With the number of courses and educational possibilities increasing for those who want to become patient advocates, the question of what courses or programs to take seems to become more complicated.
It really doesn't need to be complicated at all. I've put together some steps to take and the questions to ask yourself for figuring out which programs or courses will fill your knowledge gaps to best serve you and your clients.
You'll begin with your gap analysis - figuring out what it is you need to know to do the best job for your clients, then figuring out what you already know and filling the gaps with courses or other educational opportunities.
Once you've determined which gaps you need to fill, there are a couple of additional questions to ask yourself, too. By the time you're finished, you'll have the best assessment of what your educational needs are for becoming a patient advocate or health navigator.
We'll begin with Question 1: Do you need to pursue patient- or health-advocate certification?
