It used to be that if you had any type of ailment, your only course of action was to call your doctor and make an appointment to have your symptoms checked out. In today’s highly connected world, however, we are also able to gain answers in other ways.

For example, imagine that you suddenly experienced back pain on a Sunday afternoon, but you hadn’t engaged in any strenuous activities that might have caused said pain. You could drive to the local emergency room, wait until Monday to call your doctor, or look up your symptoms online. A growing number of people choose the last option as a way to gain peace of mind and to feel like they’re not alone. Of course, conversing with your peers on the web is not a substitute for seeking actual medical attention, but it can help you to gauge whether your injury is life-threatening or something that can wait until tomorrow.

One potential way to link these experiences, seeing your doctor versus conversing with peers, is to have the ability to converse with your doctor via email. In The Wall Street Journal’s article titled "Should Physicians Use Email to Communicate with Patients?" , the repercussions of such an arrangement are examined on both sides. The pro-email communication concedes that email is no substitute for a face-to-face consultation, but that it can be used to reinforce instructions from a previous appointment while building a stronger physician-patient relationship.

On the other side of the coin, the use of email by physicians brings up concerns such as privacy and compensation. It is also argued that doctors wouldn’t have time to address the concerns of all of their patients via email.

Given the way in which we are increasingly connected via social media and other outlets, it only seems inevitable that this would trickle down to healthcare in the near future. What form this takes, however, is still under debate.

The New Year is well underway, a time when New Years Resolutions fizzle as quickly as they’re declared. But there’s one New Year’s Resolution you may not have told anyone about: your desire to kick start your college education.

Argosy University Online Programs offers three associate’s degree programs specifically designed for students like you, with less than 30 college credit hours under their belt, who are interested in the fields of Psychology, Business Administration and Criminal Justice. Best of all, these programs fully transfer into our bachelor’s degree programs, so you can pursue your education to even greater heights should you choose to do so.

Learn more about our associate’s degree programs below.

• Associate of Arts in Psychology
• Associate of Science in Criminal Justice
• Associate of Science in Business Administration

In this day and age, thanks to the internet, it’s easier to acquire information than ever before. This can be a great thing—after all, it allows you to attend school online, when it would’ve been impossible not too long ago. The downside, however, is that it’s easier than ever for your personal information to be stolen. If you want to avoid scam artists and protect yourself, you may find it useful to follows the tips listed below.

• Invest in a Paper Shredder. If you’re like many Americans, you probably receive new credit card offers on a regular basis. Avoid the temptation to simply toss these in the trash; it’s much safer to put all unwanted documents containing your personal information through a paper shredder. These can be acquired rather inexpensively, and are well worth it in the long run.
• Use Complex Passwords for Personal Accounts. Sure, you may think that typing 12345 as your password is the path of least resistance—and certainly easier for you to remember down the road—but it’s also easier for scam artists to ascertain. It’s best to choose a more complex password that includes letters, numbers, and special characters.
• Monitor Your Credit. You can receive a copy of your credit report free on an annual basis from the three credit bureaus. Also, if you want to take a look at it on a more regular basis, free websites like CreditKarma.com can be a big help.
• Keep an Eye on Your Belongings. Crimes of opportunity occur when you leave your purse or wallet unattended. They contain valuable information about you that can be like liquid gold to a scam artist, so make sure, particularly when you’re out and about, that your personal belongings are in your field of vision at all times.
• Keep Your Personal Information Personal. Don’t give out passwords or other secure information to people you don’t know. This may seem obvious, but it’s easier to do than you think. Some scams work by sending you an email that appears to be from a company you do business with asking for personal information with a link they want you to click on. In order to check the legitimacy of this, navigate directly to the website rather than opening the link in the email.

The holidays are over. While we can now breathe a collective sigh of relief that the chaos has come to an end, there’s still one rather irksome matter to attend to: winter. The days are shorter this time of the year, and also colder. In many parts of the country, the snow is flying outside, causing traffic hazards and inspiring us to curl up with a blanket and some hot cocoa on the couch.

But surely we can’t spend the next few months in this position, as tempting as it may seem. Other animals like bears hibernate in the summer months, but we, as humans, must press on and continue with our everyday lives.

For the Argosy University Online Programs student, that means keeping up with your studies.

So how can you use these frigid winter months to your advantage, without developing a serious case of cabin fever in the process? Check out these tips.

• Get Plenty of Rest. While you can’t exactly follow the bear’s example and sleep until the first day of spring, you’ll find that getting enough sleep – perhaps more than what you needed when it was warmer outside – will make you more productive as an individual. Now, before you start protesting with excuses like, “but I could use that time when I’m sleeping to finish my homework assignments,” consider how much more productive you’ll be when it’s time to do your schoolwork if you have a good night’s rest.
• Go Outside. Maybe this is the last thing you want to do right now, but think back to when you were a kid, anxiously waiting to find out whether or not today would be a Snow Day. You’d spend hours outside with your siblings and friends building snow forts and snowmen. You’re an adult now, but that’s no reason you can’t have a little fun. If you have kids, get out and enjoy the snow with them. If you don’t, consider taking up a winter sport like cross country skiing. Exercise and fun are just as important in winter as they are at any other time, perhaps even more so!
• Enjoy a Change of Scenery. If your normal workspace is becoming a little stale, consider changing it. Can you bring your laptop to a nearby coffee shop or restaurant? Perhaps you can get together with a friend and find a new place to study together. You may find that camping out in a public place to complete your work can be inspiring. People watching is always a fun activity, and may provide you with inspiration for your next assignment.

While winter can seem like the most arduous, intolerable time of year for many, with a bit of planning and creativity, you can be every bit as productive as you are at any other time of the year.

‘Tis the season for New Year's Resolutions. If you watch television for more than ten minutes at a time, you’ll likely be bombarded with a barrage of advertisements for programs promising to make your weight loss goals a reality. If you don’t need to lose weight, maybe you need assistance in quitting smoking. There are plenty of products on the market to help with this as well, and you’ll find that they’re suddenly being shoved right in your face.

While New Year's Resolutions seem like a brilliant idea on the surface, most of us have given up within the first month of trying, so that by the end of January, everything is basically back to “normal.” This most likely occurs due to unrealistic expectations we have of ourselves. As 2011 rolls into 2012, we think we suddenly have super powers that will help us to achieve lofty goals where we have failed in the past.

But now we’re getting to the heart of the issue: those lofty goals. Should we really expect ourselves to go from sitting on the couch all day to running a 5K three times a week? Or to move from smoking a pack of cigarettes a day to quitting cold turkey, with no desire to light up again, on January 1st? Of course, this may work for some people, but for the majority of us, slow and steady wins the race—or, at the very least, keeps those pesky New Year's Resolutions in check.

The same principle can be applied to your studies at Argosy University Online Programs. Perhaps you’ve resolved to be a better overall student this year, but you can’t go from making C’s and B’s to A’s without a plan in place. Instead, it’s best to break it down into smaller, more manageable goals that help you work toward your overall goal, including being more organized by keeping a calendar of important assignments and commitments, devoting more time to your studies, and making use of the resources you have available to you such as tutoring and the online library.

Happy 2012! With planning and dedication, you can help to make it one of your best years yet!