Certification Of Medical Training
Many more procedures, formerly done in a hospital, are being performed in the doctor's office, creating more demand for medical personnel, said Dr. Scott Myer, a family physician who employs certified medical assistant in his Des Plaines office.
"A good certified medical assistant means the difference between making the job very, very easy and very, very difficult," Myer said.
"A doctor's work is cut in half by having a medical assistant," said Ehlma Garcia Mendez, 31, who graduated from Triton's program in 2000 and has worked in the field ever since.
Medical assistants do the initial assessment of a patient, said Mendez, who works for Associated Internists, a Chicago medical practice. "We eliminate the first question (what the patient is there for)," she said. Mendez became a medical assistant after working as a receptionist in a doctor's office. "I got tired of (the paperwork)," she said. "I wanted to work with patients." Although the need for certified medical assistants has accelerated, the number of students entering the field has not, because the pay is low and many students are not aware of this relatively new profession, according to the handbook. The American Association of Medical Assistants, which has its national headquarters in Chicago, is attempting to address the shortage, said Donna Nikkel, marketing director. The association was formed in 1996 with 250 members and has grown to 10,000 members and 400 chapters throughout the U.S. Nikkel said she expects membership to double in the next five years. "We are trying to educate people about opportunities and to educate the public about the schools" offering medical assistant programs, Nikkel said. To become a certified medical assistant, students must graduate from a program certified by the association's committee on accreditation, said Monique Buckner, staff assistant at the association's accreditation department. Graduates also must pass a national test, given twice a year by the committee. In the Chicago area, Triton and Harper College in Palatine are the only two schools that offer programs meeting the committee's accreditation standards. The program also is offered at two accredited Downstate Illinois community colleges: Robert Morris College in Carthage and Belleville Area College in Belleville. Both programs offer a "hands-on" approach to teaching clinical skills, including taking blood pressure, electrocardiograms and other tests. Administrative skills are taught at both schools in classrooms designed to look like a doctor's office, with dictaphones, calculators and other office equipment.
| 