In addition to being a STEM+M educator and college/career coach, I have a connection to the medical field that is deep. I specialize in medical language and have worked in the field since 1999--over 20 years in medicine! In addition, my multiple certifications in medicine are detailed below. I am fluent in medical terminology and certified in all clinical specialties. I am an expert in health information integrity.

CHDS - Certified Healthcare Documentation Specialist 
What is a CHDS? The Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity certifies medical transcriptionists (also known as medical language specialists) in the foundational understanding of the following:

➢ Medical terminology
➢ Anatomy
➢ Physiology
➢ Disease processes
➢ Diagnostics – laboratory medicine, imaging, classification systems
➢ Treatment – pharmacology, surgery, special procedures
➢ Equipment and instruments
➢ Healthcare technology – abbreviations, definitions
➢ Electronic health record – abbreviations, definitions
➢ Speech recognition technology – abbreviations, definitions, & editing
➢ Standards, nomenclatures, and measurement systems – abbreviations,
definitions

Major Specialties: Cardiovascular, Dermatology, Endocrinology, Ophthalmology, Gastroenterology, Hepatology, Genetics, General Surgery, Hematology/Oncology, Infectious Disease, Neurology, OB/Gyn, Orthopedics, Otorhinolaryngology, Pain Management, Pediatrics, Plastic Surgery, Psychiatry/Psychology, Pulmonary Medicine, Rheumatology, and Urology.

Ancillary Specialties: Allergy/Immunology, Dentistry/Oral Surgery, and Nutrition/Dietetics.

I have held the credential of CHDS for the past 11 years, since 2010. The understanding of medical terminology is critical to medical language specialists because we must be able to hear errors spoken by dictating physicians with regard to diagnosis and treatment, which are vital to quality patient care.

From the AHDI Credentialing Candidate Guide: 

"Medical transcription involves a highly interpretive skill set, where medical language specialists partner with providers to create an accurate reflection of a patient care encounter. Medical transcription demands the application of informed judgment and interpretive skill that extends beyond what is heard. It requires a foundational understanding of the diagnostic process, clinical medicine, treatment, and care to be interpreted accurately and applied within the context of complex narrative dictation. In addition to the complexities inherent in the medical document, dictating authors who speak English as a second language, those with disjointed and rambling narrative, and/or those who dictate unclearly or at accelerated speeds continue to require that medical transcriptionists bring yet another strong interpretive skill set to the process. Medical transcriptionists cannot bring that interpretive skill set to the table without a significant foundation of knowledge and training." 

In addition to the foundational knowledge and expertise my CHDS credential brings to the classroom, I have also been certified as a CMT (Certified Medical Transcriptionist) by The Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity from 2007 to 2010 when AHDI essentially rebranded credentialing medical language specialists with the CHDS credential. 

I have also been certified as a COA (Certified Ophthalmic Assistant) and have worked in Ophthalmology & Optometry since 1999 as a technician, scribe, and transcriptionist. I have worked in this clinical specialty for over 20 years! COAs are certified in the following content areas by the Joint Commission on Allied Health Personnel in Ophthalmology (JCAHPO): 

➢ HISTORY AND DOCUMENTATION: Ocular, Medical, Medication, Social, and Family.

➢ VISUAL ASSESSMENT: Test and record visual acuity appropriately for patients with all levels of acuity:
• Counting fingers
• Hand motion
• Light perception
• No light perception

➢ Test and record visual acuity on preliterate, illiterate, non-verbal, or foreign language patients
➢ Define low vision
➢ Test and record visual acuity using pinhole occlude
➢ Test and record stereoacuity
➢ Test and record near point of accommodation and convergence
➢ Test for visual acuity (distance and near) using optotype (Allen, Tumbling E, numbers, and Snellen)
➢ Describe the advantages and disadvantages of different low vision devices 

VISUAL FIELD TESTING:
➢ Perform Amsler grid testing
➢ Perform confrontation fields testing
➢ Perform automated perimetry
➢ Perform Goldmann perimetry

PUPIL ASSESSMENT:
➢ Measure
➢ Compare
➢ Evaluate
➢ Shape
➢ RAPD

TONOMETRY:
➢ Measure intraocular pressure with hand-held applanator
➢ Measure intraocular pressure by applanation tonometry
➢ Measure intraocular pressure with non-contact tonometer
➢ Clean and disinfect tonometers

KERATOMETRY: Perform automated keratometry

OCULAR MOTILITY TESTING:
➢ Versions and Ductions
➢ Functions
➢ Anomalies
➢ Cover tests
➢ Stereoacuity
➢ Nystagmus

LENSOMETRY:
➢ Neutralize Spectacles:
• Automated
• Manual 

REFRACTION, RETINOSCOPY AND REFINEMENT:
➢ Measure refractive error with an automated refractor
➢  Use refraction techniques: fogging, duo chrome, binocular balance
➢  Measure vertex distance
➢  Perform and record transposition
➢  Calculate and record spherical equivalence

BIOMETRY: Diagnostic/standardized A-Scan

SUPPLEMENTAL TESTING:
➢ Perform and record glare testing (e.g. BAT)
➢ Perform and record Potential Acuity Meter (PAM)
➢ Demonstrate the use of slit lamp lenses
➢ Demonstrate use of penlight
➢ Perform and record color vision using color plates
➢ Perform pachymetry
➢ Assess and record anterior chamber depth with a slit lamp or penlight
➢ Perform and record laser tests for glaucoma/retina (OCT)
➢Perform and record tear tests:
• Schirmer
• BUT
• Rose Bengal
➢ Order and maintain patient education materials inventory

MICROBIOLOGY: Describe and follow Universal Precautions and infection control measures to maintain clinical asepsis.

In addition to the above certifications that qualify me to teach the medical language portion of this class, I am also an educator and have taught medical terminology courses at a STEM+M high school in Rootstown, Ohio, to students in grades 9-12. Beyond that, I have been a college & career coach in the 11th-grade classroom that has guided young men & women to discover careers in medicine (and other fields). I have helped these students map out their college plans with tremendous success. 

My "Pathways in Medicine" career series on Outschool focuses on medical terminology and career exploration, both of which I am highly qualified to teach.