Medical Assistants

Medical assistants, also known as a “clinical assistants” or healthcare assistants, are an allied health professionals who support the work of physicians, physician assistants and other health professionals, usually in a clinical setting.

What do Medical Assistants do?

Medical Assistants (MA) perform administrative and certain clinical duties under the direction of a physician. Administrative duties may include scheduling appointments, maintaining medical records, billing, and coding information for insurance purposes. Clinical duties may include taking and recording vital signs and medical histories, preparing patients for examination, drawing blood, and administering medications as directed by physician.

Medical Assistants Basic Qualifications

As a medical assistant, you may perform primarily office tasks, mostly clinical tasks, or a mixture of both. Here are a few of the most common skills:

• Good communication skills
• Medical knowledge
• Knowledge of safety and sanitation
• Computer skills
• Customer service skills

Benefits of Medical Assistant’s Career Advancements

Gaining the Benefits of medical assistant’s career advancements take quite a bit of time, energy, and determination to become a medical assistant. The career path is fairly short however it involves a lot of studying and practical experience. The benefits of embarking on a medical assistant career are varied but can enrich one’s life significantly. Here are some of the most notable ones:

• Financial Benefits: Medical assistant career is a fast track start to a financially stable life. Medical assistants earn substantially more than their peers in the retail, manufacturing and other service industry professions. In addition, as you add to your educational credentials and your practical experience, you will be rewarded with more responsibility and a salary boost with your expertise.
• Personal Enrichment: Most people – no matter where they start in the medical field– enter it to help people to some degree. In fact, being a medical assistant can be as personally rewarding in this regard as it is for a heart surgeon. In many cases, it is even more so as a medical assistant has far more daily contact with patients than a surgeon does.
• Esteem of Your Co-workers: Being a medical assistant takes a special kind of person. There are all sorts of unpalatable tasks that must be undertaken and accomplished. Still the best medical assistants will garner the respect of not only their peers but also of the nurses and doctors that they serve with. The prestige that comes from being able to handle various patient populations can change an entry-level medical assistant into a must-hire advanced candidate.
• Better Job Security: Advancing past the entry-level stages of a medical assistant position is also extremely valuable as it increases your value to the healthcare organization. Lower-level positions are far more likely to be eliminated in a down market. Similarly, more knowledgeable employees will almost always be retained over less educated ones.

Medical Assistant’s Career Advancements Opportunities

Medical assistants may find career advancement opportunities in many areas:

• Clinical team leader
• Lead medical assistant
• Medical office manager
• Clinical office manager
• Medical assistant instructor
• Medical records manager
• Healthcare administration
• Executive medical office secretary

Different Career Specialties in Medical Assisting Advancements

Choosing a specialty can be a wise choice for future career advancement opportunities. Some medical specialties require more knowledge and skills than others and may offer opportunities for better pay and extended responsibilities. Here is a peek at a few specialties that medical assistants commonly work in:

• Clinical Specialties:
• Podiatry: Podiatry is a medical area that focuses on injuries and medical conditions of the foot.
• EKG/Cardiology Technician: EKG focuses on diseases and conditions of the heart and cardiovascular system.
• Ophthalmology: Ophthalmology medical assistants provide a wide range of duties in caring for the eyes.
• Administrative Specialties:
• Medical Billing and Coding: Medical billers and coders are responsible for handling charge sheets and submitting them to insurance companies for reimbursement.
• Medical Administrative Assistant: Medical administrative assistants work closely with the management team, or administrator of, a hospital or medical facility.

Many students have this question while they train at facilities to get their certifications. However, in order to answer it, we need to briefly introduce and highlight the importance of the MA certification. Moreover, we will define what ” Academic Credit Transfer” mean and then find out if the academic credit transfers or not while demonstrating the importance of the MA certificate.

    Firstly, Who Are Medical Assistants?

Medical Assistants are eligible to work in physicians’ offices, clinics, or other healthcare facilities. They are responsible for performing physician support services that help ensure medical facilities run smoothly. Certified Medical Assistants may work in a clerical, administrative or clinical capacity, and they may even be asked to perform more specialized tasks.

Secondly, What Is the Importance of the MA Certification?

    Although Medical Assistants can work without being certified, employers are usually looking for skilled and outstanding candidates. Getting certification through authenticated training centers proves to employers, coworkers and patients that this Medical Assistant has aced the field, and that ,now, they have the knowledge, techniques and skills necessary to assist a premium service.

How to Get MA Certificate?

In order to be eligible to sit for the Certified Medical Assistant exam, the student must complete a formal medical assisting program from a school that has received accreditation from either the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP) or the Accrediting Bureau of Health Education Schools (ABHES).

    Thirdly,  What Is an Academic Credits Transfer?

    Credit Transfer is the recognition of academic credits gained through formal study at Registered Training Organizations, professional bodies or enterprises and universities. Credit Transfer is credit given based on documentary evidence of statement of attainment/qualifications.

There are two types of Credit Transfer:

1. External Credit: which applies if you completed eligible units of study at another tertiary institution or training organization.
   2. Internal Credit: which is available if you previously completed units of study at the same institution as part of a different course.

Finally, Does Academic Credits Transfer?

Applicants applying for an internal credit may be eligible for a reduction in the course fees based upon the regulations and the date of completing any previous courses; however, external credits do not transfer. The MA Certificate is considered as an external credit; therefore, its credit does not transfer.

Medical Assistant jobs have a great outlook in the coming years. In fact, it is one of the top 20 fastest-growing occupations according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Obtaining a certificate increases the student chances of employment at large facilities, which means better environment, experience and benefits as well as a variety of patients and situations, too.

Becoming a certified Medical Assistant does not take long, and the job is rewarding in several ways. Students might be interested in a management job, a particular area of medicine or even teaching.

    What Benefits Do Students Get When They Roll in Medical Assisting Certificate Program?

1. Medical Assistants can Immediately start their career; they can notably finish their certificate program in a short period of time as some training centers offer a less than a year program.
2. It boosts confidence; as discussed before, Medical Assistants need to study for and pass the Certified Medical Assistant Exam. This license proves that the student is a professional in their field, and that builds confidence. MAs will also be working with other licensed professionals, so everyone around has the same knowledge base.
3. Medical Assisting is a highly demanded field; it is not always easy to get a job, but when it is for Medical Assistants, they are in demand. The profession is expected to grow 29% by 2026, much faster than average growth rates.
4. It pays great and it is stable; the pay scale for a Medical Assistant is currently $32,946 and ranges between $30,377 and $35,570. Also, The great demand for Medical Assistants means the turnover rate is low, and the industry is largely protected from layoffs even when the economy is bad.
5. It is fulfilling; many jobs do not provide an opportunity to make a positive difference in people’s lives, but Medical Assistants can go home at the end of the day knowing they did. It is a meaningful work!
6. Some people find lifelong careers as Medical Assistants, and others use the certification as a step in a longer career path. With exposure to several fields of healthcare, students might discover a related interest or an opportunity to pursue a different job. For example, careers in nursing, medical coding and allied health managementmay be of interest to Medical Assistants one day.
7. Certified Medical Assistants receive broader education; their responsibilities include clinical duties like drawing blood and performing basic lab tests as well as administrative duties such as updating patient records, billing and scheduling. Certified MAs are surely prepared to work in all of these evolving clinical and administrative areas.

As baby boomers get older, they need more preventive medical services. We are talking about 76.4 million people or almost one-third of the U.S. population. Almost all of them will be involved in the healthcare system in the upcoming years and especially this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Medical Assistants are always going to be an important part of the healthcare sector, and Certified MAs are highly needed to get the professional job done.

Hospice Care is defined as a type of health care that focuses on the palliation of a terminally ill patient’s pain and symptoms and attending to their emotional and spiritual needs at the end of life. In this article, however, we want to throw out sterile definitions and take a closer look at what it means to care for patients that are terminally ill, and the most important aspect of what a great caregiver should have: Compassion.

The Need for Hospice Care

Hospice care is focused attention on caring for the dying with serious illnesses. These are patients that doctors think have only a short time to live, often less than 6 months. Believing that this physical and spiritual treatment will make a huge difference in the patient’s life, physicians, nurses and family members often opt to make this process as comfortable as possible. Hospice involves caring for dying patients by helping them be as free from pain as possible, providing them with assistance to complete wills and other arrangements for their survivors, giving them social support through the psychological stages of loss, and helping family members cope with the dying process, grief, and bereavement. In addition, the process of hospice care will prioritize comfort, quality of life, and individual wishes freely; far away from any stress or restrictions.

National Hospice resource

Levels of Hospice Care

Patients differ in needs and required care according to their health case; as a result, there are four different stages/ levels of hospice care that meets each patient’s needs.

The four levels of hospice care are available for anyone who is eligible for Medicare:

• Routine Home Care

Routine home care is the basic level of hospice care provided in your home, assisted living, or nursing home. This level of care offers a team approach by hospice staff and your physician to provide comfort at the end of life.

• Continuous Home Care

This is when a nurse stays in your home for an extended period of time because the patient is experiencing a medical crisis or having a severe symptoms such as unrelieved pain.

• General Inpatient Care

Once the patients’ severe symptom requires an advanced level of hospice, they should be moved to specialized places called “General Inpatient Care”. The goal of inpatient hospice care is to control severe pain and symptoms, so the patient can receive the care that is consistent with their wishes.

• Respite Care

The respite level of hospice care is provided on an occasional basis and offers a planned, short-term break for caregivers who face the challenges of assisting patients with an advanced illness. The patient should receive a plan of care require 24-hour care.

Who are the caregivers? 

Caregivers are the people who have unique features that reflect compassion, love, mercy and hope to give the patient a secure and comfortable space to live. They can be a member of the patient’s family or loved ones; otherwise, it can be people that are specialized to provide such care for the sake of a happy and satisfied final moment/ ending.

Caregivers do not only provide a perfect sensible space, but they also provide help that makes the patient’s life easier when it comes to their daily routine. I would describe the caregivers as “adaptors”, according to the way they adopt their feelings, ideas, and time to fit their patients needs.

In most cases the disciplinary teams include: the nurse, nurses aide, medical assistant, homehealth aide, social worker and the physician.

Hospice Caregivers Challenges 

Caregivers are responsible for taking care of the basic needs of patients and giving hope to the patients for their remaining time. However, there are hidden challenges that caregivers face while performing hospice care. Some of those challenges will be outlined below.

According to caregivers’ continuous care routine, they may face many challenges that affect their daily lives, such as being exhausted exhausted from long hours of work. In addition, caregivers may also have fears about losing their loved one/ patient at any time or making a mistake that could compromise their quality of life. Caregivers may also have a difficult time when it comes to making decisions that may jeopardize the patients comfort level, such as removing a favorite pillow for a new one, or a favorite chair for a newer model, as some patients can become very emotionally attached to these things. High levels of caregiver stress may drive those working in hospice care to feel angry with themselves and/or guilty about decisions they have had to make, often taking that stress home with them.

A Reason to care

Individuals taking care of patients in hospice settings aim to help patients feel mercy, compassion and love, with the goal of providing a peaceful and relaxing end. Often, the greatest challenge is helping the patient feel the will to continue on, as the will to live can often help patients in hospice care hold on for a few more precious moments with family and or loved ones. Giving compassionate care should always be emphasized in any health care setting, especially when caring for those in their final stages of life. This is where the field of medicine truly becomes a calling, not a job description.

Proper hand washing techniques prevent the transmission of infection and help save lives. Over 280,000 people die of infection related nosocomial infections in various health care facilities yearly. A nosocomial infection is an infection which someone acquires after they have been admitted to a health care facility for another illness. Typically, within 48 hours after admission, if the patient begins to develop signs of an infection, we say that this patient has developed a hospital acquired infection.

When you think about how many things we touch daily, it should come as no surprise that we come in contact with millions of germs. Most germs are harmless in the sense that that do not hurt us. However, if they are viruses or harmful bacteria and we touch our eyes, nose or mouth, we can introduce infection into our body.  Phlebotomy Technicians and medical assistants who work with patients daily must be aware of good hygiene.

The area that comprises our nose, eyes and mouth is also known as the “T-Zone”. Many of us constantly touch our T Zone constantly especially those with allergies. It is especially important to know how to properly wash your hands. So let’s take a look at the steps involved in hand washing, particularly in these trying times of the Corona Virus or Covid-19.

Step 1. Never touch your uniform or clothes to the wash sink. Turn on the faucet with clean paper towel.

Step 2. Rinse your hands with warm water. The water does not have to be hot because it can cause burning and disrupt the epidermis of the skin thereby causing risk of infection.

Step 3. Apply soap. The soap should be antibacterial soap, but any soap should do as long as you use it correctly. Make sure that you use a healthy amount of soap to work up a thick lather. Wash between your fingers, scrub your fingers on your palms to clean your fingernails and wash your wrists by encircling your hand around your wrist using back and forth motion. If you do this correctly it should take about 30 seconds.

Step 4. Rinse. Rinse from your fingertips to your wrist. Also rub your hands together thoroughly until all the soap is gone.

Step 5. Do not FLICK! With the water running, grab enough paper towel to dry in order, fingers, palms and wrists with a dry side of the paper towel. This ensures that the paper towel that dries each part of your hand is fresh and you are not spreading any bacteria from one place to another.

Step 6.Take a piece of clean paper towel and shut off the faucets.

Step 7. If you choose to use hand sanitizer, then a small drop should be sufficient. Rub the hand sanitizer thoroughly into your hands until dry.

Step 8. If you must apply gloves to perform a procedure then now would be the time to apply them.

This may seem like a lot of work, but ask any health care professional and they will tell you that they lose count of how many times they wash their hands within 15 minutes of being on the floor. If you use this hand washing technique you will not only prevent yourself from illness but others as well.
Keep in mind that you should wash your hands before and after using the bathroom, eating, preparing food or anytime you feel the need. Hand sanitizer is not a substitute for hand washing. Though many believe that hand sanitizer can kill everything, they are wrong. There is no substitute for hand washing. The video shows surgical hand washing, which is where the physician washes up to their elbows. This type of hand washing is much more thorough and takes up to 20 minutes. The physician also uses a much more stringent antibacterial soap such as chlorahexadine along with a nail brush.

A small bit of information regarding hand hygiene. Please do not have long painted nails if you are in the food service of healthcare industry. Nails, especially if they are long and can be seen over the tips of your fingers are a health hazard. Bacteria thrive under the nails and long painted nails are a reservoir for many bacteria. Think twice before you begin mixing your meatloaf with you hands.
Keep safe, practice good hand hygiene and we will all get through these trying times without sickness.

Notice to all our students and future students

Phlebotomy Career Training is taking the necessary steps to ensure everyone’s safety.

In light of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic, and the fact that the seasonal influenza (flu) virus is also widespread, we are taking proactive steps to address a number of business concerns. First and foremost, we want to maintain a safe workplace and encourage and/or adopt practices protecting the health of our students, employees, customers, visitors or others. We also want to ensure the continuity of business operations during this pandemic.

We ask all students and employees to cooperate in taking steps to reduce the transmission of communicable diseases in the workplace. Employees are reminded of the following:

• Stay home when you are sick.
• Wash your hands frequently with warm, soapy water for at least 20 seconds.
• Cover your mouth with tissues whenever you sneeze, and discard used tissues in the trash.
• Avoid people who are sick with respiratory symptoms.
• Clean frequently touched surfaces.

Phlebotomy Career Training is keeping class sizes small.  Additionally, we are offering all students respirator N-95 masks should they choose to wear one.  We are also providing alcohol-based hand sanitizers throughout the workplace and in common areas. We encourage all students to make use of the multiple handwashing sinks and wash their hands when they come to class.  Cleaning sprays and wipes are also provided to clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces such as telephones and keyboards.

Employees are encouraged to use telephone and video conferencing instead of face-to-face meetings as much as possible during this outbreak. IT support services are available to employees who need assistance with this technology.

It is critical that students and employees do not come to the school while they are experiencing respiratory symptoms such as fever, cough, shortness of breath, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, body aches, headache, chills or fatigue. Currently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that employees remain at home until at least 24 hours after they are free of fever (100 degrees F or 37.8 degrees C) or signs of a fever without the use of fever-reducing medications. Many times, with the best of intentions, employees report to work even though they feel ill.  We understand that our students and their families are concerned about the virus and we at Phlebotomy Career Training are standing vigilant to ensure the highest measures of safety for our staff and students.  Let us work together to help everyone remain healthy.

Please keep up with the latest information regarding the Covid 19 virus.

Also please visit the CDC for more up to date information according to your state of residence.

CDC is working across the Department of Health and Human Services and across the U.S. government in the public health response to COVID-19. Much is unknown about how the virus that causes COVID-19 spreads. Current knowledge is largely based on what is known about similar coronaviruses.

Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that are common in humans and many different species of animals, including camels, cattle, cats, and bats. Rarely, animal coronaviruses can infect people and then spread between people, such as with MERS-CoV and SARS-CoV. The virus that causes COVID-19 is spreading from person-to-person in China and some limited person-to-person transmission has been reported in countries outside China, including the United States. However, respiratory illnesses like seasonal influenza, are currently widespread in many US communities.

• A $20 Tim Horton’s gift certificate
• Recognition on this site with a short bio, photo, and their educational achievement

Phlebotomy Career Training Student of the Month #1: Emily Anulao

From Emily:

“My name is Emily Anulao and I am currently enrolled in the Mega 12 Online course. I was born and raised in the Central Valley in California. I am married and have four very loud and very rambunctious children. Being a stay-at-home mom has allowed me the opportunity to study at Phlebotomy Career Training. I love anything that has to do with the human body. When I have completed the course, I would like to take a position within a hospital!”

From Emily’s Instructor:

“I have been teaching telemetry for many years now, and Mrs. Anulao’s telemetry written exam was the best I have ever seen. Her attention to detail and analysis was outstanding. It far surpassed previous exams I have graded — exams that nurses, and even some physicians, have taken!  What also surprised me is that Mrs. Anulao has no prior medical background. She explained to me that she spends all her free time, of which there isn’t much, studying. Mrs. Anulao’s commitment epitomizes what medical facilities seek. I am certain it will serve her very well. Other students, take note: this kind of success awaits you if you work hard!”

Phlebotomy Career Training Student of the Month #2: Nancy Ciotti

Nancy Ciotti is currently enrolled in the Cardio-Phlebotomy program.  She works full time in the medical field and is now seeking to specialize in phlebotomy and cardio studies.

From Nancy’s Instructor:

“Mrs. Ciotti is not only a great student, but her kindness and compassion for others is a hallmark of an excellent healthcare provider.

“She provided me a peak at her notes on both phlebotomy, telemetry, and EKG. I was astounded at the detailed notes she had made from both the lectures in class and online!

“Mrs. Ciotti performed a live EKG yesterday like a pro. She explained that she will be working in the field of telemetry and has a job lined up when she finishes.  We are so proud of Mrs. Ciotti.

“Nancy has proven that you can set goals and achieve them.

“Bravo!!!”