Medical Assistant Externship - An Overview
Monday, February 20, 2012 - Posted by Julie •
One of the best ways to learn about something is through hands-on experience. For students of an online medical assisting program, this is accomplished with an externship.Your externship is the point at which you move from student to medical assistant. Your transition will serve as a way to fine-tune the skills you learned in class by working in an actual medical office. Most externships are unpaid, but provide you with the tools you need to feel confident in your ability to be a medical assistant. An externship is like an internship, only shorter as it is the last step in your training.
During your stay in a medical office, the externship site supervisor will offer a written evaluation of your work, attitude and performance in general. They will also provide feedback on how reliable you are and how well you perform each task. It is important to ensure you receive a good evaluation, as this will be a determining factor in whether you will be able to sit for the Registered Medical Assistant (RMA) exam.
Once you have successfully completed your externship, it is a good idea to leave copies of your resume with the office manager, just in case a job opportunity pops up. You can also ask them to refer you to anyone they know who might need help as well.
Image by WVJC
Labels: externship, medical assistant, online medical assisting program
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Medical Assistants – Improve Your Job Chances With These 5 Tips
Thursday, January 26, 2012 - Posted by Julie •
What can you do to increase your chances of finding a job after you complete medical assisting training? There are plenty of forums and articles about the trials and tribulations of looking for a position, but you can make the search your own and have it work in your favor if you follow a few simple steps.
A Sharp Resume – If you want to find a job as a medical administrative assistant or clinical medical assistant, first impressions make a difference. Make sure your resume is organized and free of grammatical errors, bloopers and blips. Highlight your training and externship experience – remember that unpaid experience counts!
Be Yourself – Do not pretend you know it all. It is better to admit you don’t have experience in a particular area, than tell a story and be held accountable for it. Most of all, be yourself, because that’s the person who will be on the job every day.
Have a Good Attitude – Have you ever been to the doctor, only to experience a rude person behind the front desk (or back office)? Learn from this and don’t be that person. Being short and unfriendly doesn’t cut it, either. Be pleasant and show genuine interest in what you’re doing, which is helping people. You’ll get noticed. (Don’t forget eye contact!)
Do What It Takes To Get Experience – One of the best ways to get experience as a medical assistant is to do it. Volunteering is a great way to accomplish this. Even if you currently work during the day, you can volunteer in the evenings for a blood bank, hospital or Red Cross. This experience could possibly lead to a job and networking opportunities.
Get Serious – You are a representative of the medical assisting field. Be a professional, have a good attitude about what you’re doing, and believe that you can. Focus on what you want, not on what you don’t want. There will be naysayers who say it’s impossible to find a medical assisting position, but there are plenty more who say you will and have done so for themselves.
Image by WVJC
Labels: certified medical administrative assistant, Clinical Medical Assistant, Medical Assistant Training
Read More >>Medical Assistants – Improve Your Job Chances With These 5 Tips
December Sees Rise In Health Care Jobs
Wednesday, January 11, 2012 - Posted by Julie •
According to a recent report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, December 2011 was a good month for health care employment, with jobs in this field growing by 23,000. This falls on top of November 2011, which showed an increase of 17,000.
The report also noted several key areas of employment gains:
Ambulatory care – 14,237 jobs
Physicians office – 2,397 jobs
Outpatient care center – 635 jobs
Home healthcare – 1,141 jobs
Nursing and residential care facilities – 3,201 jobs
Labels: certified medical administrative assistant, Clinical Medical Assistant, health care jobs, medical assistant
Read More >>December Sees Rise In Health Care Jobs
Medical Assisting Field a Best Bet in 2012
Monday, December 19, 2011 - Posted by Julie •
A National Employment Report released by ADP, a private staffing and business services firm, revealed that 206,000 jobs were added in November by private employers. Additionally, economists in a recent study at the University of Michigan predicted a brighter 2012, and that the jobless rate should continue to fall to 8.8 percent by the end of 2012.
For the medical assisting field, this means positive job growth and more opportunities for those entering the market. The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that the medical assistant field will grow by 33.9 percent from 2008-2018, with an average salary of $37,571.
With this information in mind, it makes sense to look into pursuing a career in the medical assisting field. In particular, training as a medical assistant through a vocational school that also offers an externship, provides you with what you need to get started toward a rewarding, high-growth career.
Image by The National Guard
Labels: medical assistant, Medical Assistant career, medical assisting training
Read More >>Medical Assisting Field a Best Bet in 2012
Allied Medical Assisting Graduate Passes RMA and Moves Into New Job
Monday, December 5, 2011 - Posted by Julie •
Allied Schools is pleased to congratulate Yehudis Kammer, a graduate of the medical assisting program, on passing her Registered Medical Assistant (RMA) exam and moving into a new position within in the field.
Kammer, who has worked as an admin for a New Jersey-based internal medicine practice for several years, moved forward with her studies and began clinical medical assisting training in early 2011. Through Allied’s extensive and thorough program, Kammer was able to master the techniques and clinical tasks of a medical assistant with minimal direction and guidance. This helped her pass the RMA and later move into a clinical medical assistant position within the practice.
“I feel that I found my calling in the health care arena, and my clinical experience as a medical assistant is going to help me a lot,” says Kammer, who plans to become a nurse practitioner in the future.
Labels: medical assistant, Medical Assistant career, medical assisting
Read More >>Allied Medical Assisting Graduate Passes RMA and Moves Into New Job
Don’t Miss A Beat – Paying Attention to Cardiovascular Health Makes a Difference
Friday, November 11, 2011 - Posted by Julie •
Your heart pumps life through your veins, and when it’s not healthy, it can kill you. Cardiovascular disease and stroke are above the next four leading causes of death – including cancer – for taking the lives of women every day. And because up to 90% of women have one or more risk factors for developing heart disease, now is the best time to pay attention to your ticker.
Fortunately, many cardiovascular issues can be controlled if caught, thereby reducing your risk for serious problems. A good place to begin is a checkup with your doctor, and joining the American Heart Association “Go Red For Women” movement and “Make It Your Mission” to reduce heart disease and stroke. To register, visit www.goredforwomen.org or www.goredcorazon.org. You will receive a complimentary Go Red For Women Red Dress lapel pin from the American Heart Association for joining, as well as tips for improving heart health with the “My Life Check” online tool.
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Labels: cardiovascular, heart, medical assistant, medical assisting
Read More >>Don’t Miss A Beat – Paying Attention to Cardiovascular Health Makes a Difference
The Regulation of Medical Assistants – Is It Necessary?
Tuesday, November 1, 2011 - Posted by Julie •
While regulation of medical assistants is currently not a requirement, it is something that every medical assistant needs to consider in the future. There is a growing call for mandatory certification and licensing to bring uniformity to the scope of practice. A movement to only allow graduates of accredited MA programs to sit for the certification tests is also underway, with the goal of giving the medical assisting profession more credibility by prohibiting anyone without an MA license from practicing.
Those in support of regulation include experienced medical assistants who believe the profession would benefit from cooperative, professional MAs. Additionally, with some MAs performing duties typically assigned to registered nurses, such as starting IVs, many feel regulation would provide the reassurance that the MA knows what he or she is doing after graduation from a medical assisting training program.
Additionally, licensure of the profession could garner better wages for MAs, and help the overall image as an important part of the medical team.
At present, there is only one standard regulation of medical assistants across every state – that medical assistants be supervised by doctors. If a doctor is not on the premises, then the medical assistant cannot assist patients.
Whether the medical assisting profession becomes regulated or not, it remains a growing field that will continue to be in demand.
Labels: certified medical administrative assistant, medical assistant, Medical Assistant career, Medical Assistant Training
Read More >>The Regulation of Medical Assistants – Is It Necessary?
