Medical Assistant Vocational Training Program Checklist

Before signing up for any vocational training/educational training program, whether on campus, or online, go through the following list...

1. 
   Get in touch with the provider of the vocational training program or online course and ask questions.


2. 
   Ask if the program is composed, managed, and taught by experienced (and certified) medical assistant professionals and instructors, who have actually worked in various disciplines of the medical assistant field.


3. 
   Review the program syllabus. The training should be comprehensive and cover all aspects of the medical assisting occupation.


4. 
   Find out the program's success and pass-rate: the percentage of students that graduate successfully from the program, sit for certification exams, and land jobs.


5. 
   Ask to see the program's refund policy. If they don't have one, it's best to walk!


6. 
   Choose only courses that meet your specific educational needs and goals, if a program is not flexible enough, or does not lead to the desired credentials, it's probably not for you.
   Contact leading professional associations and certification bodies and ask about their guidelines so you know whether you will be eligible to sit for their professional certification exam upon graduation.


7. 
   Check the school's recognitions and accreditation status. Also, if it is an online course, remember to check their reputation. A reputable school will always post all necessary info to their website. A great place to double check is the BBB Online website.


8. 
   See if the website has a public forum where you can read the comments. Don't rely solely on a website's published customer feedback language, since bad customer comments can be sorted out, and good ones faked.


9. 
   Examine the school's address. Is it a physical address, or does it exist only in cyberspace? With a physical address you will always know where to turn should you run into problems.
   Are you signing up for local services, or services provided from abroad? You might run into legal concerns but will have trouble enforcing them if the business is registered abroad, such as a BVI, a business registed in the British Virgin Islands.


10. 
    Ask around; seek advice from professionals already in the field, read the newspaper to find out current trends.


11. 
    Know what employers want and what the future outlook might be.
    Choose what's right for you, but be an informed consumer and choose wisely!

The Right Medical Assistant Diplomas and Certificates

WOW! Did you know...

If you follow the news you will learn that thousands of people have bought medical degrees from a bogus school in Liberia, Africa. Diploma mills make the unthinkable real! For a relatively small fee, and almost zero effort anybody can become a doctor, clergyman, or receive college level and advanced degrees. It just blows the mind: doctors, clergymen, police officers, teachers, federal employees, such as White House staffers, National Security Agency employees, FBI agents, and a senior State Department official, purchased bogus degrees to seek employment, promotions, higher positions, and better pay.

A Warning about Diploma Mills!!!

Definitions:
1. Accreditation mill. "Accreditation mill" means an
entity that is created to give the appearance that certain substandard schools or institutions of higher education are legitimately accredited organizations, that is not recognized by any authorized state, professional or national agency and that has few, if any, standards for quality.

2. Diploma mill. "Diploma mill" means an institution of higher
education operating without accreditation or supervision of a state or a
nationally recognized professional agency and granting diplomas that are either fraudulent or, because of lack of proper standards, worthless.

Online Students:
Online students must be careful and know what to look for when they seek education or training. The best programs are those that are accredited by an organization that is approved by the United States Department of Education, or an accreditation body approved and recognized by the department, such as CAHEP or ABHES. But there also are institutions, which are not (yet!) accredited, but working on it, since accreditation does NOT happen over night.

Institutions:
Insitutions that want to be licensed have to go through a rigorous review process by a commission of state elected officials who verify that the school meets a standard set of criteria; and many of them are planning, or are in the process of completing the much desired accreditation status. The institution of your choice should at least be licensed by their local Department of Education.

Bogus Certificates from diploma mills will not be worth the paper they are printed on. And any job placement assistance that might have been promised may consist of nothing but a copy of doctors listed in the local area's Yellow Pages (if that much!).

READ:
Extreme Caution Example!

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