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    Hi All,

    I'm new to this forum as well as to the subject of IT certification and training. I want to become a healthcare informatics and wonder what certification exams should I take to help me to enter the healthcare informatic field. I heard SQL has been widely used in the Healthcare industry particularly in managing medical records. I have never taken any IT certification exams before and do not have any real professional programming experience except written some SQL scripts to generate reports in Microsoft Access. However, I have a BS in computer information system and have been working in the healthcare industry for many years. What certification exams should I take to help me achieve my goal? My college degree is completely irrelevant to the work I do, so I want to do something that would require utilization of information technology in a clinical setting. I hope any IT experts and trainers on this forum can provide guidence to help me moving toward the right direction in this matter. I appreciate all inputs.

    Saturday, January 28, 2012 11:06 PM

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    Horizon_Net has already provided details for SQL Server certification (70-433).  You can also do a certification for Microsoft Access (http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/Exam.aspx?ID=77-885&Locale=en-us).

    Your SQL knowledge is based around Microsoft Access which is a completely different product than SQL Server.  Some of your knowledge will work with SQL Server (such as creating tables, views and querieswriting queries however SQL Server still uses a different form of SQL called T-SQL and tables/views are also slightly different.) however most of your SQL knowledge will not be relevant (such as creating reports).

    If you're looking at wanting to work in an IT area within Healthcare, you may find that your Microsoft Access and ASP skills aren't suffifent.  You may need to learn SQL Server and/or Oracle and you may also need to learn SQL Server Analysis Services, SQL Server Integration Services and SQL Server Reporting Services.

    Basically what I'm saying is that the knowledge you currently have of SQL and ASP is what I call "Entry Level" and probably isn't sufficent for you to gain certification in SQL or ASP.

    Jeff Wharton
    MSysDev (C.Sturt), MDbDsgnMgt (C.Sturt), MCT, MCPD, MCITP, MCDBA
    Blog: Mr. Wharty's Ramblings
    MC ID: Microsoft Transcript

    Please mark answered if I've answered your question and vote for it as helpful to help other user's find a solution quicker
    • Proposed as answer by Horizon_NetEditor Monday, January 30, 2012 10:37 AM
    • Marked as answer by Mr. Wharty Friday, February 10, 2012 9:08 AM
    Monday, January 30, 2012 4:03 AM
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    A certification will not make you an IT expert. With an exam you show your strong knowledge about a technology. Normally you should have two to three years of practical experience before taking a MCTS exam.

    So, my recommendation for becoming an IT expert is to earn some experience, learn something about the covered topics of an exam and then go for it.

    Best Regards. Please Mark Answered, If my solution solves your problem.
    • Proposed as answer by Mr. Wharty Monday, January 30, 2012 3:51 AM
    • Marked as answer by Mr. Wharty Friday, February 10, 2012 9:07 AM
    Sunday, January 29, 2012 10:51 PM
    Answerer

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    Hi,

    you should provide some more information on what technologies you use. With that you can choose an exam track. From what I know Microsoft does not provide a special track for the healthcare industry, only exams for their technologies.

    Best Regards. Please Mark Answered, If my solution solves your problem.
    Sunday, January 29, 2012 1:49 PM
    Answerer
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    Hi,

    you should provide some more information on what technologies you use. With that you can choose an exam track. From what I know Microsoft does not provide a special track for the healthcare industry, only exams for their technologies.

    Best Regards. Please Mark Answered, If my solution solves your problem.


    I have written SQL scripts to generate clinical data reports and I know clinical data managers write SQL to create triggers for auto queries in EDC (Electronic Data Capture). There are also job openings in medical organizations/instututions that need people who have the expertize in generating queries and reports in SQL. I have not had an opportunities to look at the detail information about those jobs unfortunately.

    I see Microsoft is offerings exam for MCTS, MCITP, MCITS certifications, but I feel these certification exams are made for  database administrators. I feel it's an overkill for the function that I try to perform. Are these exams difficult to pass for someone like me who doesn't have any hands-on IT experience as a DB administrator?

    Are there any certification programs/exams for SQL programmer? I want to be an expert in SQL programming, not perticularly in SQL database administration. I'm totally new to this and I apologize if I sounded really stupid. Thanks.



    • Edited by Discusman Sunday, January 29, 2012 3:20 PM
    Sunday, January 29, 2012 3:18 PM
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    If you have experience with SQL Server development than you should have a look at the 70-433 exam. To pass this exam you need a strong knowledge of database development techniques like SQL.
    Best Regards. Please Mark Answered, If my solution solves your problem.
    • Proposed as answer by Mr. Wharty Monday, January 30, 2012 3:51 AM
    Sunday, January 29, 2012 5:27 PM
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    If you have experience with SQL Server development than you should have a look at the 70-433 exam. To pass this exam you need a strong knowledge of database development techniques like SQL.
    Best Regards. Please Mark Answered, If my solution solves your problem.


    The problem is I do not have any experience with SQL Server development or with any other type of Servers. Like I said before, I have been working in the healthcare industry and my work doesn't require me to use advance IT skills. I have been using Microsoft Excel tracking things and I had worked in Microsoft Access and created some queries within it. That's all the experience I have with respect to utilization of Information Technology tools at work.

    Where do I start? It seems the MCTS is the entry point for someone who wants to get certified in SQL programing and server administration, correct? Is exam 70-432 the easiest exam to pass among all the SQL programming related certification exams?

    I want to be a SQL reporting/querying expert. Is there a certification program for this? Or I should just bite the bullet and go for the MCTS, Oracle cerfication exams, etc. to become a true IT expert. But given the fact that I do not have any real professional experience working with those application/servers (SQL server, Oracle DB), passing these exams would be difficult or impossible.

    Sunday, January 29, 2012 10:32 PM
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    A certification will not make you an IT expert. With an exam you show your strong knowledge about a technology. Normally you should have two to three years of practical experience before taking a MCTS exam.

    So, my recommendation for becoming an IT expert is to earn some experience, learn something about the covered topics of an exam and then go for it.

    Best Regards. Please Mark Answered, If my solution solves your problem.
    • Proposed as answer by Mr. Wharty Monday, January 30, 2012 3:51 AM
    • Marked as answer by Mr. Wharty Friday, February 10, 2012 9:07 AM
    Sunday, January 29, 2012 10:51 PM
    Answerer
  • Question
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    A certification will not make you an IT expert. With an exam you show your strong knowledge about a technology. Normally you should have two to three years of practical experience before taking a MCTS exam.

    So, my recommendation for becoming an IT expert is to earn some experience, learn something about the covered topics of an exam and then go for it.

    Best Regards. Please Mark Answered, If my solution solves your problem.


    Well, I created a website that contained discussion forum from scratch using ASP and Microsoft Access DB a few years back and I hosted the website in Windows Server 2003 at home. I was able to maintain the website with up to 200 members. Would you considered this as some practical experience in SQL and server administration?

    Anyway I want to be a SQL data analysist who would be mainly doing advanced report and query generation. Is there a certification program for this? If not, are there any good reference books for SQL data analysis?

    Originally I want to get certified in SQL programming to show it to the job recruiter that I have a strong knowledge using SQL programming even though I do not have a lot of practical experience. But now it seems there is no such certification program/exam for this particular function. :(

     

    Monday, January 30, 2012 12:18 AM
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    Horizon_Net has already provided details for SQL Server certification (70-433).  You can also do a certification for Microsoft Access (http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/Exam.aspx?ID=77-885&Locale=en-us).

    Your SQL knowledge is based around Microsoft Access which is a completely different product than SQL Server.  Some of your knowledge will work with SQL Server (such as creating tables, views and querieswriting queries however SQL Server still uses a different form of SQL called T-SQL and tables/views are also slightly different.) however most of your SQL knowledge will not be relevant (such as creating reports).

    If you're looking at wanting to work in an IT area within Healthcare, you may find that your Microsoft Access and ASP skills aren't suffifent.  You may need to learn SQL Server and/or Oracle and you may also need to learn SQL Server Analysis Services, SQL Server Integration Services and SQL Server Reporting Services.

    Basically what I'm saying is that the knowledge you currently have of SQL and ASP is what I call "Entry Level" and probably isn't sufficent for you to gain certification in SQL or ASP.

    Jeff Wharton
    MSysDev (C.Sturt), MDbDsgnMgt (C.Sturt), MCT, MCPD, MCITP, MCDBA
    Blog: Mr. Wharty's Ramblings
    MC ID: Microsoft Transcript

    Please mark answered if I've answered your question and vote for it as helpful to help other user's find a solution quicker
    • Proposed as answer by Horizon_NetEditor Monday, January 30, 2012 10:37 AM
    • Marked as answer by Mr. Wharty Friday, February 10, 2012 9:08 AM
    Monday, January 30, 2012 4:03 AM
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    Thanks guys for the prompt response and the links. Now I see that I am not ready for certification unfortunately. I guess I can download some free SSAS to my desktop and get myself familiar with the application, hopefully I would be able to find a relevant job in the field in the near future.

     

     

    Tuesday, January 31, 2012 12:19 AM