All things Health Care Admin/HCA (merged)

[MED_BCMC]

Or more accurately, by MOs and NOs that have the same training as the res HCA. ;D

I would disagree. If there are trained HCAs, as well as MO/NOs, then the MO/NOs should be filling positions that where they would be better able to use their professional skills. It is only in the absence of HCAs that MO/NOs should be going out of their trade. My 2 cents.

 

[Donut]

Excuse my ignorance here, but what other positions are there?  You've listed just about every officer position in a med coy.  Fd Amb.

Where do the clinician officers sit, then?

DF

 

[MED_BCMC]

Excuse my ignorance here, but what other positions are there?   You've listed just about every officer position in a med coy.   Fd Amb.

Where do the clinician officers sit, then?

DF

If a Res Fd Amb had a full compliment of trained HCAs, the MO/NOs would be filling the line serials for MO/NOs. They would basically be a training cadre (medical instruction, evaluation, etc). Realistically, as RN PRN pointed out, Nursing Officers and Medical officers will often occupy any of the previously mentioned positions, simply because there are no trained HCAs.

BCMC

 

[Brad Sallows]

In a res Fd Amb, as with pretty much every res unit, ultimately the officers will work wherever the CO requires them to and where the CO believes the officers will gain necessary work experience.

 

[Leo791989]

Hello
I called my recruiting centre to inquire about HCA officer trade and they told me that I can apply as a ROTP HCA officer even if I am doing my BSc in Geography. Is that true? I thought you needed BA or BCom according to the website.
Also, is there a need/shortage of Health Care Administrators??
Thank You

 

[Armymedic]

Yes, on both and...

SEARCH.

 

[Leo791989]

Armymedic thanks for the info but when I searched I couldn't find any info on BSc Geography being accepted for ROTP HCA. And I couldn't find anywhere about the need/shortage for HCA's within CF.
Thanks

 

[medicineman]

I've run into alot of HCA's with different degrees - in the end, you do a program through Ryerson Universtiy in Health Care Admin as part of your MOC training.  Seeing as alot of HCA's end up there as they are reclassified for whatever reason from other MOC's, you can imagine the vairety of education some f these people have.

Hope that helps.

MM

 

[Armymedic]

Leo791989,

Sorry didn't mean to come off so strong. But keep asking those questions to the recruiters, look at the recruiting site etc, beyond the borders of this site.

 

[GINge!]

Leo, its not that a BSc(geo) is unacceptable, its just that you will be competing against those who have BAdm, BComm, and even MBA & MHA degrees plus many have prior mil experience.

As an aside, will the CF still take you as ROTP for the balance of your degree? The reason I ask is, a few years ago, the preferred ROTP path was via The RMC and upon entry, you had to restart your undergrad from year-1.

 

[Sig_Des]

One HCA I know in particular remusted there from the Arty....his degree was in Poly Sci.... just goes to show...

 

[medaid]

Well... in the MO.... they take almost any degree, I mean mine's not even remotely health related...it's Criminology 

 

[quebecrunner]

Is there someone who know if i will be able to skip basic field if i join reg forces? I've done the CAP (reg force) and the BCT, with 1.5 year full time cl B.

Thanks  ;D

 

[HCA123]

How long have you been working as an HCA? The CAP wouldn't write of the basic field because of the medical aspects of the Basic Health Services Field Course - as I'm sure GINge will have some input here (ex-combat arms officer - reg force - who should have, but didn't get the write-off). If you can put together a package showing you have covered the medical aspects (setting up/siting UMS's, etc) - then you might have a chance. If you need a list of EO's and PO's, I can send you a PLA (prior learning assessment) that was done a couple of years ago by someone else that was accepted.

 

[GINge!]

This is still a bit of a tender point with me HCA123! My PLA was turned down due to a lack of 'medical' trg, despite CFRG , the CM, and CFMSS supporting the PLA; it was rejected by Ottawa (24 hours before I departed for BHCA..grrr...repack!)

Of the 20-odd days of Basic Fd Trg, I found approximately 2 contained new material. These could have easily been accomplished through correspondance as they were strictly written assignments, but I digress.

If you want, I will email you my PLA application and you can feel free to use it as a guide. The fact that you have prior med exposure in a Res Fd Amb may indeed grant you a waiver. If you have done CAP, I think that most of the material on BFHSC will be a waste of your time. Think platoon (section really) orders, and off-loading an MLVW and setting up a tent. Repeat nine times. The medical estimate may be new to you though. The course is in desparate need of a revamp, and I have no idea why HCA are not required to attend CAP to begin with.

That being said, I thoroughly enjoyed my time on the BFHSC; I found it a very easy course, and it's always good to see how your peers function in a field environment. There is also significant social aspect attached to the course which I don't think was unique to my serial. Your previous experiences on CAP and the Fd Amb will be an asset to your coursemates. If you can spare 3 weeks out of your summer, then I'd recommend you go on the course.

 

[dapaterson]

To the unenlightened (like me) there's a challenge in understanding the difference between these two support trades - Health Care Administrator and Health Services Operations.

And, perhaps more interestingly, skimming the occupational specification for HSO, it reads suspiciously like a subset of the Log officer occupation - but with "H Svcs" tacked on to everything - so it's not HR management, it's H Svcs HR Management.

Question:  Is there truly a need for those two as stand-alone occupations, or could they be part of the Log O family, with specialty training for any H Svcs specific issues?


(And where's that can of worms icon?)

 

[RandyL]

I really don't know anything about what your asking , but I found this.  :nod: Not sure if it will work, don't really know how to post links.

http://hazel8500.files.wordpress.com/2008/01/can-o-worms.gif 

 

[Blackadder1916]

Though no longer an HCA or HSO (or even an MAO for those who remember when), I did stay at a Holiday Inn last night.  And was on the OA board for the HCA occupation in the 80s when HSO was first proposed.

The main difference (someone currently serving can correct me if things have changed) is that HCAs are primarily junior officers involved in the adm and ops of providing health services- HSOs are senior officers (who could come from any of the medical branch  MOCs less physicians).

As for the age old question why it couldn't be a sub-specialty for LOG (or PADM when they wanted it, or RCASC when they wanted it . . . ) - my simple answer is "mind-set".  In your LOG world right now (judging from some posts I've seen on this means) there are definite differences in training and employment (and desired mind-set) of LOG officers in the army and navy.  Is it very common to see a new logistician in navy uniform in a svc bn or someone in greens on board a ship?  While many may think that the medical world is very full of itself and parochial (we are but so is our civilian counterpart) it also requires specific focus.  Additionally, to use a hackneyed excuse, there would be a problem with the Geneva Convention if medical units were not commanded by medical branch officers.

 

[medaid]

HCA = OCdt - Captain
HSO = Maj - Gen (but very unlikely beyond Col, as H Svc branch is always commanded by MOs)

It would never work because the HCA is your clinic manager, trg coordinator, policy enforcer and platoon commanders.
All of the above jobs cannot be performed by a LOG O, just like INT cannot be properly done by CBT Arms Officers. You are not trained in that capacity, and you are not versed in the happenings within a Medical Platoons. Sure anyone can command a platoon, but I sure as hell wouldn't be able to swing a platoon in a Coy advance to contact, because that's not my job. My job's to make sure that when you send back 9 liners I have my team GTG to receive casualties.

I make sure my supplies and equipments good to go and all my MedTechs are also good to go. Give a med pl to an Infantry guy he can probably run it pretty well, but its the intricate details of the trade he won't have.

Most importantly as an HCA/HSO you are a non combatant under the GC. Giving command of medical pers to NON medical officers would be a nightmare. Some might make them into temp infanteers and lead them over the berm.
Think of HCAs as the command part of the H Svc as most NO/MO do NOT command in the true sense of leadership. They supervise.

 

[medicineman]

HCA = OCdt - Captain
HSO = Maj - Gen (but very unlikely beyond Col, as H Svc branch is always commanded by MOs)

Psst - not always true.  Gen Mathieu was an HSO when she was the DGHS and we had only a Surgeon Colonel (Col Cameron) instead of Surgeon General (like now with Commodore Jung and Gen Jaeger previously).

MM