The Mental Health Technician Program

Applicants must:

• Be at least 18 years of age

• Meet one of the following requirements:

  • High school diploma

  • General Education Development (GED) Certificate

  • Pass the Career Step Pre-Enrollment Assessment Test

The Mental Health Technician program is completely online and provided by our partner, CareerStep. Once you are registered with CareerStep, your password and access information will be emailed to you. Through the CareerStep portal you will have access to:

• Readings
• Homework assignments
• Quizzes / tests
• Technical support
• Discussion boards
• One-on-one help from instructors
• Additional resources

Mental Health Technician Program Modules

Our Mental Health Technician program is divided into 14 courses, which cover a number of topics including suicide awareness, developmental influences, and various communication methods.

Program Orientation: Mental Health Technician

• Initiate the Mental Health Technician Program

Fundamentals of HIPAA

• Describe the basic requirements of HIPAA.
• Understand the HIPAA Privacy Rule.
• Understand the HIPAA Security Rule.
• Describe the HITECH Act.
• Explain Regulations for Business Associates.
• Summarize HIPAA Documentation and Training.
• Review Applied HIPAA Security for Healthcare Professionals.

Communication and Customer Service in the Healthcare Office

• Identify the various types and styles of communication used in a healthcare office.
• Review how verbal, non-verbal, and written communication skills contribute to patient experience and outcome in a health care office.
• Identify professional communication techniques for a healthcare office, including interviewing techniques and use of medical terminology and patient-accessible language.
• Explore modified communication for patients with special considerations.
• Outline protocols for providing customer service for a health care office.

Patient Care Coordination and Education

• Review how to administer and coordinate general patient care according to professional best practices.
• Explore the role and responsibilities in administering patient care.
• Explore the role and responsibilities in facilitating patient education.

Comprehensive Medical Terminology

• Analyze how medical terms are built using common word parts.
• Properly spell, define, and pronounce medical terms associated with each of the major body systems .
• Identify and define the word parts most frequently associated with the major body systems
• Interpret common abbreviations used in medical terminology and cautions to remember when using them

Pharmacology Basics for Medical Assisting

• Identify the classifications of drugs.
• Review indications, side effects, and adverse reactions of various classifications of drugs.
• Interpret accepted abbreviations used in reference to medications.
• Explain how to use drug reference guides.
• Describe the rights of proper drug administration.
• Describe the routes of administration for medication.
• Explain how to prepare and administer the most common types of medications.
• Identify the four steps of pharmacokinetics.
• Explore the guidelines for sending orders for prescriptions.
• Calculate correct dosage of medication for administration.
• Convert between household and metric systems of measurement.
• Identify commonly used abbreviations in medication dosage calculation.

Infection Control

• Review the causes and diagnostic methods of various infectious and communicable diseases.
• Explore the protective measures required to prevent infection.
• Outline the treatments and protective measures required to manage and control the spread of infectious disease.
• Identify procedures and protocols for responding to infection control.

Testing and Laboratory Procedures

• Identify how specimens are collected and handled.
• Explore procedures and processes used in obtaining blood and urine samples.
• Outline the standard components of vision and hearing screening tests.
• Review common techniques and processes frequently used in medical laboratories.

Medical Administrative Assistant

• Describe the differences between common healthcare delivery models.
• Describe the types of services typically offered in medical offices, including general and specialty services.
• Define ancillary services and alternative therapies.

EKG and Cardiovascular

• Identify the basic anatomy of the heart.
• List the steps needed to ensure proper functioning of ECG/EKG equipment (calibration, standardization).
• List the equipment and supplies needed to perform an ECG/EKG procedure.
• Identify the placement of standard limb leads and precordial (chest) leads on a patient undergoing an ECG/EKG procedure.
• Identify waveforms, intervals, and segments in EKG/ECG readings .
• Identify artifacts, signal distortions, and electrical interference in EKG/ECG readings.
• Describe ways to minimize artifacts during EKG/ECG readings.
• Describe abnormal or emergent ECG/EKG results, including arrhythmia and dysrhythmia.

Comprehensive Electronic Health Records

• Explain the importance of clinical standards in the development of interoperable electronic health records.
• Demonstrate an understanding of how electronic health records are used in physician practices and other outpatient settings.
• Demonstrate an understanding of how electronic health records are used in hospitals.

Psychology and Psychiatric Disorders

• Develop a working knowledge of the content domains of psychology.
• Identify key characteristics of major content domains in psychology (e.g., cognition and learning, developmental, biological, and socio-cultural).
• Analyze scientific reasoning to interpret behavior and Identify distinguish normal behavior from abnormal behavior.
• Incorporate several appropriate levels of complexity (e.g., cellular, individual, group/system, and society/cultural) to explain behavior.
• Interpret, design, and conduct basic psychological research and describe research methods used by psychologists including their respective advantages and disadvantages.
• Use scientific reasoning to interpret psychological phenomena and identify basic biological, psychological, and social components of behavioral explanations (e.g., inferences, observations, and operational definitions and interpretation).
• Incorporate several appropriate levels of complexity (e.g., cellular, individual, group/system, and society/cultural) to explain behavior.
• Develop a working knowledge of the content domains of psychology and identify key characteristics of major content domains in psychology (e.g., cognition and learning).
• Apply ethical standards to psychological science and practice and discuss relevant ethical issues that reflect principles in the APA Code of Ethics.

Program Completion: Mental Health Technician

• Prepare to take the next steps after program completion.

 

The Mental Health Technician Program costs $3,399.

We understand that one of the biggest concerns tied to furthering your education is how to pay for it. To help, CSU Bakersfield and Career Step offer low tuition prices that provide big payoffs. We've also designed multiple tuition payment plans, allowing you to choose the funding option that best fits your needs.

We currently offer:

• A discount when you choose to pay your tuition in a single payment
• An interest-free, 3-month payment plan
• A low interest, 12-month payment plan

For more information on tuition and funding options, please contact us at (877) 225-7151.

Note: Program is not eligible for FAFSA-based financial aid.