Top Performers!

IN RECOGNITION OF EXCELLENCE: TOP PERFORMERS MEDICAL ASSISTANT PROGRAM BROOKLYN CAMPUS GRADUATED APRIL DeStefano, Sarnantha Doldron, Krystal Harry, Michelle Lewis, Tamifer Miller, Kathleen Rohrbaugh, Kristofor Rosario-De Los Santos, Justina Sainthilaire, Nelsy Thomas, Carol GRADUATED MAY Beckford, Kereen Benjamin, Tiffany Cutkelvin, Khrystyne Fenelon, Natacha Hosein-Baldwin, Keshia Lugo, Adam Tarulli, Danielle Thornton, Marcelle Turicik, Valerie MEDICAL ASSISTANT PROGRAM QUEENS CAMPUS GRADUATED APRIL Begum, Asma Duzan, Shira Garner, Michael’le D. Graffeo, Rita Hall-Wilson, Margo Knight, Latasha Raghunauth-Zaman, Natasha Torres, Edwin GRADUATED MAY Cipriana, Omawattee Jaundoo, Chandrawattee Summers, Gladys Amelia Jean-Baptiste, Farah Jaramillo, Vanessa Oviedo, Carolina Wilson, Lovern Pineda-Carchi, Monica Forrester, Patrena Carew, Andrew Lim, Joselyn Shields, Denise Campbell, Doreen Golston, Mercedes ONLINE MEDICAL INSURANCE BILLING AND CODING PROGRAM GRADUATED APRIL Carnahan, Sandra Dunn, Julie Goodwin, Cecile Lucht, Luz Mikolajczyk, Julie Wagner, Tammy

Dear Editor, I recently got a job through the Speed Staffing System™. As a regular reader of the newsletter, I have gotten a lot of tips and advice. One thing I don’t remember reading, though, is any advice on how to make myself indispensable in my new job. Seeking Job Security Dear SJS: As I was pondering your question, a popular police detective show was playing on TV in the background and it got me to thinking that the best advice I can give you – and anyone else who wants to be indispensable to their employer – is to be a “detective” on your job. Tap into your inner detective skills and put them to work. What are some of the top detective skills and how can you use them to become invaluable to your employer? Listed below are a few ideas: ♠ Problem-solving skills. This is the number one function of a detective. If you solve problems for your new employer, all will go well. On the other hand, make sure you are not a source of problems to the organization. In other words, don’t create problems, solve them. ♠ Observation and listening skills. Detectives must keep their eyes and ears open for clues. In your case, you are keeping your eyes and ears open for clues to problem-solving opportunities. If you do that, you should be able to figure out exactly how you can fill a niche for your employer. ♠ Critical thinking skills. Detectives don’t take information at face value, nor are they locked into narrow thinking. Equally, you should be open to garnering full information and use expansive, out-of-the-box thinking. Just because things are done in a particular way, does not mean they cannot be improved. If you discover an opportunity to solve a problem or improve a process or situation, focus on it and pursue it in a detailed manner. ♠ Research skills. Detectives always research their hunches and ideas to make sure they do not make any mistakes. You should definitely do the same, so that you can justify your thoughts and actions to your employer in a manner in which you can back up with facts. ♠ Communication skills. A detective’s success will often depend on being able to communicate and come across well, so that they can be trusted by others and establish and maintain working relationships. That is done by evaluating the audience, choosing the right vocabulary, using the proper voice inflection, and demonstrating empathy. Once others see you as “human,” real and reasonable, they will be more open to assisting you. So, SJS, there it is. Dust off your Sherlock Holmes’ hat and get to work! The Editor

Since 1776, millions of immigrants from countries around the world have arrived at America’s shores. Their contributions are felt in every area of enterprise, including industry, science, agriculture and the service trades. Many of them went on to win world renown and their names will live on in the history books and minds of others. There are countless stories of the hard work and struggle of those great individuals whose lives became part of the rich tapestry that is America. Added to the unending stories stored in the memory banks of individual families throughout the United States, stories about family members from far flung nations whose fervor to live the American dream, forged with a powerful work ethic, courage and an abiding faith, is the story of Ranen Kundu. Ranen Kundu, instructor of Computers, Office Procedures and Business English at Allen School since 2003, has a story of his own, a story of hard work and the positive rewards of it. Presently, Mr. Kundu teaches at both the Brooklyn and Queens campuses. In a life filled with ups and downs, Mr. Kundu, achieved his long sought goal. On April 15, 2009, he became an American citizen. An electrical engineer from Dhaka, Bengladesh, who had been working for that country’s government navigation project, Kundu came to America, in 1994, “to pursue the American Dream.” Toward that end, he obtained a masters degree in Computer Science from the City College of New York with a clear cut goal to work in Information Technology in the Engineering area. Unfortunately, in what would be a life-altering set of circumstances, 9/11 ensued and the jobs in Mr. Kundu’s field of choice became extremely rare and most difficult to obtain. It was at that time, that a close friend introduced Mr. Kundu to the Allen School, where he was hired as a computer instructor. With what he refers to as, “The teaching and help” of his friend and the “wonderful staff” at Allen School, Mr. Kundu, a highly motivated person, eager to learn from everyone, found a place in which his great knowledge, kind heart and dedication to excellence would be valued and optimized. “I like teaching and I learn so much from my students,” Kundu said. “My knowledge could not be complete without their help and the help of my colleagues and friends at Allen School.” On April 15th, when Mr. Kundu became a United States citizen, he reflected back on his personal history and on his parents who had raised four sons, of which Mr. Kundu is the third. His oldest brother is a medical doctor, working in Public Health for the Government of Bangladesh. His second brother is a businessman, and his youngest brother, living in Canada, is a Professional Civil Engineer. Mr. Kundu lives in Queens with his wife and two sons. His youngest son, Ryan, born here, is ten years old, in third grade, and wants to become a detective. His older son, Rahul, twenty years old, is presently at NYU studying in a dual program, simultaneously completing a Bachelors degree in Electrical Engineering and a Masters in Mathematics. In his “free time, Rahul, is doing a summer internship at the United States Air Force Research Lab in Rome, New York. Ranen Kundu is indeed living his American Dream, providing opportunities for his family, and for the countless Allen School students who are fortunate to be in his classroom. “I am proud of myself as a United States citizen,” Mr. Kundu said, “Now, I can vote and submit my opinion to the Government. This country has given me so much since I got here. Now it is my turn to give back.” Mr. Kundu is the de facto Allen School chronicler of events, generously offering his photographic expertise by taking photos for so many years. To see his current exhibit of the Graduation 2009 ceremonies, go to: For Facebook: Queens and Brooklyn Campuses Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=89847&id=56312267794 Online Campus Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=92459&id=57096317965 For the Blog: http://blog.online.allenschool.edu/?p=181#more-181

On Thursday, June 6th, 2009, at the Queens College Colden Auditorium, a ceremony was held honoring the largest Allen School graduating class in its almost fifty year history – a full 1400 graduates – which included graduates from the Medical Assistant and Nursing Assistant programs and the first group of graduates from the Allen School’s new Online Medical Insurance Billing & Coding program. The online graduates who attended with their families were not only from New York, but also from such distant places as Florida, Kentucky, Minnesota, and Ohio. For some of them, the trip to Graduation 2009 represented their first trip to New York. The ceremonies began with a quiet reflection delivered by Mike Perez, Executive Director of Admissions, followed by a powerful rendition of the Star Spangled Banner by current Queens’ Medical Assistant student, Elizabeth Guzman. Annette Jill Luke, Director of the Queens campus, Lillian Mitchell, Director of the Brooklyn campus, and Linda Passamaneck, Director of the Online school, addressed the graduates and guests. Their abiding devotion to the graduates was expressed in heartfelt and meaningful words of encouragement and enthusiasm, clearly tinged with a bit of melancholy as yet another group of their carefully nurtured “offspring” flew out of the Allen School “nest” into the world at large. Valedictorians, Medical Assistant, Renee Heron (Queens, New York campus), Erica Myers (Brooklyn, New York campus), and Billing & Coding professional Terry Sherman (Online school), spoke eloquently. Renee advised her fellow graduates to “shoot for the moon,” in terms of reaching their full potential. Erica compared the grace under fire of the pilot, Chesley Sullenberger, who safely landed the plane in the Hudson River on January 15th of 2009, to the potential that each graduate has to incorporate their training and skills into successfully handling a crisis when others will be depending upon them. Terry Sherman spoke of her challenging “journey,” returning to school after having raised “three beautiful daughters,” and the great self-confidence she regained as a result. Janet Kramer, the new and first Executive Director of Career Services, using the metaphor of Dr. Seuss, inspired the graduates to strive for lofty goals and to never give up. Dr. Stephen Davis, Academic Dean (Queens), distributed the diplomas. Dr. Robert Jannicelli, Academic Dean (Brooklyn), presented the graduates to the President of the Allen School, Mr. Robert Teich. Mr. Teich spoke of the remarkable history of the Allen School, of the fact that ownership now includes three full generations, having passed from Loretta Teich, his mother, to him and now including his son, the Vice President, Jason Teich. He spoke with emotion and pride of the longevity of employment of so very many of the Allen School personnel, as close as family to him, many of whom have been with the school for ten, twenty and even thirty years. Mr. Teich praised the first group of online graduates and congratulated all of the graduates encouraging them to go higher. Evening Dean, Gail Skeete (Brooklyn), lead the graduates in the recitation of the Professional Code for Health Career Graduates, that includes the promise to provide services with respect for human dignity…regardless of the social, cultural, economic or religious differences of the patients…to be a role model for one’s family, a professional in the community and a part of the global healthcare team…” Members of the Allen School’s 2009 graduating class, will be part of the new frontier in the medical industry, as advancing techniques in science, medicine and technology, meet the challenges in a world of “firsts.” Additional photos of Graduation 2009 are posted on the Facebook page and on the Allen School blog. Check them out. For Facebook: Queens and Brooklyn Campuses Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=89847&id=56312267794 Online Campus Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=92459&id=57096317965 For the Blog: http://blog.online.allenschool.edu/?p=181#more-181

Unprecedented and breathtaking developments in human communication underscore how Allen School continues to utilize cutting edge methods to benefit its community… In a remarkable historical event, thousands of brave young people in Iran risked their lives by taking to the streets in a dramatic political uprising. They protested the results of a recent presidential election. In the face of massive arrests by the police and threats of execution from government officials, public protest continued as the government worked on shielding the outside world’s view of the unrest by arresting journalists, and banning coverage of the demonstrations. Social media like Facebook, Twitter, blogs, and citizen journalism replaced traditional news outlets for the spreading of information. Old media, falling victim to censorship by the government, was not able to keep up with reporting the news. The new model for communication has become social networking. Social media has opened a direct line of accessible information that enables people to communicate with each other. The Allen School, after introducing four years ago its online portal to showcase high level candidates to the medical HR community, the Speed Staffing System™ is now making use of social networking to knit its own community more tightly together and to reach out to the community at large. Students and alumni of both school entities and the community at large are invited to become fans on Facebook to meet each other and to find out about goings on and events. They are also invited to read the ongoing and lively discussions on the new blog and are welcome to post their opinions and comments. For Facebook: Queens and Brooklyn Campuses Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Brooklyn-and-Queens-NY/Allen-School/56312267794?ref=ts#/pages/Brooklyn-and-Queens-NY/Allen-School/56312267794?v=info&viewas=544620149 Online Campus Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Allen-School-Online/57096317965?ref=ts#/pages/Allen-School-Online/57096317965?v=wall&viewas=544620149 For the Blog: http://blog.online.allenschool.edu/?p=122

Dear Editor: At the end of the last two interviews I had, the interviewers asked me if I had any questions. Both times I told them that I didn’t and I felt as if they seemed to be expecting more from me, for me to actually ask questions, but I didn’t know what to ask. I felt as if I had done really well in the interviews, but did not get called back to either facility. No Questions Dear No Questions: It is a standard practice for many interviewers to ask, “Do you have any questions?” at the end of an interview. When a candidate replies, “No, I think you covered it all,” it may be interpreted by the hiring manager that you are not really interested in the job. Always come prepared with some questions to ask, but never ask about salary and benefits until the employer raises those issues. By asking questions, you show your interest in the position, play a more active role in the interview, showcase how much you know, guide the discussion into an area of your particular expertise, and have an opportunity to decide if you really want to work for that organization. An example of some good questions to ask are: » What are the traits and skills of people who are the most successful within your organization/office? Can you describe an ideal employee? » What will be the most challenging aspects of the position? » Why do you enjoy working for this company? » Can you describe a typical day for someone in this position? What are the day-to-day responsibilities of the position? » What particular software and computer equipment do you use? » How will my job performance be measured, by whom, and how often? » What is the company’s policy on promoting people? » Is there anything else you need to know about me as a candidate? » How soon do you expect to make a decision? When might I expect to hear from you? The Editor

Advances in microsurgical techniques make life-changing miracles possible The first face transplant was on a nine-year-old girl in India, in 1994, whose hair braids got caught in a farm grass cutting machine that pulled her head in and amputated her scalp and face. Thinking quickly, her parents saved the scalp and face in a plastic bag and rushed their unconscious child to a hospital where one of India’s top microsurgeons reconnected the arteries and replanted the skin. Although she was left with muscle damage and scarring around the edges where the skin had been sutured back on, the girl, Sandeep Kaur, ten years later trained to become a nurse at the same hospital at which her operation was done, demonstrating that it is not what happens to someone in their life that defines it, but, rather, what they do with their life as a result of what happens. In December of 2008, as reported by CNN, a woman in Cleveland underwent America’s first full face transplant in a 22-hour surgery at the Cleveland Clinic. It was the most extensive face transplant so far, the first facial transplant known to have included bones. The patient could not eat or breathe on her own due to a traumatic injury several years before. She could not taste or smell and had trouble speaking. She had profound deformity in the center of her face, and was missing her right eye and upper jaw. After receiving the nose, cheeks, upper jaw and facial tissue of a female cadaver, her progress, as reported by FoxNews.com, is considered “astonishing” and her doctors are “cautiously optimistic.” Face transplants have been possible, in theory, for a number of years. To date, seven face transplants have been reported worldwide. These include a 38-year-old in France whose dog ripped her face to shreds, a man in China who was attacked by a bear, and a man in France who suffered from the same disease as John Merrik, the Elephant Man. Advances in medicine like these represent continued opportunities for employment for those with appropriate training.

Margie White, Manager Instructional Services Department Allen School’s Online Medical Insurance Billing & Coding Program Q: What have you found to be the biggest misconception the students have about taking courses online? A: Before they begin, the students fear that there will be no interaction. You have to have good instructors. Surprisingly, students who normally would not speak out in a classroom are more open to participating online because they have the safety of the computer and they are willing to voice opinions and thoughts. In a ground classroom, you have several students who monopolize the class and the others don’t get heard. Online everybody has the opportunity to be heard. If you are bashful, or not sure that your opinion is worthy, you may not be willing to voice it in a room full of people. With online, you have time to think about it, then go in and write it and present it. Q: Have you found the “human factor” to be diminished in any way with online training? A: I don’t think that at all. Online doesn’t decrease interaction. The discussions are “meaty” and there is real communication between the instructor and the students and between the students themselves. Also, we do ClassLive which is real time web conferencing where, with microphone and headset and speakers, people can communicate verbally in real time. For example, to use Coding to demonstrate this: The instructor gives a little lecture. Then, the instructor works on a white board putting up coding case studies and the students code them and then, they talk about how those specific codes came about. Q: Do students need to be tech-savvy to start with? A: We ask in our Admissions essay if they send email, surf the Internet, pay bills online. If so, then we know they have a level of comfort with the computer. They don’t need to be expert on the computer. Q: What are you finding to be the reasons that so many people are applying to the program? A: There are a lot of reasons why they want to come into the program. We get late bloomers, like me, who make the decision to get into a secure career, those reacting to the economy, those wishing to have second careers, those who feel they missed earlier opportunities. At the moment, the ages of our students in the online program range from nineteen to those in their sixties. Q. What are some of the areas that students can go into after this training, if not specifically in Billing and Coding? A: The ones who love Coding more than Billing might want to pursue a little more education and then work for a Cancer registry. These are databases of statistics – most states have them, hospitals, too – where they list every type of Cancer and, for example, when it started, where it started, what type of treatment was administered, etc. Researchers use these databases to determine what treatments are working for Cancer. There are also Trauma registries that keep statistics on how many motor vehicle accidents occurred and the type of injuries sustained. All of these things are codes and a number of those who study MIBC are amazed at what they can do with the training and the possibilities there are to work with researchers. Grads can also work in insurance companies doing claims review. http://online.allenschool.edu