Health Advocates

High School

If you are interested in working as a health advocate, take a broad range of classes in high school. Advocates need an extensive base of knowledge that covers medical, financial, emotional, and legal areas. Courses that are especially useful include business, mathematics, biology, health, and chemistry. Be sure to take four years of English as well as speech classes, because health advocates need strong oral and written communication skills. Learning a foreign language such as Spanish will also be useful. You may also want to take government, psychology, and computer science classes to prepare for this career.

Postsecondary Training

There is no single educational route to take to become a health advocate; the backgrounds that health advocates bring to the field tend to be as varied as their places of employment. Nevertheless, it's important to have knowledge of health care systems and medical terminology. Most employers prefer health advocates to have at least a bachelor's degree. Some students choose to get degrees in health administration, premed, biology, or nursing. Helpful courses to take include communications, management, conflict resolution, and medical terminology. Some schools also offer classes in patient representation. As this profession has become more popular, schools are beginning to offer specialized programs of study. Sarah Lawrence College, for example, offers a master's degree in health advocacy. Course work for this degree includes nature of illness, position of the health advocate, health law, and ethics, as well as fieldwork.

Certification

Some colleges and universities>—such as Assumption College in Worcester, Massachusetts—offer certificates in health advocacy. Contact schools in your area to learn more about available programs.

Other Education or Training

The Patient Advocacy Community of The Beryl Institute offers webinars and other continuing education opportunities. Recent webinars included Framing the Field of Patient Experience: Refocusing the Heart of Healthcare, Key Communication Skills for Patient and Family Advisors: Enable Your Voice to Be Heard!, and Improving Patients' Experience through Culture Competence. The Alliance of Professional Health Advocates and National Association of Healthcare Advocacy also offer continuing education opportunities.