There are tremendous shortages of health care professionals due in large part to the increased demand by an aging and growing population. Another factor is that these professionals are also aging and reaching retirement. Yet educational programs are overcrowded and have waiting lists.
By 2014, we are expecting the shortage of nurses to reach critical levels. It already impacts health care, but this shortage is expected to continue to worsen significantly. Given that funding for new workforce development plans has been cut and any attempts at increases vetoed repeatedly, not enough is being done to help thwart this crisis.
Catch 22 -A Shortage of Health Care Educators
In addition to the shortage of health care workers, there is also a shortage of health educators. This is due in large part to the fact that health care professionals can make more money and have better benefits working in the profession than they can get as educators. This "Catch 22" problem needs to be solved in order to significantly impact the shortage of professionals.
This shortage of educators causes health care education programs to become affected and in many instances to have long waiting lists and to turn away qualified applicants each year.
One of the ways health education programs deal with sorting through qualified applicants is to have multiple requirements for admission and to weigh each of these requirements on a point system. The higher the number of points an applicant has, the better his or her chance for admission.
Admission Exams
Admission or entrance examinations have long been in place for health care professionals such as physicians, pharmacists and dentists. In recent years other professions such as nursing have added entrance exams as well.
MCAT
Medical schools, podiatry schools and some veterinary schools require the MCAT which is given twice each year in April and August. The Medical College Admissions Test consists of four parts. One is a writing sample or essay. The other three sections cover verbal reasoning, physical sciences and biological sciences with multiple choice questions.
DAT
Dental schools require the DAT (Dental Admissions Test). There are four parts to this test as well which cover reading comprehension, perceptual ability, quantitative reasoning, and natural sciences (biology, organic and inorganic chemistry).
NET or TEAS
Nursing Schools require either the NET (Nurse Entrance Test) or the TEAS (Test of Essential Academic Skills). These tests cover such subjects as reading comprehension, math skills through algebra, English grammar, spelling and punctuation. They also cover sciences (biology, chemistry, anatomy & physiology, and natural and physical sciences.) The NET test also covers such items as test taking skills, stress level and a social interaction profile. These are not graded, but are used to predict the student's ability to complete a nursing program.
GRE, GMAT, MAT
Other health care professionals may need to take graduate school tests such as the GRE (Graduate Record Exam), the GMAT (Graduate Management Assessment Test) or the MAT (Miller Analogies Test). These tests also measure such items as verbal and math skills, analytical skills, and comprehension. These are tests which most master's degree programs require, and since therapy (physical, occupational and speech/language) programs now require a master's degree level for licensure, these are the entrance exams most often required by therapy programs.
Kathy Quan - Kathy Quan RN BSN has been a home health/hospice nurse for over 30 years. She has authored five books and writes for several online ...
