It Takes Just a Few Minutes to Start Your Medical Assistant Career Below!
Concerns to Ask Medical Assistant Programs
Prior to evaluating your medical assistant school options, you must decide which type of credential you want 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 comparing medical assistant schools. As we discussed at the beginning of this article, some prospective students restrict their searches to the colleges that are nearest to Topeka KS with the lowest tuition. Although location and cost are significant qualifications, they are by no means the only ones. There are a number of additional considerations that you should examine when assessing schools. To help you with that process, below are a few questions that you should ask about all of the programs you are considering before making your ultimate selection.
Is the Medical Assistant Program Accredited? There are several great reasons to make sure that the program you enroll in is accredited. To begin with, accreditation helps guarantee that the training 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 accepted 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 organizations, you will not be eligible to take the CMA examination. Also, if you plan on obtaining a student loan or financial aid, they are frequently not available for non-accredited programs. And last, as previously mentioned, a number of prospective Topeka KS employers will not hire a medical assistant who has not graduated from an accredited school.
What is the Program's Passing Percentage? The majority of accredited medical assistant schools design their programs to ready students to pass one or more certification examinations. First, you need to find out which of the certifications the schools you are reviewing are preparing their students to take. If you are planning on taking the CMA for instance, then naturally you will want to select a program concentrating on that certification. Second, find out what the school's passage rate is for the certification and compare it to the national average. This is just one of the methods to help assess the quality of a college's program. Of course schools with lower rates are those that you will want to avoid.
Which Programs are Available? As we previously covered, there are basically two paths to obtaining medical assistant training. You can enroll in a certificate or diploma program and get entry level training in the fastest amount of time, from as little as 6 months, although the average is about 1 year. Or you can elect to earn an Associate Degree and receive a more comprehensive education that will take approximately 2 years to finish in a junior college or trade school. Whichever program you elect to pursue, verify that the colleges you are reviewing provide the kind of program you have an interest in.
Are Internships Available? Numerous medical assistant colleges sponsor internship programs with Topeka KS area healthcare providers. They are a great means to obtain hands-on clinical experience and training. They can also assist students establish relationships within the Topeka healthcare community. And as an additional benefit, they are an asset on resumes and for job interviews as well.
Is Job Placement Service Furnished? Landing that initial job may be a challenging undertaking for medical assistant school graduates unless they have some assistance from a job placement program. Confirm that the colleges you are interviewing provide job placement assistance in the Topeka KS area and ask what their placement rate is. If a program 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 broad network of employers to help place students in jobs.
How Large are the Classes? Class size might be an indicator of how much individual attention you will get throughout your training. Smaller 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 practical, try to monitor a couple of classes before choosing a college to experience what the teaching environment is like and how much attention the students receive.
Is Class Scheduling Accessible? If you plan on attending a medical assistant college while you continue to work full-time, it's important that the college you select offers classes that accommodate your schedule. If you have to attend classes at night or on weekends near Topeka KS, make certain that those times are offered. You might be able to fit your classes in easier with an online program, but you will also need to schedule any internships or practical training that may be required. Also, ask what the protocol is for making up classes that you may have to miss due to illness, work or family emergencies.