4 Healthcare Certifications That Take 1 Year or Less

Working in the healthcare industry is a great opportunity for people who want to make a difference.

Thanks to an aging population, the healthcare field always needs dedicated workers.

You can get certified in many healthcare fields in a year or less.

Certified individuals easily step into these high-demand positions after several months of training — sometimes in as little as 13 weeks.

Here's a look at four healthcare certifications that take less than a year:

1. Medical Assistant

Program length: 27 weeks - 35 weeks

Expected salary: $24,000–$46,000

Medical assistants act as support staff to physicians and other healthcare professionals. On any given day you might take vital signs, medical histories, prep patients and rooms for examinations, and more.

What’s the training like?

As a clinical medical assistant, you can receive on-the-job training or get certified. Through a medical assistant certification, you'll learn about proper customer service along with human anatomy and medical terminology.

In most certification programs, you’ll also train on medical office procedures like scheduling, laws, and ethics, etc. You'll learn about specimen collection techniques, medication administration, and how to comply with federal healthcare regulations.

If you're hoping to move into a career as a Medical Assistant, we offer three online Medical Assistant programs depending on what certifications you are interested in.

2. Pharmacy Technician Specialist

Program length: 16 weeks

Expected salary: $19,000–$49,000

If you ever go to a pharmacy, you’ll notice the staff behind the counter helping out the pharmacist. These employees are pharmacy techs who help the pharmacist ensure the prescription dispensing process runs easily. Pharmacy technicians take prescription orders, help mix meds, answer certain customer questions, run insurance information, and process payments.

What’s the training like?

After completing a pharmacy tech program, you’ll have knowledge of popular medications and the conditions each treats, pharmacy law and medicine regulations, functions of a pharmacy, and how to do tasks like dispensing medicine to patients. You’ll have to pass a national pharmacy technician exam to be a Certified Pharmacy Technician.

3. Medical Billing Specialist

Program length: 12 weeks

Expected salary: $28,000–$48,000

This fast-paced industry is critical to the health of revenue cycles for healthcare facilities. Medical billing specialists work in settings like hospitals and nursing homes organizing insurance claims and processing payment and reimbursement paperwork. Some medical billing specialists even work from home.

What’s the training like?

To be a certified Medical Billing Specialist, you’ll learn all the major laws, regulations, and guidelines related to medical billing to help a healthcare billing office run smoothly. By the end of the course, you’ll understand how to run insurance claims for reimbursement. Specialized billing codes will be like a second language to you. Depending on your program, you may have one-on-one mentoring support as well.

4. Behavior Technician

Program length: 11 weeks

Expected salary: $20,000–$45,000

Behavior technicians work in the mental health field assisting doctors with patients dealing with various mental health issues. As a behavior technician, you may encounter adults or children who need help with certain skills or behavior reduction interventions. Many behavior technicians serve autistic patients. You’ll work under a behavior analyst to enforce a behavior treatment plan.

What’s the training like?

This 40-hour course includes customer service training, along with registered behavior technician training. Human anatomy and medical terminology will be covered as well to help you compile accurate patient reports. By the end, you’ll have a full understanding of how to work with adults and children with intellectual disabilities and other mental health issues.

You do need to stay certified in this field, which is perfect for individuals who love continuing education. Certification must be renewed annually, which includes completing a renewal application and competency assessment.

Ready For a Career Change?

If you’re short on time, healthcare certifications online are one way to change your job quickly — whether you just need a change of pace or skills.

The beauty of this industry is people will always need health services, which means job security and high demand for certified individuals.

And, when you work in the healthcare field, you can help people achieve optimum health both directly and indirectly.

Curious about a healthcare certification? We’d love to answer your questions. Chat with an education consultant today!