When you’re interested in working in the healthcare field, starting your career as an entry level medical assistant is very common. It’s a great way to learn, gain essential skills and trade secrets, and acquire a bit of experience along the way. Medical assistants help both patients and medical professionals.
Physicians are pretty busy, so medical assistants also help them with certain administrative duties. Typically, a entry level medical assistant works in the background of the physician’s office. Depending on who you’re assisting, you may get more chances to provide hands-on help.
Entry level medical assistants are expected to have an education and a little experience regarding both the medical field and the administrative aspects. They should have a general understanding of many medical aspects, from different kinds of testing to various pieces of medical equipment. They should also understand billing, how to take vitals, and how to prepare an exam room for a patient.
You’ll have ample opportunity to help people and make a difference in the community. What is it like for an entry level medical assistant? What can you expect your experience to be like when you’re just starting? That’s what we’re here to answer.
Day-to-Day Tasks
As previously stated, your medical assisting duties will likely involve both administrative and clinical aspects. Therefore, your daily routine tasks will also include elements of both.
From the administrative side, you can expect to help with scheduling appointments, handling phone calls, handling patient histories, and verifying insurance.
On the clinical side, you will likely be expected to handle a few mundane tasks like checking patients in and out, taking vitals, preparing exam rooms, administering injections, lab prep, EKGs, and sometimes helping with patient exams.
What Skills Will You Gain as You Learn to Become a Practicing Medical Assistant?
1. Time management
The medical field tends to be a busy one. Understanding time management will help you perform your job with less stress and greater efficiency. You’ve also got to be able to keep tabs on multiple projects at once if you want to keep things moving smoothly.
2. People skills
You’ll have to be comfortable with and good at working with people. A comforting bedside manner is an essential aspect of medical positions, and it can strongly affect your career success. Patients aren’t the only ones you’ll have to get along with, either.
3. Cooperation
As a medical assistant, you’ll be working closely with another medical professional or a medical team, so you must work well with others. If you can’t be a good team player, then you might end up getting in the way more than you help.
4. Critical thinking and analysis
Medical assistants also have to be good at analysis and inferring. While you almost certainly won’t be the one doing the diagnosing, you’ve got to be able to recognize the possible causes of a patient’s ailments. Even more importantly, you’ve got to be observant enough to identify if the patient’s condition is putting them in immediate danger so that you can help them and summon the physician at once.
5. Attention to detail
Medical professionals have to be detail-oriented if they want to help their patients. There are a lot of health issues that can look very similar except for a few slight distinctions. Even the smallest detail can mean the difference between curing a patient and making things even worse.
6. Memorizing medical terminology
Memory and medical terminology are also vital skills for any medical professional. Many medical terms can sound almost the same but have opposite meanings – like hypothermic and hyperthermic. If you forget a relevant word or get it confused with something else at the wrong time, the results could be detrimental.
7. Professionalism
You must conduct yourself professionally while maintaining a reasonable amount of empathy. Nobody wants a medical professional that seems cruel and heartless, but it’s also not helpful if you let emotions cloud your judgment or prevent you from administering care. You’ll need to find a balance that works for both you and your patients.
Finding the Right Medical Training
If you think this list of mandatory skills seems a lot to handle, you don’t need to worry. You’ll easily learn all of that and more with a quality medical assistant course. With proper education, practice, and training, you’ll be able to develop these skills in no time.
When you’re looking for a training program to get into the medical field, you should look for a few things: scheduling, pricing, and the specific course material. It’s typically best if you can find a program with flexible scheduling to work around your busy lifestyle. It also doesn’t hurt to find a program with potential financial aid, either.
There are many training courses to consider, so knowing where to start the search can be difficult. Chattanooga College is as good a place to start looking as any. You may start as an entry level medical assistant, but you’ll find SO many career options after earning this degree. We’ve got flexible scheduling, quality courses, and financial aid for those that qualify.