Medical Assistants Stating their Name

Without a single doubt, it is good practice and courtesy for a medical assistant to state his, or her full name when greeting and checking in patients. Properly stating a name establishes identity and builds trust and rapport with patients. Simply stating a first name, while also wearing a name tag with the full name and credentials visibly printed is sufficient, and many medical offices now require it.

A typical greeting, when a patient is called in from the waiting area would be:"Hello, my name is Judy and I am your medical assistant." If a patient asks for a full name it would be improper to withhold this information and certainly will not go over well with the patient, nor the doctor under which the medical assistant works. Refusal implies lack of cooperation, empathy and courtesy and comes across as unprofessional in a health care setting.

Equally unprofessional is when the medical assistant habitually omits stating his/her name when addressing or calling a patient in. Unfortunately, this happens all too often, where the medical assistant routinely calls in patient after patient with a simple:"Hello, how are you, please follow me," and shuffles the patient along the corridor toward the scales to chart a weight. It would be so simple to properly greet a patient and giving a name so the patient can feel welcomed and keep track of who said, or did what for future reference.

Last, but not least, a medical assistant stating his/her name, title and credentials would prevent any misunderstandings as to whether the patient is dealing with a medical assistant, or nurse. There is a big difference between the two professions and their scope of practice and medical assistants should NEVER tolerate, imply, or leave any questions as to their identity, credentials and role. 

Make The Doctor See that YOU are the Best Candidate for The Job

Medical assistant, phlebotomy and laboratory technician, medical billing and coding certifications are reaching a new level of recognition with employers. While taking an allied health professional certification exam remains largely voluntary here in the USA, there is definitely a big trend among employers who specifically stipulate in their job ads that a medical office position which needs to be filled requires certified credentials.

Rarely do you see medical assistants being hired without experience and trained directly on the job anymore. Doctors expect more these days. These doctors and medical facilities clearly see the benefits of hiring someone with certified credentials; they want someone who has the knowledge necessary to work side by side with health and medical staff to run their medical office or health care facility efficiently and safely. Hiring competent and well trained medical assisting staff gives them a certain amount of confidence and assurance.

An example of such a job advertisement is this one randomly picked from the Indeed.com jobs bank today:

XYZ Physician Associates, LLC currently has a full time medical assistant position available working in a very fast paced environment. Requirements: Candidates must have six months to one year related experience in a medical office or similar clinical setting. Candidates must also be highly organized, pay attention to detail and be able to multi-task. Computer skills required. Phlebotomy experience preferred. Graduate of a Medical Assisting Program. Certification preferred.

Medical assistant training institutions and community colleges know this and are heeding the call by offering medical assistant training programs that lead to desired diplomas and qualifies their graduates to sit for recognized medical assistant certification exams. Funding and financial assistance for such training programs is readily available for those who qualify, much of it completely free and must never be paid back if you are, for example, presently unemployed and qualify for educational grants and employment rehab programs.

There are a number of different medical assistant and other allied health occupations certification sponsors, each having their own unique certification requirements. Their certification exams serve as a valid means of assessing an individual’s specific knowledge and competence in the medical assistant occupation. Passing any one of the various offered certification exams adds credibility and credentials to your name by having earned recognized designations in a specific discipline. Once you have earned your credentials they are portable to all places you may work now and in the future. This is important because in today’s economy people may have to move to a different location or across boarders to a different state to go where the jobs, or better jobs are.

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