Medical Assistant School Cost Chantilly VA - Find Medical Assistant Programs Near You

How to Find the Right Medical Assistant Training School near Chantilly Virginia

Chantilly VA medical assistant checking pulse Once you have decided to enter the rewarding field of health care and enroll in a medical assistant school near Chantilly VA, it’s time to choose a school that will provide the right training. But just how do you approach evaluating and comparing schools so that you subsequently pick the right one? A number of prospective students start 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 also. You may want to look into several online medical assistant programs as an alternative also (more about that later). The main point is that before you select a program you need to complete your due diligence and compare all pertinent qualifications of the colleges you are reviewing. And to help you with that task, we have furnished several questions that you need to ask all of the schools 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 training and credentials that are available.

The Duties of a Medical Assistant

medical assistant with Chantilly VA nursing home patient The function of a medical assistant can be varied as well as demanding. Essentially their duty is to make sure that the Chantilly VA hospitals, clinics and other medical care facilities where they work operate successfully. Depending 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 health practitioners but may also be found working at the front desk or in an office. Some of the possible responsibilities of a medical assistant include:

Completing insurance forms and submitting claims
Setting and verifying appointments
Taking vital signs and weighing patients
Taking blood and other tissue and fluid samples
Preparing rooms and instruments for doctors
Providing general support during exams and procedures

Although medical assistants may perform almost any duty they are qualified to under Virginia 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) made available by the National Healthcareer Association (NHA).

Medical Assistant Programs

Unlike many other medical practitioners, medical assistants are not required to become licensed, certified, or to have a college degree. However, a number of Chantilly VA health care employers choose to hire graduates of an accredited medical assistant training school (we’ll cover accreditation later ) that are certified. There are generally two choices offered for a formal education. The first and fastest path to becoming a medical assistant is to attain a certificate or diploma. These programs normally take about one year to complete, some as little as six to nine months. They are designed to teach the fundamentals of medical assisting and ready graduates for entry level positions. The second alternative is to obtain an Associate Degree, which are usually 2 year programs offered at junior and community colleges as well as technical and vocational schools. They are more comprehensive in nature than the diploma or certificate programs, and include liberal arts courses in addition to the medical assistant training. They often have a practical component involving an internship with a local healthcare facility. Associate Degrees are often a pre-requisite for and credits can be transferred to a four year Bachelor’s Degree in Medical Assistant Studies or a similar field.

Medical Assistant Online Colleges

woman attending medical assistant school online in Chantilly VA There are numerous accredited medical assistant programs offered online too. They are an excellent option for students who might not have the time to attend classes on campus but could work them in if accessible at home. This is a particularly good option for students who continue to work full time while pursuing their certificate or degree. As an extra benefit, some online programs have cheaper tuitions than the more traditional on campus options. Supplemental expenses such as for textbooks, commuting and school supplies can be reduced also. But remember that any requirements for clinical training or internships must still be satisfied, but they can usually be carried out in Chantilly VA area medical facilities. If you can earn a degree without the rigid structure of going to supervised classes on campus, then this approach to getting your education might be the ideal option for you. With the online courses and the clinical training, everything needed to attain proficiency to work as a medical assistant is provided.

Certification Options for Medical Assistants

As earlier stated, certification is not a legal mandate, but is an excellent choice for graduates who wish to boost their careers. It will not only help in securing a position after graduation, but it may also enhance preliminary salary negotiations. Many possible Chantilly VA medical employers simply will not employ a medical assistant that has not attained certification or accredited formal training. Among the most popular and possibly the most respected certification is the Certified Medical Assistant (CMA) offered by the American Association of Medical Assistants (AAMA). To qualify to apply for the CMA exam, an applicant must have graduated or will be graduating within thirty days from an accredited medical assistant program. Alternative certifications are offered also, such as the CMAA and the CCMA that we previously mentioned which are provided by the NHA.

What to Ask Medical Assistant Programs

Questions to ask Chantilly VA medical assistant programs Prior to evaluating your medical assistant school options, you must choose which kind of credential you would like to earn, and if you would prefer attending classes on campus or online at home. After those selections have been made, you can start the procedure of comparing medical assistant schools. As we covered at the opening of this article, a number of prospective students restrict their searches to the colleges that are closest to Chantilly VA with the most affordable tuition. Although location and cost are important qualifications, they are not the only ones. There are a number of additional issues that you need to examine when researching schools. To help you with that task, following are a few questions that you should ask about all of the programs you are thinking about before making your final selection.

Is the Medical Assistant Course Accredited? There are a number of great reasons to make certain that the college you select is accredited. To begin with, accreditation helps guarantee that the education you receive will be both extensive and of the highest quality. Next, if you plan on becoming certified, you need to enroll in an accredited program. Two of the approved agencies 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 one of these agencies, you will not be eligible to take the CMA examination. Additionally, if you plan on obtaining a student loan or financial assistance, they are often not available for non-accredited programs. And finally, as mentioned previously, a number of potential Chantilly VA employers will not employ 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 prep students to pass one or more certification examinations. First, you must learn which of the certifications the colleges you are considering are preparing their students to take. If you are interested in taking the CMA for example, then naturally you will want to select a program targeting that certification. Next, learn what the program’s passage rate is for the certification and contrast it to the national average. Doing this is just one of the means to help evaluate the quality of a college’s program. Of course schools with low rates are ones that you will want to avoid.

Which Programs are Provided? As we covered earlier, there are basically two routes to acquiring medical assistant training. You can select a diploma or certificate program and obtain entry level training in the shortest amount of time, from as little as 6 months, although the average is about one year. Or you can choose to earn an Associate Degree and receive a broader education that will require approximately two years to finish in a community college or trade school. Whatever program you elect to pursue, make certain that the colleges you are reviewing offer the kind of program you have an interest in.

Are Internships Provided? A large number of medical assistant schools offer internship programs with Chantilly VA area healthcare providers. They are a great way to get hands-on practical experience and training. They may also assist students develop relationships within the Chantilly medical community. And as an additional benefit, they are an advantage on resumes and for job interviews too.

Is Job Placement Service Provided? Finding that very first job can be a difficult undertaking for graduating medical assistant students unless they have some help from a job placement program. Confirm that the colleges you are evaluating offer job placement assistance in the Chantilly VA area and ask what their placement rate is. If a college has a high job placement rate for its graduates, it affirms 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 Big are the Classrooms? Class size can be an indicator of how much individual attention you will get during your training. Smaller classes and classes with a higher teacher to student ratio are more prone to furnish increased access to teachers and one-on-one interaction. If possible, try to monitor a couple of classes before choosing a college to see what the teaching environment is like and how much attention the students receive.

Is Class Scheduling Accessible? If you anticipate attending a medical assistant program while you continue to work full-time, it’s essential that the school you select offers classes that fit your schedule. If you need to go to classes at night or on weekends near Chantilly VA, verify that those times are available. You may be able to fit your classes in easier with an online program, but you will still have to schedule any internships or clinical training that may be required. Additionally, find out what the protocol is for making up classes that you may have to miss because of illness, work or family issues.

Enrolling in a Medical Assistant Program near Chantilly Virginia?

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

Chantilly, Virginia

Chantilly is a census-designated place (CDP) in western Fairfax County, Virginia, United States.[3][4] The population was 23,039 at the 2010 census.[5] Chantilly is named after an early-19th-century mansion and farm, which in turn took the name of an 18th-century plantation that was located in Westmoreland County, Virginia.[6] The name "Chantilly" originated in France with the Château de Chantilly,[7][8] about 25 miles north of Paris.

Located in the Northern Virginia portion of the Washington metropolitan area, Chantilly sits approximately 25 miles (40 km) west of Washington, D.C., via Interstate 66 and U.S. Route 50. It is located between Centreville to the south, Herndon and Reston to the north and northeast, respectively, and Fairfax 7 miles (11 km) to the southeast. U.S. Route 50 and Virginia State Route 28 intersect in Chantilly, and these highways provide access to the Dulles/Reston/Tysons Corner technology corridor and other major employment centers in Northern Virginia and Washington, D.C.

Chantilly was home to a number of colonial plantations in the 1700s, including the Sully Plantation (now the Sully Historic Site) built by Richard Bland Lee I. Other plantations included George Richard Lee Turberville's "Leeton Grove"[9] (originally a 5,000+ acre plantation, the main house of which still stands at 4619 Walney Rd.), the John Hutchison Farm, and the Chantilly Plantation, after which Chantilly is named. Cornelia Lee Turberville Stuart, who was born at Leeton and was the daughter of George Richard Lee Turberville and Henrietta Lee, inherited a portion of Leeton in 1817 from her father. Stuart and her husband Charles Calvert Stuart, whom she had married in 1816, constructed the Chantilly Plantation and named it after the Westmoreland County plantation owned by her grandfather, Richard Henry Lee, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. During the Civil War, federal troops destroyed by fire the Chantilly Plantation manor house. One building remains, a stone house across Route 50 from the Greenbriar Shopping Center. While it is not clear what this stone house was used for, most historical evidence suggests it was probably a plantation overseer's quarters during the antebellum period, and a tavern or boarding house following the war. After the war, Cornelia Stuart, who had become deeply in debt, sold her 1,064-acre (431 ha) Chantilly estate. The advertisement for the sale referenced several "tenements", one of which was the Stone House.

Pick the Ideal Medical Assistant School Chantilly VA

Chantilly VA 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 objective is to begin a career in healthcare starting out as a medical assistant or to practice medical assistance as your lifetime career, you need to get the right info on available programs prior to making your decision. There are such a large number of schools providing training nowadays that you can make a selection based on your individual circumstances and personal preferences. And as we have discussed in this article, confirm that the program you pick is accredited by an acknowledged organization, such as the CAAHEP. This is especially critical if you anticipate taking the CMA certification examination. You came to this site initially because you had an interest in Medical Assistant School Cost. 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, be sure to ask the questions we have supplied so you can evaluate programs and make an informed decision. And by selecting the ideal program you can subsequently begin a rewarding career as a medical assistant in Chantilly VA.