit Mohawk College for more information on health courses.
What comes to mind when you think of a nurse? Common cultural stereotypes might imagine gentle women in clean, white uniforms holding cold compresses to the foreheads of feverish patients. Or maybe you think of a stressed-out, overworked hospital employee running from room to room shouting out all kinds of medical jargon and numbers to doctors. Nursing, in fact, is quite a diverse profession with many specializations within the industry. Nurses don't always work in hospitals or the offices of doctors: they can work in private homes, schools, summer camps, with the military, or along in ambulances and even helicopters. There are three basic types of nurses with many subdivisions among these types. They are: Critical Care Nurses, Non-Intensive Care Nurses, and Non-Bedside Nurses. Critical Care Nursing Like the name suggests, nurses working in critical care deal with situations that are very serious, for example: life-threatening emergencies or patients with critical illnesses. Most of this work is done in hospital settings, like the emergency and intensive-care units, but also in emergency medical response units (ambulances). Some subtypes of critical-care nurses are: - Cardiac Care Unit – for patients with critical heart problems which may involve surgery - Cardiothoracic ICU – immediate post-operation care, especially with heart or lung surgery and transplants - Neonatal ICU – treating very sick or under-developed newborn babies - Neuro ICU – treating serious injuries and traumas, especially to the head, as well as stroke victims Non-Intensive Care Nursing This kind of nursing work is similar to the above category with the obvious difference that here nurses are working with patients that are not in serious critical condition and with no immediate emergencies. Notice that the departmental subtypes are often the same as critical-care but with marked differences in the actual work: - Cardiac Nurse – for cardiology patients who are not having heart surgery - Cardiothoracic Nurse – regular recovery for patients who have had heart or lung surgery with few complications - Nursery Nurse – taking care of newborn babies who are healthy - Neurology Nurse – helping with a smooth recovery from strokes and brain injuries Non-Bedside Nursing When these nurses work in hospitals, their work is more often administrative. They also work in other industries, like educational institutions or insurance companies. Although this branch of nursing is non-clinical work, one must still attend a school of nursing and have several years of clinical experience in a hospital before working in one of the subtypes of non-bedside, or non-clinical nursing: - Health Educator - Medical Journalist - Patient-Doctor Facilitator - Patient Case Manger - Quality Control - Malpractice Consultant A good nursing program will give the student enough experience of all the different types of nursing work, so he or she can decide what branch is best for them. One of the exciting and attractive things about becoming a nurse is that you have a lifetime of new career opportunities that will never be the simple cultural stereotype of wiping foreheads or running alongside gurneys shouting numbers of CCs. Visit Mohawk College for more information about nursing schools and other healthcare programs.
Childbirth is considered both a scientific necessity as well as a miracle. No matter how much we learn about the nature of reproduction, it is nearly impossible to stand by and not be amazed at the process of bringing new life into the world. But “standing by” is exactly what we do while a woman undergoes the stages of pregnancy—standing by to support her, standing by to monitor the progress of the fetus, standing by to ensure the health and safety of the expecting mother. In fact, the Latin verb for “to stand by” is obstare, which is where we get our current word for the medical field of obstetrics: the science of a woman's reproductive process. One of the main methods by which we monitor the progress of the fetus is ultrasonography, which produces images of the fetus inside the womb. It may seem counter-intuitive at first to use a sound-based frequency to produce visual-based information, but this is not ordinary sound as we know it. Ultrasound describes a frequency of hearing that is higher than what is audible to the common human ear. Ultrasonography works by taking ultrasound waves, which non-invasively penetrate the skin, and bouncing them to the womb. The sound waves bounce back and are read by a scanner which then translates the ultrasound waves inside the body into visual images. The standard ultrasound image has undergone some major technological advancements into 3D and temporal-based 4D. State-of-the-art healthcare training in ultrasonography now includes a thorough education of this new equipment. 3D Ultrasonography In standard 2D ultrasonography the sound waves are beamed into the body and are reflected directly back to the scanner for a flat image. 3D ultrasonography is able to achieve this extra dimension of the image by using “echoes” which are multiple sound-waves that are sent into the body at a variety of angles. The computer which reads the returning waves is far more sophisticated than the scanner used in 2D sonograms. One of the immediate advantages of 3D sonography is the ability to not only see the surface of the fetus from one position, but to rotate the image from all angles. Another important advantage is the ability to see beyond the surface into the internal organs of the fetus. 4D Ultrasonography The progress of fusing health and technology becomes extremely evident with 4D ultrasound technology. Speaking of the fourth dimension may sound more like science fiction than medical science because we are speaking of a dimension outside of space: that of time. The 4D ultrasound produces a moving image of the 3D ultrasound. The technology is not that different from 3D ultrasounds, except that many scans, or pictures, are taken rapidly and displayed in succession, producing the “moving image” effect, or as we know it, a 3D movie. Today, there is no serious need for a pregnant woman to have a 4D ultrasound where a 3D ultrasound will do. One must, however, marvel at the miraculous powers of our technology in giving expecting parents a real living glimpse of their baby. These scientific “miracles” are only fraction of the miracle of life they have been invented to serve.
Accounting is no easy job. It requires a mind for pure numbers and calculations with a sense for the world of business. Whether an accountant is employed within a single company, or acts as an intermediary for an entire industry, there are many factors which the accountant must master in terms of translating numbers, figures, assets and flows from one recognizable set of data to the next. How does one translate sales of manufactured products and intangible services? How is a company's competitive edge measured in terms of employee expertise or speculative markets? How are financial standings understood regarding money earned and money owed? These are just some of the questions an accountant must be ready to answer. There are several key concepts that are integral to the education of an accountant. These are: - Revenue Recognition - Fixed Assets - Intangible Assets - Goodwill These concepts are inter-related in sometimes complex ways; sometimes these concepts overlap and sometimes they stand in contrast with one another. There are several published guidelines the accountant must be familiar with that sets standards and principles for defining these concepts, such as the GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) and the IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards). A thorough accounting program will ensure the future accountant is very familiar these standards and principles regulate how these four concepts function on a balance sheet. Revenue Recognition This is the principle which measures revenues of a company based on the company's activity regardless of whether the company has been paid. In simple terms, it is how much money one can count on receiving in a certain period of time, and not how much money a company has at a given time. An example would be if I sold my services as a house cleaner for a future date, and will only get paid after the job is done. The money I am expecting becomes listed as revenue recognition. Fixed Assets This is also known as Property, Plant and Equipment (PPE). This relates to the assets of a company that has value but is not easily sellable or liquefiable. An example of this would be a printing press in a book publishing company, or a fleet of cars for a pizza delivery restaurant. Intangible Assets These are assets a company has that are not actual physical objects, and thus have no clear way of measuring or valuing them. The basic principle of intangible assets are time and effort that a company invests in order to make money. Examples of these are things like professional expertise, but also things like intellectual property. Goodwill This is closely related to intangible assets. In simple terms, goodwill are intangible assets that have been given some sort of monetary value because they have been sold. For example, if a pizza restaurant has a secret recipe for tomato sauce, in itself it is an intangible asset. But if they sell their recipe to another pizzeria, the value of that sale is listed as goodwill. These are simple definitions with easy to understand examples. Accounting courses can be entirely dedicated to each one of these concepts. Knowing them individually and then understanding their relationship is core factor in mastering the concepts of accounting. Visit Mohawk College for more information on business courses and accounting training.
The first pharmacies, or drugstores, can date all the way back to the Middle Ages in Baghdad. This is not to say that chemical compounds from plants were not used prior to this in ancient times. But with the development and recording of botanical studies and chemistry in the Islamic world of the Middle Ages, the time had become ripe for the proper classification and subsequent merchandising of medicine for everyday commercial use. Europe trailed behind the Middle Eastern world for several centuries until drugstores began springing up across the continent in the 13th century. Today, drugstores are everywhere, from strip-malls to airports, from bustling urban centres to small-town general stores. And they are no longer limited to just prescription medicine, but one can find all sorts of over-the-counter drugs, not to mention toiletries, cleaning products, greeting cards and food. But this isn’t the only type of pharmacy to endure since Medieval times. Pharmacies today can be divided into two categories: community and institutional. Community Pharmacies This is the case where pharmacists as healthcare professionals simultaneously act as retailers, as in shop-workers. The basic design of one of these pharmacies is a store divided into two sections, a general store area where consumers can shop freely as in any supermarket, and a back area which acts as a dispensary. This restricted area houses the prescribed medications and it is where pharmacists help customers understand the proper usage of their prescriptions. This type of pharmacy is rightly named because it is truly integrated into the community, with as much of an emphasis on drug preparation as customer relations. Undertaking pharmacy technician training prepares one equally for both aspects of the job as these qualities must come together to provide the best service for the community. Institutional Pharmacies We are much less familiar with institutional pharmacies as opposed to community ones. This is mostly because as regular, everyday consumers, we are well-provided for by our community drugstores. Institutional pharmacies normally handle the pharmaceutical and medicinal needs of other industries in healthcare that aren’t based on a single customer relationship. Examples of institutions these pharmacies deal with are hospitals, nursing homes and even military facilities. Sometimes institutional pharmacies are located on the site of these other institutions. Otherwise, they may have their own facilities and utilize regular courier and delivery services to distribute medication. Along with the massive production and distribution of medicine, institutional pharmacies can also apply statistical analysis. This means that they keep constant records of the efficacy of certain medicines, its frequency of usage, its consumptive demographics, as well as other resource, manufacturing and cost considerations. This information is then shared and integrated with other healthcare specialists in a constant effort to improve the quality, efficiency and availability of prescription drugs. Not only can hospitals and pharmaceutical manufacturers benefit from this information, but schools of Health Science can as well. Becoming a pharmacist gives one many options for the exact nature of work and work environment. Whether one is interested in working with a community or working at an institutional level, pharmacists and pharmacy technicians will always serve a valuable role to society. Visit Mohawk College for more information on applying to a Health Science college.
They conduct electricity. They can store and transfer heat. They can be bent and stretched. They can reflect light. They form the support of our industrial structures. They compose most of the earth's natural elements. They are metals. For over 8,000 years, mankind has been mining and processing metals. Beginning with gold, we made ornament, jewelry, and coins. With the later discovery of copper, the first tools and weapons were forged. Then came lead, the most malleable metals discovered up to date. Its use became widely popular during the Roman era as piping, and was born the fields of plumbing, sanitation and irrigation. Welding is the art and process of joining metals together through forging—melting them down to near liquid heats, which when cools can harden two pieces together into a single solid piece. It dates back to the Bronze Age when copper was the main metal used for welding. It then became increasingly important during the Iron Age, as iron and steel took over as the primary metal. It is impossible today to become a welder without first taking the time to understand the basics of metals themselves and metallurgy. This emphasis on metal education is akin to knowing about food before simply learning recipes, or studying maps before simple memorizing directions. A thorough training and welding apprenticeship will cover the basics of many metals, including the following: Copper Copper is very ductile, meaning it can be easily reshaped by being pulled or stretched. This is useful for turning metals into a long, thins sheets or into wire form. It is also excellent for conducting heat and electricity. Its combined ductility and conductivity make it ideal for electrical wires. It is also has a natural color that is not grey, ranging from yellow to orange to red, which is why it is popular in ornament. For welding, it binds very easily with other metals. Steel Steel is made of a combination of iron and other elements, often carbon. Depending on which element and the amount, its degree of ductility and malleability can vary, and therefore different kinds of steels are used for different kinds of welding. When combined with higher levels of carbon, for example, it is extremely hard and durable, but this has an inverse effect on its ductility. Aluminum This is an extremely low-density metal, which means it is light weight. It is also one of the most common metals found in the earth's crust, likely because it is harmless to and unharmed by other flora and fauna in its environment. One of its strengths is its resistance to corrosion, and thus lasts a long time. It is a relatively easy metal to weld with, so long as the conditions have been well-cleaned and as oxide-free as possible. These three metal descriptions are just some of the basic things a welder should know. There are in fact a great many variations in welding between metals and sub-categories of metals. In training for a career by doing a steamfitter or sheet metal worker apprenticeship, one learns to take the ABCs of these metals and forge them into a meaningful language of metallurgy. Visit Mohawk College for information on welding, sheet metal worker, or steamfitter apprenticeships.
Information is everywhere. Even if we cannot directly perceive our environment to be information, it is embedded all around us. Strolling through a library or surfing the net is an easy way to spot how information is stored. But how does one consider their favorite television program to be information? Or how is a long-distance phone call from your grandmother considered information? The answer is the way we record and transmit everything around us. Our brains do a good job dealing with what we directly perceive with the five senses. For everything else that is transmitted through some electronic device, sights, sounds, numbers and words are sent to us through circuits of information. There are two major forms of circuit transmission: analog and digital. Analog was first developed in the 1920s and came to popular use during World War II. Digital came into being in the 1960s and became widely used in the 1980s by libraries. But just because digital is newer does not mean that an electrician school or electrician apprenticeship program won't cover the two. Both are still used today, and many electronic devices use a combination of both. Analog is a faithful electronic recording of the original information source. For example, a voice recorded with analog takes the actual wave forms of the voice and imprints them directly onto the tape, which a reader will play. Digital takes an original signal source and translates that information into a series of numbers—binary code of 1s and 0s. Digital receivers take those numbers and translate them back to the original information for playback. Electrician training will guide trainees to know the difference between the two seemingly opposite systems. While it may seem that digital circuits require more work to do the same thing as analog, there are some advantages to digital, especially as today the amounts of information being stored and transmitted is growing exponentially. SignalAnalog sends a constant signal no matter if a receiving device is turned on or off. So for example, televisions, which were mostly analog, could have the screen turned off, but its receiver is still always on. Digital can be turned on and off, and thus could save electricity. StorageSince digital turns information into code, it has a much larger capacity to store information than analog, which requires a set amount of space for a set amount of information. Digital can also compress large amounts of code by finding patterns, thereby saving even more digital space. IntegrityBecause analog requires a physical form of storage, it can be subjected to wear and tear, thus deteriorating over time. Digital is simply the information about the original signal. The quality and integrity will therefore never degrade so long as the information can be read. This also has the advantage of being able to be duplicated and transmitted with zero loss of quality. Knowing the difference and the advantages of each is an essential aspect of electrician apprenticeship programs. Being in control of the means of storing and communicating information is an essential aspect of modern life. Visit Mohawk College for more information on electrician and industrial electrician apprenticeship programs.
A good tool is only as good as the worker who uses it. This is perhaps nowhere truer than it is in the areas of home improvement. Having the proper tools can save one time, energy, and maybe most importantly, save one from damages and accidents, both to the house and the worker. When walking up and down the aisles of a hardware store, one can be overwhelmed by the selection of kinds, brands and models of tools. Some are absolutely necessary, while others are simply more convenient. Finally, while some tools may look attractive, they can turn out to be utterly useless. It is a good idea to research tools before buying. Don't stick to product descriptions on brand or store websites. Read comparative reviews and blogs from professionals and everyday users as well to get an unbiased opinion. If possible, borrowing tools from someone else to try them out is an even better way to determine their use and efficacy. Once a tool has been purchased, you might be excited to go ahead and start using it. It is always recommended, however, to take the time to read the accompanying instruction manual first. Another great way to get the most out of your tools is to see if there are instructional videos online that you can watch. This is also useful for product reviews. Home improvement courses are often the first place one learns about the necessary tools for a job, such as for plumbing or roofing. Even better than classes are plumber or roofer apprenticeship programs, for here one gets the chance to put their tools to work. Here is a list of some of the tools required for these trades: Plumbing Tools - Tongue and groove pliers - Basin wrench - Compression sleeve puller - Pipe wrench - Adjustable wrench - Hacksaw - Plumber's putty - Sink auger - Flange plunger - Valve reseating tool - Tubing cutter Roofing Tools - Ladder - Razor Knife - Speed square - Shingle sheers - Tin snips - Flat bar - Roofing shovel - Circular saw - Roofing jacks Always check your tools before beginning a new job at least one day in advance when stores are still open, just in case you need something fixed or replaced at the last minute. Always clean your tools properly after use, and if necessary, tighten any parts or replace any components right away if you notice it is needed. Any roofing or plumbing apprenticeship will enforce the importance of these steps before and after a job. Doing so can save you from wasted time, thereby guaranteeing you complete your job satisfactorily and efficiently. This will leave not only solid roofs and smooth plumbing, but happy clients as well. Visit Mohawk College for more information on plumbing, roofing and other apprenticeship programs.
There’s little doubt that today, many people love sitting down in the comfort of their own home, flicking on the television, and enjoying some nail-biting crime show. The increase of interest in this style of police show, which focuses on the criminals more than just on the crime, is most likely related to the fact that we are no longer simply interested in seeing the law upheld and criminals punished. As a culture, we have taken an overall interest in understanding the psychology of the criminal or the roots of criminal motivation. Action, chase scenes and violent interrogations are fun as entertainment up to a certain extent. But as a culture becomes more educated, the relationship between psychology and the law have a greater appeal precisely because they appeal to our desire to penetrate beyond flashy entertainment to deeper understanding of why human beings are pushed to the extremes of criminal behavior. If our quest for knowledge is the reason why the work of a Jason Gideon ( Criminal Minds) or a Patrick Jane ( The Mentalist) is more fascinating than, say, a Dirty Harry or Baretta, then it is no surprise that more and more people are interested in turning from television shows to real-world education in the forensic sciences. And just as we engage in these programs from home, so can we take advantage of online learning to get an education in criminal or forensic psychology. For those considering this exciting field, here are a few of the subjects one can expect to cover: · Criminal Psychology – This branch focuses on criminals, specifically, what motivates them into crime. It penetrates far deeper than regular motivations based on financial need. It employs the knowledge of profiling, mental disorder, and sociological pressures. · Police Psychology – Learn to evaluate personalities of law enforcement officers to determine their ability and efficacy in dealing with serious crimes. This also learns to help officers who have experienced traumas in the line of duty. · Victimology – Help victims of violent crimes learn to deal with their traumas and adapt back into everyday society. Focus on making it easy for victims to help the police and justice system track and prosecute their offenders. · Court Psychology – Understanding the special dynamics in court as criminals, victims, the police and the law are all brought together. Court psychology often works with criminal psychology for offering testimony. · Correctional Psychology – This branch studies the rehabilitation of criminals and offenders in prisons and other correctional facilities. Also serving to evaluate criminals for parole. These studies are not an exact science and many moral and ethical issues are constantly shaping the way we treat criminals, their victims, and their relationships to the law. As these subjects are continuously under investigation, the opportunity to study them in continuing education programs will only ensure more educated professionals will help to improve our understanding for generations to come. Visit Mohawk College for more information on distance education programs.
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