Medical Assistant Accreditation Petersburg VA - Find Medical Assistant Programs Near You

How to Choose a Medical Assistant Training Program near Petersburg Virginia

Petersburg VA medical assistant checking pulse Now that you have made a decision to enter the rewarding field of healthcare and enroll in a medical assistant school near Petersburg VA, it’s time to choose a college that will provide the right training. But just how do you undertake comparing and evaluating colleges so that you ultimately enroll in the ideal one? A number of potential students start by researching the medical assistant schools that are closest to their homes and then lean toward those that have the cheapest tuition. While cost and location are very important, such things as accreditation, job assistance and internship programs are critical factors as well. You may decide to look into a few online medical assistant programs as an alternative also (more on that later). The bottom line is that before you select a program you must finish your due diligence and compare all relevant aspects of the colleges you are evaluating. And to assist you with that process, we have provided some questions that you should ask all of the schools on your “maybe” list. But prior to starting that review, let’s briefly talk about the responsibilities of a medical assistant and the type of credentials and training that are available.

The Responsibilities of a Medical Assistant

medical assistant with Petersburg VA nursing home patient The responsibilities of a medical assistant can be diverse as well as challenging. Primarily their function is ensure that the Petersburg VA clinics, hospitals and other medical care facilities where they work run 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 giving direct assistance to the physicians, nurses and other medical practitioners but may also be found performing duties in an office or at the front desk. Some of the many functions of a medical assistant include:

Filling out insurance forms and filing claims
Scheduling and confirming appointments
Taking vital signs and weighing patients
Taking blood and other fluid and tissue specimens
Preparing rooms and instruments for physicians
Giving general support during examinations and procedures

Although medical assistants may perform almost any duty they are authorized to under Virginia law, some opt to specialize in a particular area and obtain certification. Two of the options 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 Programs

Unlike many other healthcare professionals, medical assistants are not required to become licensed, certified, or to have a college degree. However, a number of Petersburg VA health care employers choose to hire graduates of an accredited medical assistant training program (we’ll cover accreditation later ) that have earned certification. There are basically 2 options provided for a formal education. The first and fastest way to becoming a medical assistant is to attain a diploma or a certificate. These programs typically take about a year to finish, some as little as six to nine months. They are designed to teach the fundamentals of medical assisting and prepare graduates for entry level positions. The second alternative is to obtain an Associate Degree, which are normally two year programs offered at junior and community colleges together with vocational and technical schools. They are more comprehensive in nature than the certificate or diploma programs, and include general education courses in addition to the medical assistant courses. They frequently have a clinical element requiring an internship with a local medical facility. Associate Degrees are routinely 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 Programs

woman attending medical assistant school online in Petersburg VA There are a number of accredited medical assistant programs offered online too. They are a good alternative for those who might not have time to attend classes on campus but could work them in if accessible at home. This is an especially good option for students who continue working full-time while earning their certificate or degree. As an additional benefit, some online schools have cheaper tuitions than the more traditional on campus options. Ancillary costs including those for textbooks, commuting and school supplies can be minimized as well. But keep in mind that all requirements for practical training or internships must still be satisfied, but they can often be carried out in Petersburg VA 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 training may be the right choice for you. With the online classes and the clinical training, everything necessary to attain proficiency to work as a medical assistant is furnished.

Certification Options for Medical Assistants

As earlier stated, becoming certified is not a legal requirement, but is a good choice for those who wish to advance their careers. It will not only help in securing employment after graduation, but it may also enhance preliminary salary negotiations. Many possible Petersburg VA medical employers just will not hire a medical assistant that has not received certification or accredited formal training. Among the most popular and arguably the most highly regarded certification is the Certified Medical Assistant (CMA) offered by the American Association of Medical Assistants (AAMA). In order to take the CMA exam, an applicant must be a graduate or will be graduating within thirty days from an accredited medical assistant program. Other certifications are offered as well, for instance the CMAA and the CCMA that we previously mentioned which are offered by the NHA.

What to Ask Medical Assistant Colleges

Questions to ask Petersburg VA medical assistant programs Before you can start evaluating your medical assistant school alternatives, you must determine which type of credential you would like to earn, and if you want to attend classes on-campus or online from home. After those choices have been made, you can start the procedure of evaluating medical assistant schools. As we covered at the beginning of this article, a number of potential students confine their searches to the colleges that are nearest to Petersburg VA with the most affordable tuition. Although cost and location are important qualifications, they are not the only ones. There are several additional factors that you must look at when researching programs. To help you with that task, following are a few questions that you need to ask about all of the schools you are considering before making your final choice.

Is the Medical Assistant Course Accredited? There are a number of good reasons to verify that the program you enroll in is accredited. To start with, accreditation helps guarantee that the instruction you receive will be both comprehensive and of the highest quality. Next, if you plan on becoming certified, you need to enroll in an accredited program. Two of the accepted 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 school is not accredited by one of these agencies, you will not be allowed to take the CMA exam. Also, if you intend on applying for a student loan or financial aid, they are often not available for non-accredited programs. And finally, as previously mentioned, a number of potential Petersburg VA employers will not hire a medical assistant who has not graduated from an accredited school.

What is the School’s Passing Percentage? Most of the accredited medical assistant colleges develop their programs to ready students to pass one or more certification examinations. To start with, you must determine which of the certifications the schools you are reviewing are preparing their students for. If you are planning on taking the CMA for instance, then obviously you will need to enroll in a program concentrating on that certification. Second, ask what the school’s passage rate is for the certification and compare it to the national average. Doing this is one of the means to help assess the quality of a school’s program. Obviously schools with lower rates are ones that you will prefer to eliminate.

Which Programs are Provided? As we previously covered, there are essentially two paths to obtaining medical assistant training. You can choose 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 about one year. Or you can decide to obtain an Associate Degree and get a broader education that will require approximately two years to complete in a community college or vocational school. Whatever program you decide to enroll in, confirm that the schools you are looking at offer the kind of program you have an interest in.

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

Is Job Placement Support Offered? Finding that initial job may be a daunting task for graduating medical assistant students unless they receive a little help from a job placement program. Confirm that the schools you are interviewing provide job placement assistance in the Petersburg VA area and find out 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 health care community. It also signifies that it has a large network of employers to help place students in positions.

How Big are the Classrooms? Class size can be an indicator of how much personal instruction you will receive throughout your training. Small classes and classes with a higher teacher to student ratio are more likely to provide greater access to teachers and one-on-one interaction. If convenient, try to monitor a couple of classes before enrolling in a program to see what the teaching atmosphere is like and how much attention the students receive.

Is Class Scheduling Accommodating? If you plan on attending a medical assistant college while you continue to work on a full time basis, it’s important that the college you select offers classes that fit your schedule. If you have to go to classes in the evenings or on weekends near Petersburg VA, verify that those times are offered. You may be able to fit your classes in more easily with an online program, but you will still need to schedule all clinical training or internships that will be required. Additionally, 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 Petersburg Virginia?

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

Petersburg, Virginia

Petersburg is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 32,420.[3] The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines Petersburg (along with the city of Colonial Heights) with Dinwiddie County for statistical purposes. It is located on the Appomattox River (a tributary of the longer larger James River flowing east to meet the southern mouth of the Chesapeake Bay at the Hampton Roads harbor and the Atlantic Ocean). The city is just 21 miles (34 km) south of the historic commonwealth (state) capital city of Richmond. The city's unique industrial past and its location as a transportation hub combined to create wealth for Virginia and the Middle Atlantic and Upper South regions of the nation.

Early in the colonial era of the 18th century, Petersburg was the final destination on the Upper Appomattox Canal Navigation System because of its location on the Appomattox River with its connection to the James River to the east at the Atlantic Seaboard fall line (the head of navigation of rivers on the U.S. East Coast) and the tying in with the James River shipping traffic was a strategic place for transportation and commercial activities. It connected commerce as far inland as Farmville, Virginia at the foothills of the Blue Ridge and the Appalachian Mountains chain, to shipping further east into the Chesapeake Bay and North Atlantic Ocean.[4] For similar reasons, 17th century era Fort Henry was built at the order of the Virginia House of Burgesses at Petersburg in 1645 to protect the river traffic.

As railroads were being constructed and extended in the state in the 1830s and 1840s, Petersburg was developed as a major transfer point for both north-south and east-west competitors. The Petersburg Railroad, authorized in 1830, three years after the first American railway, the B.& O. in Baltimore, by the state legislstures of both Virginia and North Carolina to the south, which opened in 1833. It was another one of the earliest predecessors of the modern-day CSX Transportation system. Several of the earliest predecessors of the area's other major Class 1 railroad, the Norfolk Southern, also met at Petersburg. Access to railroads stimulated industry in the city, which was already established because of the water power available at the fall line, as the river plunged from the Piedmont level to lower tidewater lands.

Enroll in the Best Medical Assistant School Petersburg VA

Petersburg VA medical assistant student It’s imperative to start your new career on the right foot by choosing a medical assistant school that will provide the proper training. Whether you’re planning to begin a career in medical 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 so many schools offering training these days that you can make a decision based upon your personal preferences and individual circumstances. And as we have covered in this article, confirm that the program you select is accredited by an acknowledged agency, for example 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 Accreditation. But irrespective of the type of credential that you plan to earn or if you have made a decision to attend either an online or on-campus school, don’t forget to ask the questions we have supplied in order to evaluate programs and make an informed decision. And by picking the best program you can subsequently begin a rewarding career as a medical assistant in Petersburg VA.