Medical Assistant Scope Of Practice Floral Park NY - Find Medical Assistant Programs Near You

How to Select a Medical Assistant Program near Floral Park New York

Floral Park NY medical assistant checking pulse Once you have made a decision to join the rewarding field of healthcare and enroll in a medical assistant school near Floral Park NY, it’s time to choose a school that will provide the appropriate training. But just how do you approach evaluating and comparing colleges so that you ultimately enroll in the ideal one? Most prospective students begin by checking out the medical assistant schools that are nearest to their homes and then lean toward those that have the most affordable tuition. While location and cost are extremely important such things as accreditation, job assistance and internship programs are critical factors as well. You might decide to research a few online medical assistant programs as an option as well (more on that later). The main point is that prior to selecting a college you need to complete your due diligence and compare all relevant qualifications of the colleges you are evaluating. And to assist you with that process, we have furnished some questions that you need to ask all of the schools on your short list. But before we start that review, let’s briefly talk about the function of a medical assistant and the type of training and credentials that are offered.

The Role of a Medical Assistant

medical assistant with Floral Park NY nursing home patient The responsibilities of a medical assistant can be diverse as well as challenging. Primarily their duty is to make sure that the Floral Park NY hospitals, clinics and other medical care institutions where they work operate efficiently. Based on the size or type of facility, they can be more of an administrative assistant, a clinical assistant, or in smaller practices both. They are responsible for providing direct support to the physicians, nurses and other medical practitioners but may also be found working in an office or at the front desk. A few of the many functions of a medical assistant include:

Filling out insurance forms and filing claims
Scheduling and confirming appointments
Weighing and taking patients vital signs
Collecting blood and other tissue and fluid specimens
Preparing instruments and rooms for doctors
Supplying basic support during examinations and procedures

Even though medical assistants can perform almost any task they are qualified to under New York law, some choose to specialize in a specific area and obtain certification. Two of the choices offered are for the Certified Clinical Medical Assistant (CCMA) and the Certified Medical Administrative Assistant (CMAA) provided by the National Healthcareer Association (NHA).

Medical Assistant Training

Compared to many other medical practitioners, medical assistants are not mandated to become licensed, certified, or to earn a college degree. However, many Floral Park NY health care employers would rather hire graduates of an accredited medical assistant training school (more on accreditation later ) that have earned certification. There are generally two choices offered for a formal education. The first and fastest path to becoming a medical assistant is to earn a diploma or a certificate. These programs usually take about 1 year to complete, some as little as six to nine months. They are created to teach the fundamentals of medical assisting and ready graduates for entry level positions. The second option is to obtain an Associate Degree, which are typically two year programs offered at junior and community colleges in addition to vocational and technical schools. They are more comprehensive in nature than the diploma or certificate programs, and include liberal arts courses in addition to the medical assistant courses. They usually have a practical element requiring an internship with a local healthcare practice. Associate Degrees are commonly a pre-requisite for and credits can be transferred to a 4 year Bachelor’s Degree in Medical Assistant Studies or a related field.

Online Medical Assistant Colleges

woman attending medical assistant school online in Floral Park NY There are numerous accredited medical assistant programs available online too. They are an excellent alternative for students who might not have the time to go to classes on campus but could fit them in if attended at home. This is a particularly good solution for students who continue working full time while attaining their degree or certificate. As an extra benefit, many online schools have cheaper tuitions than the more traditional on campus options. Supplemental expenses such as for commuting, textbooks and school supplies might be minimized also. Just remember that all requirements for clinical training or internships must still be met, but they can often be completed in Floral Park NY area medical care facilities. If you can learn without the rigid structure of attending supervised classes on-campus, then this mode of receiving your education may be the right option for you. With the online courses and the practical training, everything necessary to achieve proficiency to perform as a medical assistant is furnished.

Certification Options for Medical Assistants

As stated previously, becoming certified is not a legal requirement, but is an excellent choice for individuals who want to advance their careers. It will not only help in attaining a position after graduation, but it might also enhance initial salary negotiations. A number of potential Floral Park NY medical employers just will not hire a medical assistant that has not obtained accredited formal training or certification. One of the most popular and perhaps the most highly regarded certification is the Certified Medical Assistant (CMA) provided by the American Association of Medical Assistants (AAMA). In order to take the CMA examination, a candidate must have graduated or will be graduating within thirty days from an accredited medical assistant program. Additional certifications are offered as well, for instance the CMAA and the CCMA that we discussed earlier which are offered by the NHA.

Concerns to Ask Medical Assistant Programs

Questions to ask Floral Park NY medical assistant programs Prior to examining your medical assistant school options, you must determine which type of credential you want to attain, and if you want to attend classes on-campus or online from home. As soon as those selections have been made, you can begin the process of comparing medical assistant schools. As we covered at the opening of this article, a number of prospective students restrict their searches to the schools that are closest to Floral Park NY with the cheapest tuition. Although cost and location are significant qualifiers, they are not the only ones. There are a number of additional factors that you need to examine when assessing programs. To assist you with that task, following are some questions that you need to ask about each of the programs you are thinking about before making your ultimate choice.

Is the Medical Assistant College Accredited? There are many good reasons to confirm that the program you enroll in is accredited. To start with, accreditation helps guarantee that the training you receive will be both comprehensive and of the highest quality. Second, if you intend to become certified, you must enroll in an accredited program. Two of the approved organizations for accreditation are the Accrediting Bureau of Health Education Schools (ABHES) and the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP). If your program is not accredited by one of these agencies, you will not be eligible to take the CMA examination. Also, if you intend on obtaining a student loan or financial aid, they are frequently not offered for non-accredited programs. And last, as previously mentioned, a number of prospective Floral Park NY employers will not hire a medical assistant who has not graduated from an accredited program.

What is the School’s Passage Rate? The majority of accredited medical assistant schools develop their programs to prepare students to pass one or more certification examinations. To begin with, you must determine which of the certifications the schools you are looking at are preparing their students for. If you are planning on taking the CMA for example, then obviously you will need to enroll in a program targeting that certification. Next, learn what the school’s passage rate is for the certification and contrast it to the national average. This is just one of the means to help assess the quality of a school’s program. Naturally programs with lower rates are ones that you will prefer to avoid.

Which Credentials are Available? As we covered earlier, there are generally two routes to getting medical assistant training. You can enroll in a diploma or certificate program and get entry level training in the shortest amount of time, from as little as 6 months, although the average is closer to 1 year. Or you can opt to earn an Associate Degree and receive a more comprehensive education that will take about two years to finish in a junior college or vocational school. Whatever program you choose to pursue, make certain that the colleges you are considering provide the type of program you have an interest in.

Are Internships Available? A large number of medical assistant schools sponsor internship programs with Floral Park NY area medical care providers. They are an excellent way to get hands-on clinical training and experience. They may also help students establish relationships within the Floral Park healthcare community. And as an additional benefit, they are an asset on resumes and for job interviews too.

Is Job Placement Support Offered? Getting that initial job may be a difficult task for medical assistant school graduates unless they have a little assistance from a job placement program. Verify that the schools you are interviewing offer job placement assistance in the Floral Park NY area and ask what their placement rate is. If a program has a high job placement rate for its graduates, it indicates that it has a good reputation within the medical community. It also suggests that it has a large network of contacts to help place students in jobs.

How Large are the Classes? Class size may be an indication of how much individual instruction you will receive throughout your training. Smaller classes and classes with a higher teacher to student ratio are more likely to furnish greater access to teachers and face to face interaction. If convenient, try to sit in on a couple of classes before enrolling in a school to witness what the teaching atmosphere is like and just how much attention the students receive.

Is Class Scheduling Convenient? If you anticipate attending a medical assistant school while you continue working full-time, it’s important that the school you select offers classes that accommodate your schedule. If you have to go to classes in the evenings or on weekends near Floral Park NY, confirm that those times are offered. You might be able to fit your classes in more conveniently with an online college, but you will still need to schedule all internships or practical training that will be required. Also, ask what the protocol is for making up classes that you might have to miss due to illness, work or family emergencies.

Enrolling in a Medical Assistant Program near Floral Park New York?

If you are considering attending a medical assistant school in the Floral Park NY area, following is some background information that may be both interesting and useful regarding your future campus location.

Floral Park, New York

Floral Park is an incorporated village in Nassau County, New York, United States, on Long Island. The neighborhood of Floral Park in the New York City borough of Queens, is adjacent to the village. The village is at the western border of Nassau County, and is located mainly in the Town of Hempstead, while the section north of Jericho Turnpike is within the Town of North Hempstead. The population as of the US Census of 2010 is 15,863.[4]

The area that is now Floral Park once marked the western edge of the great Hempstead Plains, and by some reports was initially known as Plainfield. Farms and tiny villages dominated the area through the 1870s when the development of the Long Island Rail Road Hempstead Branch and Jericho Turnpike cut through the area. Hinsdale had more than two dozen flower farms after the Civil War.[5] The present-day village of Floral Park was once called East Hinsdale.[6]

In 1874 John Lewis Childs arrived in the area to work for C.L. Allen as a seed seller. After building his own seed and bulb business[7] and starting America's first seed catalog business, Childs bought a great deal of land in the area. To promote his own business and the local horticultural industry, Childs named the local streets after flowers and renamed the area Floral Park. The expansion of the Floral Park Post Office and nearby village businesses are attributed solely to the success of Childs' business.[8] When the local Post Office took the name Floral Park, the Long Island Rail Road followed suit by changing the name of the East Hinsdale station to Floral Park in 1888. Formerly part of Queens, Floral Park became part of the new county of Nassau in 1899, and it was incorporated as a village in 1908. Childs served as its first president starting that year.[9]

Pick the Ideal Medical Assistant College Floral Park NY

Floral Park NY medical assistant student It’s important to start your new career on the right foot by picking a medical assistant school that will furnish the right training. Regardless if you’re planning to begin a career in health care starting out as a medical assistant or to pursue medical assistance as your life long career, you must obtain the right info on available programs before making your selection. There are such a large number of colleges offering training these days that you can make a decision based upon your individual circumstances and personal preferences. And as we have discussed in this article, verify that the program you pick is accredited by a recognized agency, such as the CAAHEP. This is particularly important if you plan on taking the CMA certification examination. You came to this site initially because you had an interest in Medical Assistant Scope Of Practice. But regardless of the kind of credential that you plan to earn or if you have made a decision to attend either an online or on-campus school, make sure to ask the questions we have provided so you can compare programs and make an informed decision. And by selecting the right program you can subsequently begin a rewarding career as a medical assistant in Floral Park NY.