Preparing for Real-World Experience as a Medical Assistant

Becoming a medical assistant is a great way to start a career in the growing healthcare field. As a medical assistant, you will always be in demand and can find a position in a variety of medical offices and facilities. But classroom experience and beginning your first job can be very different, and knowing what to expect can help you be successful in your new career.

Start Your Journey to Becoming a Medical Assistant 

A medical assisting training program will give you the clinical and administrative skills you need to begin working as a medical assistant. But becoming a successful medical assistant goes beyond that. When you are considering becoming a medical assistant, look for a training program that provides training that will prepare you to work in a medical facility. For some programs, this can be an externship, for others, there may be a shadowing program, or a clinical practice lab within the school where you can get the career training alongside the knowledge and skills. If you want to be ready to launch your new career at the end of your program, you need real-world experience, so make sure that you find a program that values that part of your education.

Prepare to Be a Good Employee

Becoming a medical assistant means learning how to be a good team player at work. This means arriving on time, if not early, to your externship placement. When you arrive early, you have time to get organized and prepare for the day, which will make your shift run more smoothly. Focus on taking initiative and anticipating needs. You can practice this by looking at a patient chart and asking yourself questions, such as why the patient has a visit scheduled, what tests and exams might be necessary, and what samples the doctor may need. If you are prepared, you can be more efficient and self-sufficient. While in school learning to become a medical assistant, focus on organization. A good medical assistant is organized and always documents carefully, so begin now. Becoming a medical assistant means developing your “soft” skills that will help you interact with patients and other medical professionals, and the time you  spend becoming a medical assistant is a great way to practice those skills.

Consider Where You Might Find Work as a Medical Assistant

Becoming a medical assistant means that you will have the opportunity to work in a variety of settings. Clinical medical assistants focus on patient care and will need to hone their clinical skills, such as taking vital signs, giving medication, assisting with procedures, preparing and sterilizing equipment, and other basic medical duties. Administrative medical assistants will focus more on the organizational part of the job and will need to sharpen their phone skills, medical, scheduling, and billing software skills, and interpersonal skills. Both of these medical assistants can work in many different specialties, such as family medicine, cardiology, geriatrics, ophthalmology, OB-GYN, endocrinology, and even chiropractic care. For every specialty, your tasks will vary slightly and you may need to learn special skills. When you are preparing to begin your career in the real world, consider where you might like to focus and work on honing those particular skills.

Becoming a medical assistant can get you started on a great and long-lasting career in healthcare. The healthcare industry is growing, and qualified medical assistants are always in demand. When you are looking for the right program, look for one that will help you develop those real-world skills that will help make you successful in your new career. To learn more about our comprehensive medical assistant training program, contact Athena Career Academy today!