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Points to Ask Medical Assistant Schools
Prior to examining your medical assistant school alternatives, you have to choose which type of credential you would like to attain, and if you want to attend classes on campus or online from home. After those selections have been made, you can start the process of evaluating medical assistant schools. As we covered at the beginning of this article, some potential students limit their searches to the colleges that are nearest to Walnut Creek CA with the cheapest tuition. Although location and cost are important qualifiers, they are by no means the only ones. There are a number of additional issues that you should examine when assessing schools. To assist you with that process, below are some questions that you need to ask about each of the programs you are thinking about before making your final selection.
Is the Medical Assistant Course Accredited? There are a number of good reasons to make sure that the program you select is accredited. First, accreditation helps guarantee that the training you receive will be both comprehensive and of the highest quality. Next, if you intend to become certified, you need to enroll in 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 either of these agencies, you will not be allowed to take the CMA examination. Also, if you anticipate applying for a student loan or financial assistance, they are frequently not available for non-accredited programs. And finally, as previously mentioned, a number of potential Walnut Creek CA employers will not hire a medical assistant who has not graduated from an accredited program.
What is the Program's Passing Percentage? Most of the accredited medical assistant schools create their programs to prepare students to pass one or more certification exams. To start with, you must learn which of the certifications the programs you are considering are preparing their students for. If you are interested in taking the CMA for instance, then of course you will want to select a program focused on that certification. Next, find out what the program's passage rate is for the certification and compare it to the national average. Doing this is just one of the means to help evaluate the quality of a school's program. Obviously schools with low rates are those that you will prefer to eliminate.
Which Credentials are Provided? As we covered earlier, there are basically two routes to acquiring medical assistant training. You can select a certificate or diploma program and obtain entry level training in the shortest amount of time, starting at just 6 months, although the average is about one year. Or you can opt to obtain an Associate Degree and get a broader education that will require approximately two years to finish in a junior college or vocational school. Whichever program you elect to pursue, make certain that the schools you are looking at offer the type of program you have an interest in.
Are Internships Provided? Numerous medical assistant colleges offer internship programs with Walnut Creek CA area medical providers. They are an excellent means to get hands-on practical experience and training. They can also help students build relationships within the Walnut Creek medical community. And as an additional perk, they are an advantage on resumes and for job interviews as well.
Is Job Placement Support Offered? Landing that first job may be a difficult undertaking for medical assistant school graduates unless they receive a little help from a job placement program. Verify that the schools you are researching offer job placement assistance in the Walnut Creek CA area and ask what their placement rate is. If a college has a high job placement rate for its graduates, it indicates that it has a good reputation within the health care 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 might be an indicator of how much personal attention you will get during your training. Smaller classes and classes with a higher teacher to student ratio are more likely to provide increased access to instructors and one-on-one interaction. If practical, try to monitor a couple of classes before choosing a program to observe 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 school while you continue to work on a full time basis, it's important that the school you select provides classes that accommodate your schedule. If you have to attend classes in the evenings or on weekends near Walnut Creek CA, make certain that those times are available. You might be able to fit your classes in more conveniently with an online school, but you will also need to schedule any clinical training or internships that may be required. Additionally, find out what the protocol is for making up classes that you might have to miss because of illness, work or family emergencies.