Working on course still

Well, working on the next section of the course now. Finally got into one of the parts I was really excited about. I have started the legal part of it.
There is a text book on Law and Ethics, and its tailored to the Medical Office Assistant. I am pretty interested in the basics of law, so this is all pretty exciting.
I've just started the text book, so there isn't a lot for me to discuss yet. I can discuss how the course is set up for this part, since this is my first text book of the course.
There is a study guide, and the text book. For each section of the text book that I am to review, there is a section in the study guide to read first. That section is an overview of what the topics are I will be studying, so I know what key ideas to be looking for.
All in all I think that's a great way of doing the text. Since I don't have a course to attend, with lectures to help me understand key concepts, a study guide is useful.
The text is set up nicely, with case studies throughout the text to give real life examples to the points being made. New or difficult terms are highlighted, and defined in the sidebar where they first appear, as well as a glossary at the end of the book which also defines the key terms.
All in all I'm very happy with this section so far. See you all next time!

Museum

Sorry it's been a few days since I posted.
Went to the American Museum of Natural History on Saturday. It was pretty cool.
First we saw the frog exhibit, with the various types of frogs from all over the world including poison dart frogs.
The exhibit was very nicely laid out, with a glass enclosure with frogs in it, and then panels describing what type of frogs were displayed, and some facts about them.
The room itself was rather dark, lit enough to see around and such, but not super brightly lit.
There was also a special section on fictional frogs, with Kermit as the centerpiece which I thought was very cute.
Right outside the exhibit there was a special "Frog" shop, which had some nice shirts and mugs and such, as well as some nice reference books on frogs.
We then went through the 4th floor, which is where the dinosaurs are, as well as other fossils and such are located. That floor is always fun, and we found out in May there will be a new section/ exhibit on dinosaurs opening, which we are planning on going to.

After that we started on the third floor, but found another special exhibit on Native American jewelry and art. It was very nice, but not the kinda thing I actually am interested in. I thought it was going to be more ancient or older traditional pieces, but instead it was work by modern artisans. Nice, but not my thing, if I had realized what it would be, I wouldn't have paid the money for it.

All in all though it was a nice day.

Update on Course

Well, I've received my next segment in my distance training on how to be a Medical Office Assistant.

I have to say that its a little annoying. They tailor the course to people with at least an eight grade education, so it is going over some basics, that I don't want to say I can't use, but that aren't totally necessary to me. The real issue I have is that I have to still take the exam on each of these Study Units, such as Time and Stress Management, or Learning Strategies. While these are definitely something that should be reviewed, I'm not sure I should have to take a test on the topics.

Of course the other side of it is that if you DO need these Study Units, it's best that you take them seriously. The best way for the course to insure this is that you are tested on them.
And in looking over the future shipments, it's really only the two Study Guides.

I've finished the first three Study Guides, and am now working on Interpersonal Communication. From the title, I thought this was also going to be a basic, broad approach to the topic, but I was pleasantly surprised by the text. It is very specific to working in a medical office, so I guess you could say I've started my real course-work now. Next starts my work on Ethics and Medical Law, and my next shipment will have a text book on Medical Law and Ethics, so I'm excited about that part.

Then I'll start on Medical Terminology. This will be 2 and 1/2 shipments, which while it may get a bit boring, is something I've wanted to learn more about for my current job. While I won't get a textbook on it, I will get a medical dictionary, which will be very nice.

I'm still holding judgment on what I think of the course, I'm waiting until I'm really into the true course-work before I decide if its a good course or not. I am considering taking more courses from this company, if I do like this course. I'm going to have to see if they will let me skip the Learning Strategies and the Time and Stress Management though before I do!

Talk to you later!

Using the web for research

One tool that I really have not talked about a lot yet, but is readily available to you all is the internet. Since you are reading this blog, I'm assuming you have some access to an internet connection.

The problem with the internet, which is the problem with any resource to be completely honest, is assessing the validity of the information given. Unlike with a book, or TV show however, there is a plethora of sources on the internet, and for many, no way to truly be sure who the source is and how reliable they are.

When doing research on the internet, usually one of the best ways to start is by doing a simple search. Google, Yahoo and Ask Jeeves are three that I use regularly. An important thing to remember when searching is how the search engine you are using works.

One thing I highly recommend is using the advanced search tools on any search engine, and searching within results if the number of results is too large. By using the advance search tools, you can choose words to include in search, words that must be in the results, words that can't be in the results, language, etc. Sometimes you can even filter your results, so that you don't receive any adult sites.

An example for why you would want to list words you don't want in a search is simple. Say you are searching for gold coins with cats on them. The first time you search, you find coins from the isle of man, and only coins from the isle of man. Now that you know they have gold coins with cats, and you want to see if other areas do as well, you would search for gold coins, and not isle of man.

One of the problems with searching the web, is that you have to remember the meaning of words you are using. Cat, in the above example may come up in searches for an abbreviation of catalog. So keep in mind that just because a page comes up in the search, it doesn't mean it has the information you are looking for.

When you do find a page, start looking for some information about who publishes the page, and if they are trying to sell you something. If someone is trying to sell you something, it doesn't mean their information is false, it just means that they may be biased, as anyone can be.

As you search for topics, find some good basic informational sites to bookmark on the broad topics of interest. Also, try to bookmark some news sites, periodical sites, an online encyclopedia and a dictionary. If possible, verify information through at least one other source before accepting it as fact.

I personally do use the internet for research, but find I learn best from books. So often when I am giving advice about research, I don't say much about the internet. It is a very valuable resource however, and one I encourage you to use.

Until next time!

What I mean by free educational information

I recently became interested in investing in gold and silver coins. I contacted a dealer for some free information, and received it in the mail yesterday.

A while back I suggested getting financial information for free from your broker or your companies HR department. With what I was sent I thought I would explain the type of information you could get from a financial institution.

I received a fact booklet on investing in coins. This book included the basic history and policies of the company that sent me the info, along with the rate of diversification they recommend, what is a recommended holding period for this type of investment, some basics on how to sell your investment, the amount of risk involved in this type of investment, how their prices are developed, some basics about grading, and what the liquidity of the investments are.

I also received a fact booklet on the company itself. This included basic facts of where incorporated and when, office location, and who their bank and auditors are. It also has a brief overview of their business, products and services.

There is a brochure on precious metals in a self-directed IRA which I haven't reviewed yet.

There are fact sheets on 4 different coins, 3 US and 1 international. These sheets have background information on why the coins are of interest beyond their monetary value, the grades available and some basics about the coins themselves.

Finally I was sent some news articles on investing in Gold, and in the strength of the dollar, a fact sheet on savings bonds and a news release on the company.

All in all, while this is basic information about the investment, it still is information I got for free, and that is giving me a nice basic type of knowledge to start with. Of course, since this is all sent to me by a company that wants me to buy something, I need to take it with a grain of salt. Still, the third party news articles are pretty interesting sources of information, that I wouldn't have found as easily by myself.

Not that I'm trying to recommend any type of investment to anyone mind you, just trying to show the kind of information you can get for free, just by asking for it.

See ya!