NSU Horizons Winter 2008 - 2009

29 horizons Marriage and Family Therapist Marriage and family therapists work with individuals, couples, and families by incorporating the family system to address mental and family problems effectively. Today, 50,000 marriage and family therapists treat more than 1.8 million people. The effectiveness of brief, systematic inter- ventions make this a favorite of insurance compa- nies. Another growth driver is renewed public awareness of the value of family life and concern about stresses on families. “As brief systemic therapists, our services address a variety of client needs,” said Tommie V. Boyd, Ph.D., chair of the Department of Family Therapy. “We en- gage all clients to be proactive in their own change.” NSU has one of the largest and most respected master’s- and doctoral-level programs in the family therapy field. Boyd reports that 95 to 98 percent of graduates have jobs in mental health settings. “I receive calls from employers every week who ask about our graduates,” she said. “Our systematic approach also opens employ- ment possibilities with schools, hospitals, and pri- vate businesses.” She added that most graduates initially go to work for agencies or other organiza- tions “and often develop their own private practices, consult, or teach. This gives them control and allows them flexibility over their schedules.” Mental Health Counselor America will need 30 percent more mental health counselors between 2006 and 2016. Under managed care systems, insurance companies are increasingly providing for reimbursement of counselors as a less costly alternative to psych- iatrists and psychologists. Also, the Veterans Ad- ministration is clamoring for them because they are 50 percent understaffed in the psychological services area. Last year, Money magazine included mental health counselors on its list of “Top 50 Professions.” “A critical need exists in community agencies. Graduates may find themselves also working in hospitals, for a psychiatrist, or independently for themselves. I have not had any students coming to me six months after graduation saying that they still lack a job,” said Shannon Ray, Ph.D., LMHC, lead faculty member in mental health counseling. NSU offers this M.S. degree on the main campus and at its Miami-Kendall, West Palm Beach, Tampa, Orlando, and Jacksonville student educational centers, as well as completely online. Special Education Teacher The Bureau of Labor Statistics assigned this profession a “faster growth than aver- age” label after calculating that 15 per- cent more special education teachers will be needed between 2006 and 2016. This high demand is due to earlier diagnoses of learning disabilities in younger students. In addition, the per- centage of foreign-born special educa- tion students is expected to grow as teachers become more adept at recogniz- ing disabilities in that population. Also, educational reforms, such as the FCAT here in Florida, require higher standards for graduation. As a result, special education teach- ers face excellent employment pros- pects, according to Steve D. Thomp- son, Ph.D., program professor at NSU’s Fischler School of Education and Hu- man Services. Anesthesiologist Assistant Imagine a degree program for which graduating students average 10 to 15 job offers, salaries start at $120,000 a year, and sign-on bo- nuses of $30,000 to $50,000 are the norm. That’s what the market- place told the 19 members of NSU’s first anesthesiologist assistant (AA) class they were worth when they grad- uated in August. Students come out of the 27-month program with master’s degrees in health science. “An applicant accepted to an AA degree pro- gram meets the prerequisites to get into medical school. The responsibility of providing anesthesia is a critical need of medicine,” said Robert Wagner, M.M.Sci., AA-C, RRT, assistant professor and direc- tor of NSU’s program. AAs function under the medical direction of an anesthesiologist in 18 states and the District of Co- lumbia. Florida began licensing AAs in 2004. NSU was quick to start its AA program in 2006 as the fourth accredited program of its type in the United States and first and only such program in Florida. Both the U.S. Department of Health and Cen- ters for Medicare and Medicaid Services predict a shortage of AAs over the next decade. n