Writer, editor, & communications professional

Get in touch: kendall.upton@hotmail.com

The Most In-Demand Criminal Justice Careers in 2025

Anticipating what’s on the horizon for different job markets is critical for making informed decisions about which career you may want to pursue. While we can’t all pivot to exploding career fields—or outright abandon careers that are showing decline—it’s important to have a realistic understanding of how easy or difficult it may be to land certain jobs as time goes on. Combined with advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) and a shifting economic landscape, knowing which careers are in high...

What Are Accelerated Medical Assisting Programs?

If you’re thinking about becoming a medical assistant and looking into the education you need, you may come across “accelerated” programs in your search. These programs are often 100% online and claim you can complete them in just a few months or even weeks—much shorter than the timeframe it takes to complete a more formal certificate or associate degree program.  


If you think it’s too good to be true, you’re right to be skeptical. Still, some of these programs can be a good option for some...

Professional Fee vs. Facility Coding in Medical Coding Careers

Whether you’re a medical coding student or an established professional, you’re bound to come across two distinct types of coding: professional fee (ProFee) and facility coding. While ProFee coding is often the more familiar type of coding to most, facility coding is equally as important to ensure that healthcare providers receive proper reimbursement for their services. Throughout your medical coding career, you may perform both types of coding or you may choose to specialize in one or the other...

Should I Earn a Certificate or Associate in Medical Assisting?

If you’re considering becoming a medical assistant, there are two primary education paths you can take to kickstart your career: certificate programs or associate degrees. Neither type of program is objectively better than the other, but they differ in a few critical ways that can affect which makes the most sense for you.


Medical assistants aren’t licensed professionals the way nurses and many other allied health professionals are. That means there are no universal education requirements to...

Medical Coding Modifiers: Advanced Topics in Coding

Medical coders play a critical role in the healthcare revenue cycle by translating physicians’ notes, procedures and treatments into standardized codes that insurance companies and payers can use for billing and reimbursement. Their accuracy ensures that providers receive compensation for the care they deliver while also maintaining compliance with regulations and avoiding costly errors.  


One of the more complex tools coders must master in this process is the use of modifiers. These codes ad...

Defining Phantom Billing, Upcoding and Unbundling

Medical billers and coders are key players in the healthcare revenue cycle. In simplest terms, medical coders translate doctors’ notes into billable codes that billers then use to submit insurance claims. When done correctly, healthcare providers get reimbursed on time for the services they provided to a patient.  


Despite how straightforward it sounds, there are a lot of steps in the process where things can go wrong. Mistakes could be fraudulent whether or not people commit them intentional...

Do Medical Billers Provide Patient Financial Counseling?

Medical billers are essentially what they sound like—they handle insurance claims and patient bills for healthcare organizations. It’s an important role under the large umbrella of healthcare administration, but you may be wondering just how much they interact with patients when it comes to their bills and finances.  The answer really depends on the scope of your role.


Medical billers are key members of the healthcare revenue cycle by overseeing claim processing. Their job is to make sure tha...

The 150-Hour Rule for CPAs Explained

Published: September 3, 2025


If you’ve done any research into what it takes to become a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), then you’re probably familiar with the 150-hour rule. This rule states that you need at least 150 college credit hours to become a CPA. It helps ensure that you have the requisite education necessary to successfully perform the duties expected of a CPA, but meeting this requirement can be a challenge for some.


Let’s dive into what it means, how to meet this requirement...

How You Can Enter Any Industry With an Accounting Degree

Published: September 3, 2025


When you picture a career in accounting, there are probably a few familiar images that come to mind—number-crunching in a cubicle, Excel spreadsheets on a desktop computer or a calculator where the numbers have worn off the buttons.


Without any more details, the concept of accounting can seem awfully vague. It might be more accurate to describe accounting as a blank canvas upon which you can cultivate a diverse range of careers.


An accounting education could...

How and Why the Accounting Field is Growing

Published: August 22, 2025


If you’re looking for a stable career path in an ever-changing employment market, accounting could be a great option. You’ve probably heard the axiom, “Accounting is the language of business,” and it still holds true—financial professionals are necessary wherever there is business and commerce.  


However, that doesn’t mean the accounting profession isn’t evolving. Anyone hoping to enter the field must prepare to growth with it.


The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statist...

What is a Certified Peer Support Specialist?

Our lives are often defined by our deepest struggles as much as our greatest triumphs. At times they are one and the same. But even for those who manage to emerge from their darkest hour, it’s not always clear—or fair—why they had to suffer so much at all.   


What if you could turn your suffering into something more meaningful, something that could help others? That’s exactly what peer support specialists do. They draw upon their own lived experiences to support people facing the same challen...

Human Services Assistant vs. Social Worker

Human services assistants and social workers are related yet distinct roles in the social and human services field. If you want a career where you can help people access essential social services, both roles are viable options.  


“That’s a really important distinction—and also a reminder that we all play different roles on the same team,” said Nathan Enholm, a Certified Peer Support Specialist (CPSS), business owner and keynote speaker with extensive experience in the mental health and human...

Skills Every Human Services Professionals Needs to Succeed

Human services professionals encompass a wide range of jobs that all have a common purpose. Though the exact nature of their job may vary, human services workers prevent and address hardship by helping people access services they need to live healthy, independent lives.  


“When I think of human services professionals—including peer support specialists, social workers, counselors, community health workers, psychiatric aides and more—what I see is a shared calling: to support others through som...

What Technology Skills Do I Need to Work in Criminal Justice?

Technology plays a pivotal role in today’s criminal justice system. From the law enforcement officer accessing a database of crime records to the forensic scientist analyzing fingerprints, criminal justice professionals depend on numerous technologies to do their jobs with diligence and efficiency.  


The technology skills you need for any given criminal justice job depends on the exact position and industry. A cyber security specialist, for instance, probably won’t ever need to know how to do...

Medical Assistant Careers: Analyzing Pros, Cons, Salary and More

If you’re passionate about healthcare and want a career that makes a difference in others’ lives, your choices may seem infinite. After all, there are practically endless entry points into the field of healthcare. Each role offers varied responsibilities, different levels of career mobility and unique benefits and challenges.  


Working as a medical assistant is one of many options. By taking some time to unpack this role’s pros, cons and other factors, it may help you decide if medical assist...

Are Jobs for Medical Assistants in Geriatric Care Growing?

Medical assistants are versatile healthcare workers that perform a blend of essential clinical and administrative functions in a healthcare setting. They fluctuate between duties like greeting patients, preparing exam rooms, updating patient records, taking vital signs, scheduling appointments and so much more.  It can be an excellent career option for people who enjoy a variety of responsibilities, interacting with patients and want a job that could lead to many other healthcare roles.  


Med...

What to Know About the Medical Assistant Clinical Externship

Whether you’re thinking about becoming a medical assistant or you’re already enrolled in a medical assistant program, you’re probably familiar with the clinical externship. This is the part of your education where you move out of the classroom and into the real world to apply what you’ve been learning with real patients.  


As one of the most important aspects of your medical assistant training, a little preparation can go a long way to help ensure your clinical externship is a successful firs...

What Else Can You Do With a Medical Assisting Education?

Although some people may be perfectly content working as a medical assistant throughout their career, many often wonder how to keep their career moving forward even if they want to remain in the medical assisting profession for the long haul. Others may choose to work as a medical assistant as a steppingstone to another healthcare career. 


“The versatility of a medical assistant allows them to work in a lot of different settings. Every environment is going to give their own unique training an...

Do You Need Schooling to Become a Certified Medical Assistant?

The short answer? Yes. Several medical assistant certifications provide multiple eligibility pathways to sit for their exams. For some, it may be possible to obtain certification without any formal education beyond a high school diploma.  


But just because it’s possible doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the smartest move for your career. Let’s explore how medical assisting certifications work and whether you should consider attending a medical assisting program.  


Medical assistants have the o...

Is Medical Assistant (MA) or Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) Right for You?

Anyone considering moving into a healthcare career is bound to come across medical assistants and licensed practical nurses (LPNs) as possibilities for entry-level roles. While both jobs may appear similar and have fewer educational requirements compared to more advanced clinical positions, these two careers do vary significantly.  


By taking the time to understand the differences between medical assistants and LPNs, you can empower yourself to discover the best path forward for your healthca...

Restorative Justice Examples and Applications

This is part two of a two-part series of blog posts on restorative justice. Read part one.


The concept of restorative justice reaches for some lofty ideals, but what does a restorative justice approach to crime actually look like when it’s applied in the real world? And how is restorative justice being implemented within our criminal justice system and schools today?  


Let’s explore some restorative justice examples and how they play out in different settings.


Restorative justice is a u...

What is Restorative Justice and How Does It Work?

Published: May 1, 2025


This is part one of a two-part series of blog posts on restorative justice. Read part two.


Closure and healing for victims. Empowerment and accountability for offenders. Safer communities. These are just some of the ideals that restorative justice strives for.  


Restorative justice is a unique approach for how to respond to crime that attempts to address some of the shortcomings of the criminal justice system. It starts by recognizing that crime occurs within a co...
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