Updated March 18, 2022.

The average yoga class at a fitness center can bring quite many benefits. Even a one-hour intervention can help you develop flexibility, build strength, feel more relaxed, and even sleep better. However, many people who enjoy and benefit from a standard Asana-based yoga class may want to deepen their understanding, digging into the philosophies and body understandings that underpin the movements and guidance provided in a yoga class.

At Portland Community College, you can pursue a health program in Ayurvedic Yoga, which marries the ancient science of health and healing with the peace of mind and wellness that yoga can bring. If you want to learn how yoga and Ayurveda work together, this course might be right for you.

After 22 years at the PCC SBDC, Jackie Babicky Peterson still has enthusiasm! Sean Harry sat down with Jackie in March 2022 to catch up on what she is up to these days. 

Originally from San Diego, Melinda's first career was in the hospitality industry, working in exciting restaurants on the West Coast. A lifelong home cook, she turned to nutrition studies when chronic health issues left her with more questions than answers. 

The healthcare industry will continue to grow as the population ages, and more people experience higher healthcare needs. The turmoil of the pandemic has also strained the industry, leaving job openings as the situation normalizes. Many people have shifted in their roles or chosen a new job, increasing the demand for new employees in all kinds of positions. Furthermore, people have postponed surgeries and other medical care to avoid taxing an over-taxed system, resulting in pent-up demand.

For all of these reasons, now is a good time to be pursuing entry-level roles in the healthcare world. While other roles may pay higher levels for those already in healthcare, the industry is currently competitive enough that incoming people will find good prospects and salary opportunities.

One example of an entry-level role that you can train for quickly is the role of Sterile Processing Technician. Learn more about how this role plays a vital part in fighting infection inside hospitals, making it a rewarding way to serve while also being a role that is in constant growing demand in Portland, OR. Learn more about becoming a sterile processing technician and how many sterile processing technicians Portland needs these days.

Updated March 18, 2022.

Yoga's popularity is undoubtedly spreading. What could have been a fad in the wellness and health industry has become an established practice for millions of people worldwide. It's no wonder studies have linked yoga to a variety of health benefits, from better blood pressure, higher endurance and strength, flexibility, and self-perceived lower stress. Anecdotal evidence has shown that people with various body types and states of wellness can benefit from the many variations of yoga's intentional breathing work, movements, and held poses.

If you're a long-time yoga instructor, you probably understand these benefits for yourself, and you have taken a 200-hour yoga teacher training registered through the Yoga Alliance. However, in pursuing a deepened practice, yoga teachers can take further training, a 300-hour course that prepares them to become registered yoga teachers at the 500-hour level (RYT-500).

Among the many benefits of this programming is training others to be yoga instructors yourself. Here are a few ways this certification can benefit you and teach you how to become certified to train yoga teachers.

Dr. Vileka Fisher is a licensed Naturopathic Physician, midwife, and an adjunct faculty member at Portland Community College. They graduated from NUNM in 2021 with a Doctorate in Naturopathic Medicine and a Certificate in Natural Childbirth. They achieved the state requirements for board certification in natural childbirth/Naturopathic midwifery by completing a rigorous two-year internship in Naturopathic midwifery at a busy primary care and birth center facility located in Portland, Oregon. In addition to her doctorate, Dr. Fisher has a Master of Science in nutrition from NUNM and a Bachelor of Science in Health Science from Corban University. 

Nursing is an excellent example of a field where a general, far-reaching curriculum creates the foundation for the career. However, many nurses choose a role where they rely on a subset of their skills most of the time. Perhaps they are working with patients frequently who need specific procedures done but don't require blood draws or IVs as often.  After all, some healthcare settings have dedicated phlebotomists specializing in blood draws and other similar skills.

However, as a nurse, you may eventually want to move up or move on to a different setting, and knowing what will make you most attractive as a candidate for advancement or a new, in-demand role can be difficult. Nurses can distinguish themselves with phlebotomist certification, such as Portland Community College's phlebotomy technician program.

Hospitals and other clinical care facilities can only operate because they maintain meticulous attention to cleanliness. People expect hospital spaces to be clean to prevent complication risk due to exposure to outside bacteria or viruses.

As a result, healthcare settings employ Sterile Processing Technicians who are very well versed in how to completely, carefully, and quickly sterilize clinical spaces to be ready for use by another patient. For people who are naturally clean and sanitize every surface in their home, this can be a natural fit as a career. It is a rewarding chance to do good with your natural tendency toward cleanliness and an opportunity to enter the healthcare field with only a short training program.

Let's look more in-depth at the role of becoming a Sterile Processing Technician and how a one-term training course can jumpstart a career in the healthcare field.

More and more, people are turning their efforts to engage with the internet from laptop or desktop web browsers to app-based programs on smartphones and tablets. This shift has made what was already an essential app development field into an even more valuable area of focus. People are creating full-time positions and freelance roles with unprecedented flexibility simply by understanding how to design and code for Apple's iOS.

Whether you're an experienced coder in other contexts or new, a Portland Community College course in Apple iOS can help you jumpstart your career and enter new spaces of app development. Here's how to build iPhone apps using this knowledge!

You may imagine a 'career in healthcare' beginning with a decade of schooling and interning with a hospital, plus years in residency. However, there are many different roles within a hospital or clinical setting. It turns out that even for long-term, well-paid work, you can often receive training and certification within a year or two, and phlebotomy is a great example.

Oregon and Washington have recently dealt with shortages of phlebotomists who provide necessary services in almost any clinical setting you can imagine. Studying to become a phlebotomy technician at Portland Community College is a great way to start an entry career in phlebotomy. From there, you can grow your skills and experience and enter your ideal work setting.