I am wandering how many people would knowingly allow a distance learning trained health care professional provide services to him or herself or their families.
I voted "yes," but only because I'm giving the benefit of the doubt to how we are defining "distance learning trained health care professional" in this case. If we're defining it as a person who did all the learning that logically can be accomplished via distance learning by that method, but then also went through all the same in-person, hands-on lab work where required; and also went through all the other normal in-person, hands-on practica that any well-trained healthcare professional would, inescapably, have to endure, then I don't see a problem. If, on the other hand, you're defining "distance learning trained health care professional" as someone who got, quite literally, every last bit of his/her education via distance learning, with no in-person, hands-on labs or other practica, then my vote, depending on precisely what kind of healthcare professional we're talking about here, might be more like "no way, Jose." But we almost don't have enough information to vote, really. It might be more helpful if we knew prcisely what kind of healthcare professional we're talking about. The salient issue is, of course, what are the reasonable and logical limits of distance education... which is very valid thing about which to wonder. The lecture/reading/nose-in-a-book studying parts of virtually any kind of healthcare training probably can be accomplished via distance learning with little or not problem. But -- and I would think this would be especially true in healthcare -- some things can only be taught effectively by hands-on, supervised experience and mentoring. If a healthcare professional is laying hands on patients -- or even if s/he is only setting things up or preparing things for someone who does -- then I'd say that it's a fair impossibility that all the skills s/he would need in order to be effective could be acquired entirely via distance learning. That, it seems to me, is only logical. Others may have differing views... which is as it should be. I hope they'll express them here. Interesting thread. Much to ponder. Thanks for starting it.
Asume a person who has been 100% trained by Distance Learning as a Health Care Professional. A Doctor, Nurse, Pharmacist, Psycologist, Radiology Technician, EMT or any other kind of health care provider that can potentially save your life or put it at risk. The only posible exception would be people who went from being regular nurses to Registered Nurses by distance leaning.
I voted yes, but the question is misleading, or there is a misunderstanding, because many of these positions require a hands-on component to thier education. I suppose this clinical element could be done at a hospital or other healthcare facility remote from whatever distance school a person was learning at, but that person would certainly have to "show-up". You can't learn everything you need to know sitting in front of a computer. That said, I would have no problem going to a healthcare professional whose classroom study was done at a distance, except for a doctor, who I would want to be trainded traditionally through a US school or a foreign school with a relationship with a US hospital.
distance learning health care Ok here is soap box. All legitimate distance learning health care programs have a clinical component in which the student is proctored by a practitioner who meets the schools requirements. Or in the case of Excelsior nursing you need previous experience and then undergo a very stringent clinical evaluation (when I have my clinical exam only 2 out of 6 passed) I have completed additional training by distance two nurse practitioner programs and a surgical first assistant program that did have a short residency on campus then clinical component. If you look into distance learning in health care it is becoming more common with entry to practice programs in most disciplines. Registered nurse, licensed practical nurse, radiological technology, physical therapy, pharmacy, respiratory therapy, clinical laboratory scientist, registered dietician, health information technology, midwife, nurse midwife, nurse practitioner, nurse anesthetist, physical therapy assistant, radiation therapist, ultrasound, nuclear medicine technologist, cardiovascular technologist, medical assistant, dental assistant. dietary manager…. These are just programs I can think of off of the top of my head. All have specific prerequisite course requirements and a clinical component to the training. All educational programs have professional accreditation and allow graduates to work in almost every state (Excelsior nursing does have some limitations.) Jeremy
