Nearly every field in the twenty-first century has room to develop, with new techniques, research, or resources becoming constantly available. Many professional organizations require continuing education because industries don't stay the same. Many of the best practitioners are the ones who learned in their initial training or degree, then kept building that knowledge, whether they were required to do formal education or not.

If you need to earn continuing education credits or want to stay at the front edge of your field and the modern aspects of the work, these continuing education opportunities are a great idea.

Whether you've never worked in healthcare or as a CNA, Medical Assistant, or other medical-field work, you'd be surprised by the need for certified phlebotomists. Phlebotomy involves knowledgeable blood drawing and blood handling.

It's a process that may look fast and easy when a trained person does it but a procedure that takes some time to perfect while offering excellent patient care along the way. Finding a path into healthcare has never been easier than working on a phlebotomy certification and getting started in this high-demand field.

The world of medical research is constantly advancing, but breakthroughs often feel like they come slower than we would prefer. However, participating in research can help push research further. While we want excellent research with clear outcomes, research takes time and a lot of personnel. One of the best ways to ensure that clinical research proceeds quickly, bringing lifesaving treatment plans to the world, is by hiring excellent, well-trained staff. A significant error in managing a research project would delay and muddy the findings, so great training is one of the most crucial factors in creating this work.

As it turns out, training in clinical research is also a great way to widen job opportunities for people with biology and research backgrounds or who already work in the medical field. If you've considered how to participate in research studies and get involved in clinical, read on to see how it happens in a flexible, online, or hybrid setting.

Dental assistants are a significant area of need in both urban Portland and in rural dental practices around Oregon. Getting your basic dental assisting certification and an Expanded Functions exam helps raise your qualifications amongst dental assistants. What's more, Portland Community College offers the Integrated Community Dental Assisting program to train versatile dental assistants with a wealth of classroom and hands-on knowledge going into their first jobs. Let's look at why this role is so crucial.

Casey Campbell is founder and owner of Elemental Studios, a community ceramics studio that offers classes, workshops, and monthly memberships grounded in wellness education and practice. With a mission to help build community around ceramic arts education and wellness principles and practices, Casey and his team work to help people engage creatively and develop self-care practices they can use in and out of the studio. Casey worked with the PCC SBDC to start his business and now, after hiring five employees and continually increasing revenue, Casey continues to work with the PCC SBDC as Elemental Studios reaches its next growth phase.

Sheldon Levy, PhD, MPH is an instructor in the RCC-Institute for Health Professionals Foundations of Clinical Research. 

When managing a collaborative team, you'll occasionally mediate between team members experiencing conflict. Even collaborative team members can sometimes butt heads and disagree in ways that stall communication and your work. It's the manager's job to fairly evaluate what has gone wrong, assist in group reconciliation, and find a path forward that accommodates everyone.

That is harder than it sounds, and it still sounds pretty difficult! Many managers opt to train in specific strategies for mediation rather than assuming they'll just muddle through it. As a result, their teams can grow confident that their managers can handle and resolve conflict actively, rather than leaving everyone to fend for themselves. Actively resolving conflict helps teams work together better by not leaving tensions unspoken, where they could fester and damage working relationships or become a bigger issue later. These are just some of the benefits of mediation training for managers, with bigger boosts in confidence and effectiveness that can come down the road.

Perhaps you're interested in exploring property management roles and how they fit into the broader real estate landscape. A reasonable question is whether you'll benefit from working as a property manager since the rent goes to the landlord or owner of the property. On the other hand, you might worry that you can't get into real estate because you don't have the capital to invest in property right now.

In either case, you should take heart that property managers can build thriving businesses without investing in property themselves. Real estate is a very stable place to earn your income since everyone needs a place to live. Real estate and property management is a business like any other, and working for a management company isn't very different than working at any company.

Real estate brokers have a lot of opportunities in the Portland market. You may be more familiar with the generic term real estate agent, but in Oregon, to be officially licensed to sell and buy homes as an agent for the sellers and buyers, you must pass the exam to become an official real estate broker. That career is exciting since much of your income comes from your hustle and the networks you can build. Even when markets are in flux, great real estate brokers make their business connections, shift from working with lots of sellers to working with more buyers and find creative ways to grow their reach.

Once you've found success in this field, there are many opportunities to use your experience to start your team and lead other real estate brokers as a Principal Broker. It allows you to combine your leadership skills with the work you have developed a strong ability to do.