Going back to School...

I've been going to school for Medical Billing and Coding since October of 2012. Although classes have not been easy at all, I have found them to be fulfilling so far. Without a doubt I'm learning a LOT. My classmates are gRRRRReat. At the beginning, one of the girls came up with a name for us. THE CHAMPS! I say that with pride.

I smile every time I think of the name and what it represents. I reminisce about all the women from when we first started...we all have different backgrounds with different stories; with different struggles. Yet somehow, we managed to stay strong and focus to get to where were on that day when we met online for class for the very first time. Now, it's just a 6 pack of the Champs left from the originals trying to hang on until July 'til graduation and then study for the BIG ONE...the certificate. They warned us it would be hard. They told us, some would drop out of the program because "they can't hack it, some would be left behind, and some will realize it's not for them; only leaving a few if you’re lucky."

There are 6 Mondules we must complete with 2 MIBC (courses) in each lasting for 6 units (weeks). I'm now in Module 4 finishing up Unit 5. Sundays are the starting days of the units; Saturdays are the end. I've learned Anatomy, Physiology, & Terminology; Coding (ICD-9, CPT, HCPCS); Health Information Management; Medical Office Software; Interpersonal Communications in the Healthcare Setting. We are at the midway point in learning about the Medical Insurance & Billing. There are a lot of procedures to learn and ways on how to go about each one. Next will be Career Development; Medical Law and Ethics; and last but not least...drum roll pleassssssseeee

Pracitum/Certificate Exam Review. This last class will tie EVERYTHING together nicely and prep us for the big exam we have to take to get our certificate. NO job W/O certificate. Taking and (most importantly) passing this certificate means I will be able to get a job anywhere in the world if I wanted to. I could work for WHO!!!! HOW COOL WOULD THAT BE!!! In case you don't know who that is, it's World Health Organization. I can move to any country and work there. All of the coding system is universal.

In fact, the education I am getting gives me more of advantage in a way since I would be "up to date" whereas most coders aren't in the US. They don't have to be until 2014. United States of America is the ONLY country in the world that is behind in the coding system about 10 years or so. While we are now starting to get up to speed with the rest of the world, the rest of the world is in the process of updating theirs. It's in the "beta" phrase now. Isn't that just crazy???? BUT, interesting at the same time.

Anyway, getting back to World Health Organization...

Now, if this was the real world, where I didn't have Chiari Malformation or Gastroparesis, OH MY GOD!!! I'd be there in a heartbeat at their beck and call. I'd be their gofer if they wanted me to be. I have a degree in Social Work/Human Services already. I had my life all mapped out. I always knew what I wanted and I was heading in that direction at my pace.

I mean C’mon now. Really!! Who wouldn’t want to work for WHO??? Hahaha that sounded funny. Almost sounds like “Who made who” but not…oh never mind…

Ok, NOT everybody wants to work for WHO but I have always had a passion for helping people. Yeah people might piss me off but it’s those people who take advantage of the weak who piss me off the most. Thank goodness for certain people who care enough to want to help and fight for the weak; i.e. World Health Organization and Amnesty International.

I look forward to graduating. I have no idea what is at the end of that road for me right now. I'm fighting like hell to reach for it to the point I can taste it. I'm so close to that finish line and I see the banner up a head with the letters in clear view speaking to me F-I-N-I-S-H L-I-N-E!! All i have to do is just touch it and it will be mine and it's concord. Even with me being sick, that hasn't stopped me. My fellow classmates tell me I inspire them to stay strong and to finish. I don't see how. I just look at life as it is what it is and that it. There's no science to it. What ever is through at you, you just have to take what you can get and just go with it. It is what it is.

Here's to the future...whatever it may bring...