Medical Assistant To Medical School Levittown PA - Find Medical Assistant Programs Near You

How to Find the Right Medical Assistant School Program near Levittown Pennsylvania

Levittown PA medical assistant checking pulse Now that you have made a decision to enter the rewarding profession of health care and enroll in a medical assistant school near Levittown PA, it’s time to select a college that will furnish the proper training. But just how do you go about comparing and evaluating schools so that you ultimately pick the right one? Most prospective students start by checking out the medical assistant schools that are nearest to their residences and then gravitate toward those that have the most affordable tuition. While cost and location are very important, such things as accreditation, internship programs and job assistance are critical factors as well. You might choose to look into some online medical assistant programs as an option also (more about that later). The bottom line is that before you select a program you need to carry out your due diligence and compare all relevant aspects of the colleges you are reviewing. And to assist you with that process, we have included a few questions that you need to ask all of the colleges 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 credentials and training that are available.

The Role of Medical Assistants

medical assistant with Levittown PA nursing home patient The role of a medical assistant can be diverse as well as demanding. Essentially their duty is to make sure that the Levittown PA hospitals, clinics and other medical care institutions where they work operate efficiently. Based on the type or size of facility, they may be more of an administrative assistant, a clinical assistant, or in smaller facilities both. They are tasked with giving direct assistance to the nurses, doctors and other medical professionals but may also be found working at the front desk or in an office. Some of the potential functions of a medical assistant include:

Completing insurance forms and submitting claims
Setting and confirming appointments
Taking vital signs and weighing patients
Collecting blood and other tissue and fluid samples
Preparing rooms and instruments for doctors
Giving basic support during examinations and procedures

Although medical assistants may perform almost any activity they are authorized to under Pennsylvania law, some choose to specialize in a particular area and attain certification. Two of the choices available 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

In contrast to many other medical professionals, medical assistants are not required to become licensed, certified, or to obtain a college degree. However, many Levittown PA health care employers prefer to hire graduates of an accredited medical assistant training school (we’ll cover accreditation later ) that have earned certification. There are basically 2 options offered for a formal education. The first and shortest route to becoming a medical assistant is to attain a certificate or diploma. These programs typically take about 1 year to finish, a few as little as six to nine months. They are developed to teach the basics of medical assisting and ready graduates for entry level positions. The second alternative is to attain an Associate Degree, which are usually 2 year programs provided at community and junior colleges together with technical and vocational schools. They are more extensive in design than the diploma or certificate programs, and include liberal arts courses in addition to the medical assistant training. They usually have a practical element requiring an internship with a local healthcare facility. Associate Degrees are often a pre-requisite for and credits can be applied to a four year Bachelor’s Degree in Medical Assistant Studies or a related field.

Online Medical Assistant Schools

woman attending medical assistant school online in Levittown PA There are a number of accredited medical assistant programs available online also. They are a good option for students who may not have the time to go to classes on campus but could work them in if accessible at home. This is a particularly good choice for students who continue working full time while earning their certificate or degree. As an extra benefit, some online programs have lower tuitions than the more traditional on-campus options. Supplemental expenses including those for commuting, textbooks and school supplies may be reduced also. Just keep in mind that all requirements for practical training or internships must still be satisfied, but they can typically be carried out in Levittown PA area medical facilities. If you can earn a degree without the formal structure of going to supervised classes on-campus, then this approach to getting your training may be the best option for you. With the online courses and the practical training, everything needed to attain proficiency to perform as a medical assistant is furnished.

Certification Programs for Medical Assistants

As stated previously, certification is not a legal requirement, but is a good idea for graduates who want to boost their careers. It will not only help in securing a job after graduation, but it may also enhance preliminary salary negotiations. Some possible Levittown PA medical employers just will not hire a medical assistant that has not obtained certification or accredited formal training. One of the most popular and possibly the most respected certification is the Certified Medical Assistant (CMA) offered by the American Association of Medical Assistants (AAMA). In order to apply for the CMA exam, a candidate must have graduated or will graduate within 30 days from an accredited medical assistant program. Alternative certifications are available as well, for instance the CCMA and the CMAA that we discussed earlier which are offered by the NHA.

Points to Ask Medical Assistant Programs

Questions to ask Levittown PA medical assistant programs Before you can start assessing your medical assistant school alternatives, you must choose which kind of credential you would like to attain, and if you would prefer attending classes on-campus or online from home. Once those selections have been made, you can begin the procedure of comparing medical assistant schools. As we covered at the beginning of this article, many potential students limit their searches to the schools that are closest to Levittown PA with the lowest tuition. Although location and cost are important qualifications, they are by no means the only ones. There are several additional issues that you must explore when researching schools. To help you with that task, below are some questions that you should ask about each of the programs you are thinking about before making your final choice.

Is the Medical Assistant School Accredited? There are several good reasons to make certain that the program you enroll in is accredited. To start with, accreditation helps ensure that the instruction you receive will be both extensive and of the highest quality. Second, if you intend to become certified, you need to complete an accredited program. Two of the approved organizations for accreditation are the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP) and the Accrediting Bureau of Health Education Schools (ABHES). If your program is not accredited by either of these agencies, you will not be allowed 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 finally, as previously mentioned, many potential Levittown PA employers will not employ a medical assistant who has not graduated from an accredited program.

What is the Program’s Passage Rate? The majority of accredited medical assistant schools develop their programs to ready students to pass one or more certification exams. To start with, you must learn which of the certifications the colleges you are reviewing are preparing their students to take. If you are planning on taking the CMA for example, then naturally you will want to select a program targeting that certification. Second, learn what the program’s passage rate is for the certification and compare it to the national average. This is one of the methods to help evaluate the quality of a college’s program. Naturally programs with low rates are ones that you will prefer to eliminate.

Which Credentials are Offered? As we covered earlier, there are generally two paths to obtaining medical assistant training. You can enroll in a diploma or certificate program and receive entry level training in the fastest amount of time, from as little as 6 months, however the average is closer to 1 year. Or you can choose to obtain an Associate Degree and receive a broader education that will take about two years to finish in a community college or vocational school. Whichever program you elect to enroll in, verify that the schools you are looking at provide the type of program you have an interest in.

Are Internships Sponsored? Numerous medical assistant programs offer internship programs with Levittown PA area health care providers. They are an excellent way to obtain hands-on clinical training and experience. They may also help students build relationships within the Levittown medical community. And as an additional benefit, they are an asset on resumes and for job interviews too.

Is Job Placement Support Furnished? Finding that very first job can be a challenging undertaking for medical assistant school graduates unless they obtain a little assistance from a job placement program. Verify that the schools you are evaluating provide job placement assistance in the Levittown PA area and ask what their placement rate is. If a program has a high job placement rate for its students, it indicates that it has a good reputation within the healthcare community. It also signifies that it has a wide network of employers to help place students in jobs.

How Big are the Classes? Class size may be an indicator of how much personal attention you will get throughout your training. Small classes and classes with a higher teacher to student ratio are more likely to furnish increased access to teachers and one-on-one interaction. If convenient, try to monitor a few classes before choosing a college to observe what the teaching atmosphere is like and just how much attention the students receive.

Is Class Scheduling Accessible? If you plan on attending a medical assistant program while you continue working full-time, it’s essential that the college you choose offers classes that accommodate your schedule. If you need to attend classes in the evenings or on weekends near Levittown PA, make sure that those times are available. You may be able to fit your classes in easier with an online program, but you will also have to schedule any clinical training or internships that may be required. Additionally, find out what the policy is for making up classes that you might have to miss due to work, illness or family emergencies.

Enrolling in a Medical Assistant Program near Levittown Pennsylvania?

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

Levittown, Pennsylvania

Levittown is a census-designated place (CDP) and planned community in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, United States, within the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The population was 52,983 at the 2010 census.[2] It is 40 feet (12 m) above sea level. Though not a municipality, it is sometimes recognized as the largest suburb of Philadelphia in Pennsylvania[3] (while Upper Darby Township, Lower Merion Township, Bensalem Township, Abington Township and Bristol Township are municipalities larger in size in the three surrounding Pennsylvania counties). Starting with land purchased in 1951, it was planned and built by Levitt & Sons. The brothers Bill Levitt and architect Alfred Levitt designed its six typical houses.

The majority of the land on which it is built was purchased in 1951. Levitt and Sons only built six models of houses in Levittown, all single-family dwellings with lawns: the Levittowner, the Rancher, the Jubilee, the Pennsylvanian, the Colonial and the Country Clubber, with only modest exterior variations within each model. The homes were moderately priced and required only a low down payment. Construction of Levittown began in February 1952, soon after completion of Levittown, New York, located on Long Island. Levittown, Pennsylvania was the second "Levittown" built by William J. Levitt, who is often credited as the creator of the modern American suburb. To speed up construction, Levitt & Sons perfected a 26-step rationalized building method that was essentially an assembly line type of home building. The house remained stationary, while the construction workers moved from house to house. Each worker had one task such as pouring slabs, framing, installing electric sockets or installing washing machines. This highly regimented process enabled Levitt's workers to produce a finished house every 16 minutes. Construction of the homes commenced in 1952 and when completed in 1958, 17,311 homes were built.

What set Levittown apart from other developments at the time was that it was built as a complete community. Levitt & Sons designed neighborhoods with traffic-calming curvilinear roads, in which there were no four-way intersections. Each neighborhood had within its boundaries a site donated by Levitt & Sons for a public elementary school. Locations for churches and other public facilities were set aside on main thoroughfares such as the Levittown Parkway, likewise donated by the builder to religious groups and other organizations. Other amenities included Olympic-sized public pools, parks, "greenbelts", baseball fields and playgrounds, and a shopping center located in neighboring Tullytown borough that was considered large and modern at the time of its construction (and in fact was the largest east of the Mississippi). The first set of four sample homes were put on display in a swatch of land near the future Levittown Shop-a-Rama, and an estimated 30,000 people viewed them in that first weekend.[4]

Enroll in the Right Medical Assistant Training Program Levittown PA

Levittown PA medical assistant student It’s imperative to begin your new career on the right foot by selecting a medical assistant college that will provide the proper training. Whether you’re objective is to launch a career in medical care starting out as a medical assistant or to pursue medical assistance as your life long career, you must acquire the appropriate info on available programs prior to making your decision. There are so many schools offering training nowadays that you can make a selection based on your individual circumstances and personal preferences. And as we have covered in this article, verify that the program you pick is accredited by an acknowledged agency, such as the CAAHEP. This is particularly important if you anticipate taking the CMA certification exam. You came to this site initially because you had an interest in Medical Assistant To Medical School. But regardless of the kind of credential that you plan to earn or if you have decided to attend either an on-campus or online school, don’t forget to ask the questions we have supplied in order to evaluate programs and make an informed decision. And by selecting the best program you can ultimately start a rewarding career as a medical assistant in Levittown PA.