Debates About Better Medical Assistant Training Avenues Continue to Flare

Chicopee -- Free-Press-Release.com-- Mar 23, 2011 -- When it comes to exploring better training avenues for future medical assistants you want to hear opinions from actual medical assistants who have already undergone the training process. Therefore your best bet is to log on to an active medical assistant community chat board and message forum where "real" medical assistants focus on career development and vocational training issues and sound off among themselves.

There you will realize that discussions about medical assistant training, vocational and technical schools and college programs often quickly take center stage. All one needs to do is to post: "I want to become a medical assistant and am looking at a couple different medical assistant programs in my area. I am particularly interested in school X and school Y, which one is better?" and immediately the discussion gets rolling and many chime in with their own opinions, advice and the occasional horror story here and there.

Medical assistant training programs are widely available. They can vary significantly in outcome, cost and length depending on the type of program. Traditionally there are two types:

- two years at a junior, or community college leading to an Applied Associates (A.A.S.) Degree in Medical Assisting
- or a 9-12 month (accelerated) medical assistant vocational program leading to a Medical Assistant Diploma

Some medical assistant students strongly believe that an education and degree from a community, or junior college is better than learning a trade from a vocational training institution because they feel it provides broad and organized knowledge according to a formal academic curriculum which is not typical for an accelerated career training program from a vocational technical school that teaches only job specific essential knowledge and skills. Other medical assistant students strongly feel that trade schools and vocational training institutions are the better choice because they limit their class modules to specific job-related curricula and knowledge only, along with a job focused externship, to get their students into the workforce in less time than a college.

One such conversation took place on the well known medical assistant forum at the Medical Assistant Net website, where a student medical assistant from a community college (name is not specified) said: “I am considered to be more educated since I had to take many extra classes and my credits are transferable to other colleges." Another medical assistant student posted just the opposite and contradictory response, which was: “I went to a local technical school to check out their medical assistant program. I felt like I was being sold a dream instead of an education." Another replied: "Ok, I went to school Y also and the instructors were excellent. I aced all my classes and am currently on my externship in a busy Internist office. I've been told by the office manager that they will hire me upon graduation and will help me to get my certification, yay!!!" (Source: Medical Assistant Message Board | Medical Assistant Forum).

The main question that arises from these postings revolves around which type of vocational training or college program will provide aspiring medical assistant students with the best education, skill training and opportunities for their money to become gainfully employed in their chosen field quickly and in a meaningful manner? After all, job offers for medical assistants abound and doctors are hiring, yet, on the same forums you will encounter countless discussion threads about medical assistant school graduates not being able to find a job.

The answer may vary from person to person depending upon their individual perception and goals. Some may think that by joining a community college and striving for an academic degree it increases their knowledge and broadens their chances because of the extensive syllabus, hence, they envision increasing job opportunities and broader career paths, others say, that in their opinion most doctors do not care whether a medical assistant has achieved an Associate's Degree in Medical Assisting, all they want to know is whether the applicant will fit seamlessly into their busy medical office and whether he, or she can do the job.

One thing is clear, though, while the medical assisting profession remains largely unregulated in almost all US states and licensing, such as the state mandated licensing requirements and process for Registered Nurses (RN), and Certified Nurse Assistants (CNA), is not required to practice as a medical assistant, it is employers and recruiters who set their own standards in this highly competitive field.

Most doctors, when there is a need to fill an open medical assistant position, do not state that they are looking for someone with an academic degree; what they do state is that they require specific medical assistant certifications and at least 1-2 years of experience in the field; which neither school, whether technical schools, nor colleges can provide. In the end, medical assistant school graduates wind up on forums sharing their frustrations, and sounding off about this precarious catch-22: no job, no experience, no matter how well they did in their chosen medical assistant school.

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