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Career As A Patient Advocate

By Francis Riggs


There are individuals whose specific work is to help the patients, their caregivers and the survivors. They speak on behalf of the patients and either work as individuals or as workers of organizations. They may specialize on a certain group of ailments or work for all patients regardless of their diagnosis. Regardless of where they work, they put the interests of the patient at hand. Some individuals working as patient advocate actually do so in hospitals that the patients attend.

This role of advocating for patients is new in the city of Sydney, AU and also evolving. As everyone starts to be aware of the rights of patients, a number of health workers have come together to defend the rights of the patients. Because it is a new career, almost all health professionals brand themselves as patient advocates after long experience in their fields. However, some of the universities have begun to offer degree programs of the same.

The advantage with this task is that there are various jobs to work on. Not all of these professionals work in hospitals. Many of them find jobs in nonprofit organizations, insurance companies and in government agencies. If you have worked as a professional in hospitals, you can make use of these skills.

You will find out that these activists are specialized in various fields. No matter what field they are specialized in, their main goal should be to ensure that patients receive care as they need it and also ensure that none of their rights are violated. What it means is that no matter the specialty, one becomes important if he benefits the patients.

Requirements for one to work as an advocate depend on where he is working. Some of requirements are similar for all these individuals. They will not obviously apply in all the situations and variations are expected from area to area. A job seeker should inquire of the specific requirements needed by the organization.

Because these people work in a variety of places and have various responsibilities they tend to influence individuals differently. The area that you are specialized in will be a guide of how you are expected to assist. Some of them will work in clinics, nursing homes and the community clinics. Others choose to work as activists in insurance companies and other nonprofit organizations. Some government agencies also give jobs to these people.

You will not be asked to drop your current job when you opt to also work as a spokesperson. Because hospitals will never have fewer patients, they will ever require help of an activist. This role is new and very few colleges and learning institutions offer certificates and degree programs in this field. These individuals will mostly give themselves the titles when they start working for the patients.

If you already have the interest of advocating for rights of the patients, you will not require any formal training. All you need is to specify your area of work and then start getting the experiences as you work in that area. As pointed out earlier, most people working as patient advocates partly work in the hospitals and already have a wide base of experiences. They do these volunteer services when they are free after completing their shifts. It is not an obligation for them to do but actually they do this extra chore willingly out of their hearts.




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