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The days of a physical therapy assistant are long and arduous, much like that of his or her boss. However, no patient is more or less important than any other, so everyone needs to be tended to with equal vigor and concern. Being a physical therapist’s assistant isn’t easy, but there are no easy jobs within the health professions. So how does a modern assistant keep up with all the demands each patient places on them without personally breaking down? With technology, of course! Between technology, a “can do” attitude, and a lot of dedication, just about anything is possible.

Caring Doesn’t Come in a Box

If you think there’s a product you can buy that will make you care about your fellow man, you’re sadly mistaken. The iHeart is still in the development phase — and to the best of this site’s knowledge, that isn’t a real product. However, there is an app for that, just like with everything else in the world. A physical therapist’s assistant has to be able to handle the needs of patients, and subdue his or her own needs for a time, not that humility is too challenging for a physical therapy assistant. It is pretty humbling to know that no matter how badly you might have it, you have to work with people who have it worse.

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There are Apps for Can Do Attitudes Too

The app list for caring is tiny, but there are plenty of ways to amp yourself up for a long day of helping people to get back on their feet. Getting up early may be one of the hard parts of physical therapy assistant jobs, but getting up and staying up is far from the only challenging aspect of this career path.

Keeping Appointments

Appointments are great until someone makes a mistake and ends up double-scheduling them. While assistants need to be cute, they don’t necessarily need to be organized. So naturally, technology comes to the rescue again when it comes time to set and keep scheduled appointments. There are only about a hundred different apps for every smart phone dedicated to the act of setting and keeping an appointment at a given time, so feel free to try as many as it takes before you base your job on using one to make sure you are where you need to be.

Physical therapy assistant jobs are quite unique. While some jobs are built on the foundation of salary or personal gains, physical therapy assistant jobs are built from dedication, hard work, and love for others. For some, this is one of the most rewarding jobs there is. Are you willing to take the challenge and work as a physical therapy assistant?

Two years ago, the U.S. Army launched a program to teach soldiers how to be emotionally and psychologically strong. This week, the Army released a review of the Comprehensive Soldier Fitness program. Host Rachel Martin speaks with the program’s director, Brig. Gen. James Pasquarette, and Sgt. 1st Class Michael Ballard, a resiliency trainer in the program, about what it takes to prepare troops mentally for combat.

An opinion column in a recent edition of the Bangor Daily News by UMaine political science professor Amy Fried discusses the personal and economic consequences of reducing the state budget by reducing health care insurance coverage for Maine residents. Untreated illnesses sap strength and limit lives, Fried writes, and doesnt save money in the long run.

THE future of Stranmillis teacher training college could be in jeopardy because of political wrangling.

The proposed 16m merger of Stranmillis University College and Queen’s University Belfast is today expected to be put on hold, the Belfast Telegraph can reveal.

Both Queen’s and Stranmillis have endorsed the amalgamation that would streamline teacher training and create a world-class facility — the Stranmillis School of Education.

However, it has emerged that a political stand-off has developed between First Minister Peter Robinson and Employment Minister Stephen Farry over “deep scepticism” about the perceived Protestant “ethos” of Stranmillis.

In correspondence between the DUP leader and the Alliance minister, seen by the Belfast Telegraph, Mr Robinson expresses fears about the “protection of the ethos of the college”.

He states: “I am convinced that the inevitable consequence will be a dilution of the existing ethos Stranmillis has proudly maintained. When considered in conjunction with the absence of similar proposals relating to St Mary’s, neither I nor my party could support the proposed merger.”

Mr Robinson adds: “I have been publicly vocal on the need for Northern Ireland to progress toward an education sector that is truly shared yet feel the continued protection of St Mary’s privileged position, whilst undermining that of Stranmillis, would be a retrograde step.”

The public consultation on the proposed merger closed in June and was widely expected to have been rubber-stamped by Department for Employment and Learning (DEL) Minister Farry.

There have been several meetings between Mr Robinson and Mr Farry in recent weeks to try to resolve the political deadlock.

It is understood Mr Farry will today make a statement on teacher training to the Assembly. It is believed he will announce a review of all provision in Northern Ireland.

That will inevitably mean that the planned September 2012 opening of Stranmillis School of Education will not be going ahead, which could prove a financial headache for DEL.

New figures suggest Stranmillis will be more than 1m in debt by 2014/15 and needs at least 9m of investment.

Since 2007 there has been an 18% reduction in staff at the south Belfast campus, according to a briefing paper presented to Stormont’s employment and learning committee last month.

Those figures could rise if the number of teacher training places are reduced by the Department of Education given the number of empty desks, impending school closures and the already high number of newly-qualified teachers failing to gain employment.

It emerged during an Assembly debate in September that just 30 of 600 new teachers trained in Northern Ireland have been able to secure full-time school jobs this year. There’s an estimated 5,000 teachers currently out of work.

That means 5% secured employment, down from 15% in 2006/7 and 23% in 2003/4, according to research from the Higher Education and Statistics Agency.

Queen’s has offered to invest 7m in Stranmillis, three-year job protection to staff, four years’ salary protection and a severance package to those wishing to retire.

Steve Costello, chairman of Stranmillis’ board of governors, admitted the future of the college hangs in the balance.

Mr Costello penned the Costello Report for the Department of Education.

He said: “We know this institution is not viable for much longer. We will not be viable at the end of four years and we have potential building work. We are in a really difficult situation.

“It drives us mad that these are the only two options and we are playing political football.

“The merger is the only show in town, without it Stranmillis will not survive. All senior staff have bought into it, it’s just down to the political will of the politicians.”

Mr Costello praised Minister Farry who he described as “being totally on top of his job”.

He added: “We are very impressed with his knowledge, he really has done his homework.”

A spokesman for Queen’s said: “We went into this process because we had a vision for a world-class centre for teacher education that would be good for Northern Ireland and would link us to leading education centres around the world.

“We remain committed to that ideal.”

Background

Teacher training in Northern Ireland is delivered by five institutions. Stranmillis mainly prepares teachers for employment in the controlled sector and St Mary’s University College traditionally trains teachers for the Catholic maintained sector.

Postgraduate training is also provided by Queen’s, the University of Ulster and the Open University. Both Stranmillis and St Mary’s are colleges of Queen’s and are awarded their degrees by the university.

An over-supply of teachers had seen a decline in the number of training posts. However, former Education Minister Caitriona Ruane increased the intake in 2009/10 and 2010/11 to safeguard the future viability of both colleges.

This article examines course requirements for a non profit management masters degree and the career opportunities for people that possess the degree.

Regardless of whether you are looking for a career uplift or a chance to break into the nonprofit world, a master’s degree with a focus on the public sector can help attain your goals. When you obtain a non-profit management masters degree there are many different career opportunities that open to you. People that possess this type of degree are given the option to enter into diverse fields such as management, business and other financially related occupations. The trend is showing a rise in the workforce for people that possess this type of degree. The recent growth in the number of nonprofit graduate programs indicates that there is various opportunities in the field of nonprofit management. As the economy continues to grow the demand for non profit organizations will surprisingly enough grow right along with it.

Capella University

• Master of Science (MS) in Management of Nonprofit Agencies

Walden University

• M.S. in Nonprofit Management and Leadership
• Master of Public Admin – Nonprofit Management & Leadership
• Master of Public Admin – Public Management & Leadership
• Graduate Certificate in Nonprofit Management

University of the Rockies

• MA in Psychology – Non-Profit Management Specialization

Norwich University

• Master of Public Administration

South University – Campus and South University Online

• Master of Public Administration – Non-Profit Management

In order to obtain one of these degrees students are mandated to engage in studies in many different sectors. Students will need to complete their general studies which include mathematics, biology, English, and economics. A few other courses such as marketing and things that involve business and business related actions are also offered to students in order to increase their skills in the field that they decide to enter into.

A lot of the non profit management courses that students will be asked to take in order to receive this degree will be based around the type of industry that they are wishing to enter into after they have completely completed the course. All students that want to enter into a non profit management position with their obtained degree will be implored to volunteer at the industry of their choice so they can gather an idea of how the industry operates on a day to day basis.

After graduating from an institution that offers the non profit management masters degree program students will be able to enter the workforce as a manager or supervisor. Students will be able to obtain advocacy jobs, grant making jobs as well as employment with different civic organizations.

Most students will be spending a lot of time in an office environment when they are employed by one of these industries. They will consistently be surrounded by volunteers and other team members. Students will be expected to know how to instruct all members of their team because of their honors qualifications. Most of the jobs within this career field will have variable schedules.

Earnings within this line of work fluctuate based upon the type of organization that a student decides to work for. Their earnings can start at $18.00 per hour or go up to $35.00 per hour based upon the industry. So, yearly students can expect to earn anywhere from $34,560 to $67,000. Based on your qualifications after graduating from your higher learning institution there is a chance that you may be able to earn more funds. These numbers expressed are clearly median numbers that new students graduating with a non profit management masters degree were able to obtain.

Jobs within the non profit sector are expected to increase by 14% by the year 2018. This means the need for individuals that possess one of these degrees will increase overtime. All other industries outside of this sector are only expected to grow by eleven percent by the year 2018. This equates to the fact that students that receive a non profit management masters degree will have better job prospects than individuals that do not possess this higher learning degree.