Certified Medical Assistant Training Sewickley PA - Find Medical Assistant Programs Near You

How to Pick a Medical Assistant School near Sewickley Pennsylvania

Sewickley PA medical assistant checking pulse Once you have decided to join the rewarding profession of healthcare and enroll in a medical assistant school near Sewickley PA, it’s time to choose a school that will provide the right training. But just how do you go about comparing and evaluating colleges so that you ultimately enroll in the right one? Many prospective students begin by researching the medical assistant schools that are nearest to their homes and then lean toward those that have the lowest tuition. While location and cost are very important, such things as accreditation, job assistance and internship programs are critical factors as well. You might want to look into some online medical assistant programs as an alternative also (more on that later). The main point is that before you select a college you must complete your due diligence and compare all pertinent aspects of the schools you are examining. And to assist you with that task, we have furnished several questions that you need to ask all of the colleges on your short list. But before we start that review, let’s talk a little bit about the responsibilities of a medical assistant and the kind of credentials and training that are available.

The Duties of Medical Assistants

medical assistant with Sewickley PA nursing home patient The role of a medical assistant can be diverse as well as demanding. Primarily their job is to make sure that the Sewickley PA hospitals, clinics and other medical care institutions where they work run successfully. Based on the type or size of facility, they can be more of a clinical assistant, an administrative assistant, or in smaller practices both. They are responsible for giving direct support to the nurses, doctors and other health practitioners but can also be found performing duties at the front desk or in an office. Some of the many functions of a medical assistant include:

Filling out insurance forms and submitting claims
Scheduling and confirming appointments
Taking vital signs and weighing patients
Collecting blood and other tissue and fluid samples
Preparing instruments and rooms for doctors
Providing general support during examinations and procedures

Even though medical assistants can carry out almost any duty they are authorized to under Pennsylvania law, some prefer to specialize in a particular area and obtain certification. Two of the options 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 Education

Unlike most other medical practitioners, medical assistants are not mandated to become certified, licensed, or to obtain a college degree. However, many Sewickley PA health care employers choose to hire graduates of an accredited medical assistant training program (more on accreditation later ) that are certified. There are essentially 2 choices provided for a formal education. The first and shortest path to becoming a medical assistant is to obtain a diploma or a certificate. These programs usually take about 1 year to finish, some as little as six to nine months. They are developed to teach the fundamentals of medical assisting and prepare graduates for entry level positions. The second alternative is to acquire an Associate Degree, which are usually 2 year programs offered at junior and community colleges together with trade and vocational schools. They are more expansive in nature than the diploma or certificate programs, and include general education courses in addition to the medical assistant training. They frequently have a clinical component 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.

Medical Assistant Online Schools

woman attending medical assistant school online in Sewickley PA There are many accredited medical assistant programs accessible online also. They are an excellent alternative for those who might not have time to go to classes on campus but could fit them in if accessible at home. This is a particularly good option for students who continue to work full time while attaining their certificate or degree. As an additional benefit, many online programs have cheaper tuitions than the more traditional on-campus options. Supplemental expenses including those for commuting, textbooks and school supplies can be reduced as well. Just keep in mind that all requirements for clinical training or internships must still be satisfied, but they can typically be completed in Sewickley PA area health care facilities. If you can learn without the rigid structure of participating in supervised classes on-campus, then this mode of receiving your education might be the ideal choice for you. With the online lessons and the practical training, everything needed to achieve proficiency to perform as a medical assistant is furnished.

Certification Options for Medical Assistants

As earlier stated, certification is not a legal mandate, but is an excellent idea for graduates who wish to boost their careers. It will not only help in securing a job after graduation, but it can also enhance initial salary negotiations. A number of potential Sewickley PA medical employers simply will not employ a medical assistant that has not received certification or accredited formal training. Among the most popular and arguably the most respected certification is the Certified Medical Assistant (CMA) offered by the American Association of Medical Assistants (AAMA). To qualify to take the CMA exam, a candidate must be a graduate 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 previously mentioned which are provided by the NHA.

Questions to Ask Medical Assistant Programs

Questions to ask Sewickley PA medical assistant programs Before you can start evaluating your medical assistant school alternatives, you need to choose which kind of credential you want to attain, and if you want to attend classes on campus or online at home. As soon as those selections have been made, you can start the procedure of comparing medical assistant schools. As we covered at the opening of this article, some potential students confine their searches to the colleges that are closest to Sewickley PA with the most affordable tuition. Although cost and location are important qualifiers, they are by no means the only ones. There are a number of additional factors that you must look at when researching schools. To help you with that process, following are a few questions that you need to ask about all of the schools you are thinking about before making your ultimate choice.

Is the Medical Assistant School Accredited? There are many good reasons to make certain that the program you choose is accredited. To begin with, accreditation helps ensure that the education you receive will be both extensive and of the highest quality. Second, if you plan on becoming certified, you must complete an accredited program. Two of the acknowledged agencies for accreditation are the Accrediting Bureau of Health Education Schools (ABHES) and the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP). If your school is not accredited by one of these agencies, you will not be eligible to take the CMA examination. Also, if you intend on applying for a student loan or financial aid, they are frequently not available for non-accredited programs. And last, as mentioned previously, many potential Sewickley PA employers will not hire a medical assistant who has not graduated from an accredited program.

What is the Program’s Passage Rate? Most of the accredited medical assistant schools design their programs to prepare students to pass one or more certification examinations. First, you must learn which of the certifications the schools you are considering are preparing their students to take. If you are planning on taking the CMA for instance, then naturally you will need to enroll in a program focused on that certification. Second, ask what the program’s passage rate is for the certification and compare it to the national average. Doing this is one of the methods to help evaluate the quality of a school’s program. Obviously schools with lower rates are those that you will want to eliminate.

Which Programs are Offered? As we covered earlier, there are basically two routes to obtaining medical assistant training. You can select a certificate or diploma program and get entry level training in the shortest 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 get a more comprehensive education that will take about two years to accomplish in a junior college or vocational school. Whichever program you choose to pursue, make sure that the schools you are considering offer the kind of program you are interested in.

Are Internships Offered? Many medical assistant colleges sponsor internship programs with Sewickley PA area healthcare providers. They are an excellent means to obtain hands-on practical training and experience. They may also help students develop relationships within the Sewickley health care community. And as an additional perk, they are an advantage on resumes and for job interviews as well.

Is Job Placement Help Provided? Getting that first job may be a daunting task for medical assistant school graduates unless they obtain a little help from a job placement program. Verify that the schools you are evaluating provide job placement assistance in the Sewickley PA area and find out what their placement rate is. If a college has a higher job placement rate for its graduates, it affirms that it has an excellent reputation within the health care community. It also indicates that it has a wide network of employers to help place students in positions.

How Big are the Classes? Class size might be an indication of how much individual attention you will get throughout your training. Small classes and classes with a higher teacher to student ratio are more prone to furnish increased access to instructors and one-on-one interaction. If possible, try to monitor a few classes before selecting a program to observe what the teaching atmosphere is like and just how much attention the students receive.

Is Class Scheduling Accommodating? If you anticipate attending a medical assistant college while you continue to work on a full time basis, it’s important that the college you select provides classes that accommodate your schedule. If you need to go to classes at night or on weekends near Sewickley PA, make sure that those times are offered. You might be able to fit your classes in easier with an online program, but you will still need to schedule all internships or practical training that might be required. Additionally, find out what the policy is for making up classes that you may have to miss because of work, illness or family emergencies.

Enrolling in a Medical Assistant Program near Sewickley Pennsylvania?

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

Sewickley, Pennsylvania

Sewickley is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, 12 miles (19 km) west northwest of Pittsburgh along the Ohio River. It is a residential suburb of Pittsburgh. The population was 3,827 at the 2010 census. The Sewickley Bridge crosses the Ohio River at Sewickley.

Sewickley is thought by some to be a Native American word meaning "sweet water."[3] Historians[verification needed] dispute if Native Americans were referring to the Ohio River as the "sweet water" or instead to the syrup derived from a local abundance of maple trees.[4][citation needed]

Alternatively, historian Charles A. Hanna suggested "Sewickley" came from Creek words for "raccoon" (sawi) and "town" (ukli).[5] According to Hanna, the Asswikale branch of the Shawnee probably borrowed their name from the neighboring Sawokli Muscogee before the former's migration from present-day South Carolina to Pennsylvania. Contemporary accounts from noted anthropologist Frederick Webb Hodge[6] and the Sewickley Presbyterian Church,[7] as well as the current Sewickley Valley Historical Society[8] concur to varying degrees with Mr. Hanna's etymology.

Enroll in the Ideal Medical Assistant Course Sewickley PA

Sewickley PA medical assistant student It’s imperative to start your new career on the right foot by picking a medical assistant program that will furnish the right training. Whether you’re objective is to begin a career in medical care starting out as a medical assistant or to practice medical assistance as your lifetime career, you must get the right info on available programs before making your selection. There are so many colleges offering training nowadays that you can make a decision based on your individual circumstances and personal preferences. And as we have covered in this article, make sure that the program you pick is accredited by an acknowledged organization, for example the CAAHEP. This is especially critical if you anticipate taking the CMA certification exam. You came to this site initially because you had an interest in Certified Medical Assistant Training. But irrespective of the kind of credential that you plan to earn or if you have made a decision to attend either an on-campus or online school, make sure to ask the questions we have provided so you can compare programs and make an informed decision. And by choosing the ideal program you can subsequently start a rewarding career as a medical assistant in Sewickley PA.