Medical Assistant Schools
 | Medical assistant schools play an important role in giving students the
education and training required to qualify as medical assistants in this
rapidly growing healthcare field. The role of medical assisting is one
of the largest growth areas for employment in the USA and will continue
to grow for many years due to advances in medicine, in addition to an
expanding and aging population.
medical assistant training You will find medical assistant schools available in the majority of states at vocational and junior schools, community colleges, technical universities and standard universities. However not all schools are equal. Although not a requirement, if you plan on becoming certified it is vitally important before you start attending you check the training school is certified. If the school is not certified then you won't be able to take your CMA exam and that can be a huge setback to your career. Certification increases the opportunity of you finding a job leading to a higher salary, better job benefits and promotion. For certification your school needs to be accredited by either the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health (CAAHEP) or the Accrediting Bureau of Health Education Schools (ABHES). If you discover you are a long way from the nearest accredited school, or prefer to study at home, you can check out online medical assistant programs. Again you must make sure the online program is certified, as you won't be able to take the certification exam if it isn't. Medical Assistant Schools Training Programs Medical assistant schools offer training programs that last for either one year or two years. The one-year course leads to a diploma and the two-year course leads to an associate degree. Whether you decide on a one-year diploma program or a two-year degree program both can lead to certification by taking the CMA exam. Medical assisting can be very varied indeed, therefore it will never be boring. To gain the knowledge and skills required you will need to learn a whole spectrum of administrative and clinical duties, which offer a wide range of different tasks and responsibilities. On the administrative side you will be taught in areas such as telephone techniques, bookkeeping, scheduling appointments, updating and filing patient medical records, filling out insurance forms, accounting, billing and computer work. On the clinical side some of the areas you will be taught include physiology, anatomy, pharmacology, biology, clinical and diagnostic procedures, first aid, patient relationships, laboratory techniques, medical law and ethics, medical terminology and medication administration. Externship Offers Real World Experience The majority of medical assistant schools will offer you hands on experience via an externship, which will help give you the field experience required that puts you directly into the real world. The most common areas of placement during externships are doctor offices, physical therapy sites, hospitals, pharmacies, dialysis centers, clinics, and other medical facilities. If you can show prospective employers you are not only knowledge and skills trained, but have also experience in interacting with patients, performing tasks and handling responsibilities, this will go a long way to successfully getting a job. Medical Assistant Schools are an important first step in your career and you can graduate in a very short time - sometimes in less than a year. Then you have the opportunity to take the major second step of increasing your job prospects and salary still further by taking the certification exam. Medical Assistant Schools |
