Herzing Blog

Ten years ago, Dorothy Manzano decided she’d had enough of food service and retail jobs. The healthcare field was where she really wanted to be. But nursing took too long and she was squeamish about needles. What to do?

She decided to enrol in the Medical Office Assistant program at Herzing College, which perfectly aligned with her interests and goals. After graduating, she worked as an MOA for several years and is now the office manager at a cardiology clinic.

We spoke with Dorothy recently about how her Herzing experience helped her get where she wanted to go. Here’s her story.

The healthcare industry relies on more than just doctors and nurses—skilled administrative professionals are key to making sure that medical facilities run smoothly. If you want to be part of the team that keeps clinics and hospitals humming along, a medical office administration (MOA) program could be the perfect starting point.

MOA programs prepare you for entry-level roles in clinics, hospitals, and private practices. But they can also serve as a stepping stone to leadership positions in healthcare administration.

In this post, we explore the key aspects of MOA programs. Discover the skills you’ll gain and the career paths you can pursue.

The need for skilled mental health and addictions professionals is more pressing than ever. According to federal government data, Canada saw a 39 per cent rise in opioid deaths between 2016 and 2024. On average, 21 people die from opioids every day in this country.

Bringing those numbers down requires the efforts of many dedicated individuals.

Interested in becoming one of them? By pursuing a diploma in mental health and addictions, you can position yourself for a variety of careers that make a tangible difference.

In this post, we explore a few common roles in the addictions field. Learn about the responsibilities, skills, and qualifications required for each position, and discover how these roles contribute to creating healthier individuals and communities.

Looking ahead to your job options after personal support worker training? Still deciding which kind of healthcare setting would best suit your particular preferences and skill set?

PSWs commonly work in clients’ private homes as well as institutional settings like nursing homes, hospitals, and retirement residences. While the work is similar in both environments, there are some unique differences students should be aware of.

In this post, we’ll walk you through the responsibilities, challenges, and rewards of home care vs. institutional care so you can make an informed decision about which setting is best for you.

Updated December 2024

If you’re ready to dedicate yourself to the rewarding field of health care, you can benefit from a multitude of job opportunities across Manitoba.

The demand for skilled healthcare professionals is so strong, in fact, that the provincial government recently distributed a letter addressed to new graduates assuring them of waiting opportunities.

“Choosing a career in health care is one of the greatest acts of service a person can take, and we are so grateful for the hard work and long hours you’ve put in to get to this point,” the letter reads. “As you prepare to graduate, there will be a job available to you—and to every health care graduate—in our province.”

In this blog, we explore the range of careers available, with a special focus on three occupations that offer particularly strong prospects and take a year or less of training: health care aides, medical laboratory assistants, and medical office assistants.

Keep reading to learn more about the opportunities that exist and how you can take advantage of them.

Over the past few years, telehealth has emerged as a powerful tool for delivering care. This shift toward virtual consultations has demonstrably improved patient access, convenience, and overall satisfaction. However, the rise of telehealth also presents new realities for medical office administrators and assistants (MOAs).

In this post, we delve into the growing influence of telehealth and explore its impact on MOA roles and responsibilities. We examine the evolving skillsets required for success in this dynamic environment and offer strategies to help you navigate the changing healthcare landscape.

Community services and support workers (CSWs) play a very important role in society.

They work directly with vulnerable people who need immediate support, including at-risk youth, survivors of domestic abuse, refugees, and people suffering from addiction and mental health issues.

CSWs connect people with resources, provide counselling, and arrange treatment programs depending on each person's needs.

It can be an incredibly rewarding career path for anyone looking to work with others and help address social issues. Without the support of community service workers, many at-risk people would have nowhere to turn for help. CSWs make a real difference in the community.

In this post, we'll show you eight examples of community services career paths along with descriptions of each position. These are the jobs our own CSW graduates are often hired to fill.

Personal support workers (PSWs) work one-on-one with patients of all ages and walks of life. They play a truly crucial role in their patients’ everyday health and well-being, helping their clients remain as independent as possible for as long as possible.

PSWs work primarily with elderly people, but they may also provide healthcare services to chronically or terminally ill individuals of varying ages. They are an essential link between patients, families, and supervising clinicians (such as nurses or doctors).

Wondering what your PSW career path might look like? We’ve got you covered. Below, we explore the various settings, specializations, and advancement possibilities for personal support workers.

Updated December 2024

With healthcare resources stretched thin and doctors becoming increasingly burdened by administrative tasks, it’s not surprising that the demand for medical office assistants and administrators (MOAs) across Canada has taken off.

MOAs are the front-desk professionals who greet all incoming patients, collect their information, confirm their appointments, and direct them to the correct department or clinician. They also do a lot of work behind the scenes to help the healthcare office run smoothly.

In this post, we explore the increasing importance of and demand for MOAs in the evolving healthcare landscape.

Here’s what you need to know.

To succeed as a medical office administrator, you need to be both highly organized and deeply caring. You must be motivated by a desire to make a positive difference in the lives of patients.

Chantelle Ducolon exemplifies all of these traits. Her dedication and commitment to delivering the best possible educational experience consistently earns her the respect of her students—and recently, it earned her recognition as Herzing College Ottawa’s instructor of the year!

We caught up with Chantelle this week to get her reflections on the honour, the MOA program, and her own career journey.

Here’s her story.