Interviewer: Exploring a medical assistant career, hat's next on The Scope.
Announcer: TheScopeRadio.com focus on careers in health care.
Interviewer: You're considering a career as a medical assistant, but you don't quite know where to start. Well, we're going to help narrow down this down for you, make it a lot easier to understand. Christine Edwards is a medical assistant at University of Utah Health Care and we're going to ask her about how she got to where she is, what kind of education it took, her experience with finding a job, what she's learned about being successful, and advice for those considering a career as a medical assistant.
As far as being able to get into a health care environment, is this kind of an entry-level job? Is this like a foot in the door?
Christine: It can be, yeah. It's a good place to start.
Interviewer: What kind of education did it take to get to where you are as a medical assistant?
Christine: Well, I didn't take the typical path that a certified medical assistant takes. I started out as an EMT, out working in trauma, and in an ambulance, and out in the field.
Interviewer: What kind of training was required for that?
Christine: I did go to Weaver State and so it's very similar to what a medical assistant training is. We did medical terminology, anatomy, physiology. Those things are all really important to know. We did phlebotomy training, EKGs, IV starts, those sorts of things.
Interviewer: So you approached from the perspective of being an EMT?
Christine: Right.
Interviewer: How do other people approach it? There's medical assistant school, right?
Christine: There is.
Interviewer: That would teach a lot of the things you probably mentioned.
Christine: There are some great schools. A lot of community colleges are a great place to start for people. They're a less expensive route. I think Salt Lake Community College has a program, Weaver State, the DATC, I think, has a medical assistant program.
Interviewer: How difficult was it to get into school to become an EMT? Or have you heard anybody talk about how hard it is to get into medical assistant school?
Christine: It wasn't really hard. You need to have good grades. I think if you were going to be in this field, a patient wants somebody who knows their stuff. I would get your general education out of the way because you never know as an MA, you might find something that you're just totally passionate about, something that you're totally interested in, and the university encourages you to get education. You might be interested in radiology, or women's health, or dermatology, or something like that, and that just opens doors for you to take other classes and progress in your career.
Interviewer: So you don't have to have a bachelor's degree in order to become a medical assistant?
Christine: No.
Interviewer: You can go to Salt Lake Community College and get your associate's and be able to then start your career at least and then become more educated, it sounds like.
Christine: Yes, that's a great place to start.
Interviewer: Is there something that if somebody wanted to prepare for this career that they could do before they went to school or while they're going to school that you'd recommend other than the classes and getting good grades?
Christine: You need to have an interest in medicine and I think the human body and an interest in science, I think, and helping people. Having compassion and I guess being able to jump in and change direction at a moment's notice and think on your feet.
Interviewer: Sure. So I've heard that a lot of times, in order to even get accepted to medical school, you have to have some sort of a volunteer history that you've actually worked in the health care environment.
Christine: That's a great way to start because it's a good idea to kind of see if medical type of work is for you. Some people will get into it and they see blood and they pass out. I think a great place to start is to volunteer at a hospital or assisted living, old folks' home, that sort of thing. The best place to listen to lung sounds is in this assisted living place. You'll learn so much. You can listen to heart tones and I've heard friction rub and all kinds of arrhythmias there. So it's a great place to learn.
Interviewer: I know this is going a little outside of your personal experience, but how hard is it to then get a job in the field?
Christine: It's not very hard at all. Right now, I know of several positions that are available at the university hospitals and clinics. There's a lot of variety in the medical field, a lot of different departments that you can go to. I mean, you can get a job in pretty much whatever you're interested in.
Interviewer: And there's a demand for people with these skills.
Christine: Yes, it's hard to find. I mean, even an MA just fresh out of school. It's hard to find us.
Interviewer: For a lot of people, is this kind of the end of the career? They become a medical assistant or for a lot of people, are they looking to move further in health care and do something else?
Christine: For some people, it is. For most of the MAs that I know, I know of three that have gone on to med school and several that have gone on to PA school. Myself, I'm applying to PA school right now.
Interviewer: So there are opportunities to move up and take on more responsibility, whether it'd be going on to PA school or becoming a physician. What about within medical assisting? Are there opportunities to move up there?
Christine: Yes, the U has an MAA position, which is a medical assistant advance and that's usually a medical assistant that has more experience. They'll do things like leadership. They'll plan schedules. They'll attend meetings. They'll train new EMTs as a preceptor. I think there's a lot of opportunity for growth in the MA field.
Interviewer: And you get to work very closely with the physicians so you're actually really learning a lot while you're doing your job as well, it seems.
Christine: Yes, I'm really lucky. I have some amazing doctors that I've worked with over the last seven years as an MA. I've been here at the U for 10 years and it's just progressed that whole time. I've loved m experience here.
Interviewer: Yeah, that's very cool. So do you have advice for somebody who's considering a career as a medical assistant?
Christine: Get the generals out of the way because you're going to want to learn more. Study hard. You really need to like working with people. You'll see them at their worst. You'll see them at your best and you have to be willing to accept that. Sometimes they need you just to listen more than anything, I think, and just let them get whatever it is out.
Interviewer: Ultimately, if you were to party and you were talking to somebody about becoming a medical assistant, how would you cheerlead them on to . . .
Christine: I'll tell them, "Go for it."
Interviewer: . . . and taking the . . .
Christine: It's one of the best careers there is out there." It's really rewarding and not only intellectually but the lives that you touch I think is amazing. I've been called up to the front desk and had a patient bring me cocoa and tell me thanks for brightening their day and they just wanted to brighten mine. I've been really humbled that they would even think of me that way to stop by on their busy day just to say hi and thank me.
Interviewer: How often in our day-to-day . . . for a lot of us, the jobs that we do, are we even thanked at all?
Christine: Not very often.
Interviewer: So just even that nice, small gesture, that sounds fantastic. You're just beaming talking about it.
Christine: It amazed me. I was so humbled that they would even think of me that way. I'll go out in the front lobby and the patients are excited to see me. They'll hug me. It's awesome. It's like extended family.
Interviewer: And you just love it.
Christine: Oh, yeah. It's the best.
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