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Sometimes, when it comes to medical teams, with all the doctors and nurses involved, the psychiatric technician can be overlooked, especially by laymen. In fact, many of them might even be unsure what a psychiatric technician does! As it happens, of course, these skilled medical professionals are an integral and important part of medical care. Their expertise extends far outside mental health institutions. Hospitals, treatment centers, or rehabilitation facilities all need these professionals to make sure patients are regaining the health of both mind and body. It is the job of the psychiatric technician to keep tabs on how the patient is doing. They generally work under the supervision of a doctor or other health professional. When someone needs to look at the health of the patient, both mental or physical, that person is the psychiatric technician. This means they can hand out medication, give shots, or help patients with hygiene, just as a nurse would do, but they can also talk to patients and see how they are coming along mentally, as well. The American Association of Psychiatric Technicians, also known as the AAPT, is the organization that sees to the certification of these valued practitioners. They place their certification into four different tiers: - First tier: This requires either a high school diploma or a GED, in most states. Some states will also want to see an Associate Degree of Applied Science in Mental Health. Like all the other tiers, this one requires an examination administered by the AAPT to qualify. - Second tier: The technician will need to have 30 semester hours (or 40 quarter hours) of education at the college level. A year of experience in mental healthcare will also be necessary. The year of experience could also be in assisting people with developmental disabilities. - Third tier: 60 semester hours (or 80 quarter hours) of education will be necessary to be certified for this tier, along with two years of appropriate experience. - Fourth tier: This is the last tier. To achieve it, the technician will need a full bachelor degree, along with three years in the appropriate fields of medicine or psychiatry. Each tier will have its own exam, generally in essay form. It may seem like a great deal of work, but as it happens, a great many of the courses necessary can be taken online, each tier could well be achieved even as the student gains experience to get to the next tier. There can never be enough people with both the skill and desire to help others, because there are always people who will need that help. If you are the one with that training, you will find plenty of opportunities for employment. A psychiatric technician will probably start out making around $25,000 to $32,000 per year. One of the benefits of the tier system is how a psychiatric technician can work through the ranks every year, taking classes even as he or she works in the field. Online classes make it especially easy to fit education into a busy schedule, so someone just starting could easily reach the fourth tier in just four short years, starting with only a high school diploma and the desire to help. The website link is given below for more information: psychiatric technician
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