Medical Careers Training Course Descriptions
Valley Medical Institute; Bridgeport, CT
Certified Nurse’s Aide
Course Code: CNA
Course Type: Medical
Clock Hours: 100
Course Description:
Valley Medical’s nurse’s aide program is designed to prepare the students to function in a traditional nursing assistant role in a nursing centers such as hospitals and nursing homes. VMI believes that a legal and ethical necessity exists to provide students with the necessary education and training for safe, effective, and sensitive functioning within the health care industry. Our focus is on nursing assistant skills and functions, safety, and a psychosocial approach to resident care.
The course, which is 100 hours in length, includes forty hours of classroom or didactic theory and sixty hours of hands-on or clinical training. We offer day, evening, or weekend classes. We run these courses every month. We find that the hours and flexibility of our courses fit into most people’s schedule.
The course, approved by Connecticut Department of Higher Education and Connecticut Department of Public Health, has been approved since 1994.
Pre-Requisite: High School Diploma, GED or Valley Medical Entrance Exam; physical and Tuberculin test.
Certified Nurse’s Aide Refresher
Course Code: CNAR
Course Type: Medical
Clock Hours: 30
Course Description:
VMI’s refresher course is thirty hours long; ten hours of classroom and twenty hours of skills training. We teach days, evenings, or weekends. VMI’s refresher course is designed for Certified Nurse’s Aides who have completed an approved Certified Nurse’s Aide course in the state of Connecticut and whose registration has lapsed.
A nurse’s aides’ registration does not have to be renewed if you worked as a nurse’s aide for an 8-hour period of time within a recent 24-month period in a health care environment approved by the CT Department of Public Health. If the registration does lapse, the nurse’s aide may be asked to take a refresher if a long period of time has passed.
Pre-Requisite: Must have been registered as CNA with state of CT Department of Public Health; physical and Tuberculin test.
Dental Assistant
Course Code: DA
Course Type: Dental
Clock Hours: 120
Course Description:
VMI’s basic Dental Assistant program is 120 hours long over six weeks, either days, evenings, or weekends.
The Dental Assistant program prepares the students to be members of the dental team, to assist the dentist in all phases of dentistry. The program includes general and some specialty dentistry, chair-side procedures, radiography, and laboratory and business office assisting.
An important and integral part of the educational program is the clinical experience; this is done by rotation through several local dental facilities. The dental assistant takes on significant responsibility as a member of the dental health care team. Assistants greatly increase the efficiency of the dentist in the delivery of quality care and are valuable members of the dental care team.
If you have strong communication skills, enjoy working with your hands as well as your mind, and want a career with responsibility, dental assisting is for you. The Dental Assistant Program is founded on classroom didactic teaching and consistent patient care. Our learning environment will stimulate the student with new discovery and techniques that contribute to the health of the public as well as growth of the dental assisting profession. The faculty’s responsibilities are to provide comprehensive approaches to the student that include and encourage critical, independent, and professional thinking.
Ultimately we are committed to providing educational programs for a culturally diverse student population to optimize each individual’s growth. Procedures a dental assistant may perform are varied, challenging, interesting and responsible, whether sitting chair-side or in the business office. In smaller practices, the assistant might work with the dentist as well as managing the business aspects of the dental practice such as scheduling, billing and purchasing.
In larger practices, the duties could be more specialized. Many assistants are qualified to take X-rays. In the state of Connecticut you must be certified to take X-rays. That is why we prepare each student for the state RHS exam. In most dental offices, the dental assistant is in charge of infection control procedures, which are closely regulated by OSHA (the Federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration). This is a very complex and important task and is a real challenge for any professional, requiring constant updates to remain current with registrations. The Dental Assistant works on behalf of the patient as well as the dentist in helping to assure a high level of professional excellence in oral health care and delivery.
Pre-Requisite: High School Diploma, GED or Valley Medical Entrance Exam
Dental Assistant Refresher
Course: DAR
Course Type: Dental
Clock Hours: 80
Course Description:
The Dental Assistant Refresher course is eighty hours long, taught days, evenings, or weekends. The Dental Assistant Refresher is a course designed for current or past dental assistants who would like to refresh their skills, including radiography and infection control. Similar to our basic program, without the clinical lab. This course would prepare the student for state exams in radiography and infection control.
Pre-Requisite: Proof of being a dental assistant and a letter of recommendation from a dentist is needed.
Dental Radiography
Course Code: DAXR
Course Type: Dental
Clock Hours: 40
Course Description:
A sixteen-hour course, taught days, evenings, or weekends, designed for the dental assistant who is working in a dental environment and has not been certified in radiography technology. This course prepares the student to take the state radiography exam.
Pre-Requisite: Must be presently working for a dentist and present a reference from the dentist.
Phlebotomist
Course Code: PH
Course Type: Medical
Clock Hours: 100
Course Description:
The 100 hour course will prepare the student for collecting venipuncture, capillary and other medical specimens, along with ancillary medical system duties.
Pre-requisite: High School Diploma, GED or Valley Medical Entrance Exam
EKG Technician
Course Code: EKG
Course Type: Medical
Clock Hours: 40
Course Description:
The course will prepare students with the theory, academics and clinical education necessary to function as an entry level EKG technician.This course may be taken as a module toward completion of the PCT program, or it may be taken independently as an individual skills course.
Pre-requisite: High School Diploma, GED or Valley Medical Entrance Exam
Patient Care Technician
Course Code: PCT
Course Type: Medical
Clock Hours: 240
Course Description:
Valley Medical Institute’s Patient Care Tech course will prepare the student for an entry level Patient Care Tech’s role in the health care field.
Pre-requisite: High School Diploma, GED or Valley Medical Entrance Exam
Course Code: MBC
Course Type: Medical
Clock Hours: 80
Billing and Coding
Course Code: MBC
Course Type: Medical
Clock Hours: 80
Course Description:
The Medical Billing and Coding Course covers the basic knowledge and skills required to become a Medical Biller and/or Coder including foundational courses in health insurance and diagnostic and procedural coding. Students complete coursework in the main medical diagnostic coding (ICD) and procedure coding (CPT) systems, as well as, medical terminology, computerized medical billing and health insurance applications. The program also contains a clinical externship with a database of three hundred patients which is completed online. Upon completion, the graduates will have the entry-level skills of a Medical Coder and Biller and be qualified to interview for positions in a variety of healthcare related facilities.
Valley Medical’s Billing and Coding course is comprised of eighty (80) hours of didactic hours. Students can benefit from in-class instruction covering a variety of topics to assist in their evolution from the classroom to an administrative position within a healthcare setting.
Admissions Requirements
Pre-Requisite: High School Diploma, GED or Valley Medical Entrance Exam