Medical Assistants Not Finding a Job

In a discussion within our medical assistant web forum medical assistants are trying to put her finger on what is happening in the medical assistant industry, and why so many medical assistant school graduates have such a hard time landing a job. One participant's view in this discussion about what might be wrong with this picture is an eye opener.

Lynn says:"I think this wariness in hiring a medical assistant comes from something we
don't want to admit-there are a lot of bad medical assistants out there. There
are too many schools and programs and many of them are lousy. The word gets
around to hiring personnel what those schools are and they won't trust a student
that went there. All they need to hear is one story of a student doing an
externship who didn't know how to PUT ON the blood pressure cuff properly and
that will make them leery. Who can blame them? How can anyone go through a
medical program for up to 9 months and get away with not knowing how to take a
blood pressure reading? But it happens. And the good students from these awful
schools get pushed in the background."

Lynn further writes: "This is NOT a field that is going to be gathering more respect as time goes by. There are too many programs popping up and that isn't a good sign. These are the schools that advertise on afternoon TV, during those (let's face it) trashy courtroom programs and they are trying to appeal to someone sitting around watching TV and eating out of a bag of chips (an actual commercial for medical assisting a few years ago).The only thing that is going to grow is this overabundance of MA programs and the large amount of ex-students looking for work who owe on loans. "


The way to remedy this situation is that future medical assistants make double sure they get into the right programs. For those who already are in the profession, I'd suggest certification to show the employer they are competent and serious about their career.

The resume of a medical assistant that is certified stands out from the rest. With so many medical assistants seeking jobs, they have do everything they can to get an edge over other applicants who also are looking.

I have always spoken out, and highly recommended that medical assistant students sign up only with schools that are ABHES and CAAHEP accredited, because only graduates of programs that are accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP) or the Accrediting Bureau of Health Education Schools (ABHES) are eligible to take medical assistant certification/registration exams.

One program that's offered online, and ranks high in the Google Search Engine is St. Augustine School of Medical Assistants which is a total waste of money. Their text on the website looks good, and I am sure people are tempted to sign up but I have always warned of them... if you know what I mean.


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CHEA has issued the following warning:
http://www.chea.org/pdf/fact_sheet_6_diploma_mills.pdf

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Office of Occupational gives these statistics:
Medical Assistant/Healthcare Jobs

CareerBuilder.com lists the following Medical Assistant jobs:
Medical Assistant/Healthcare Jobs

Is the Medical Assistant Career Still Hot?

Is the medical assistant career still hot? You bet it is!!!

The U.S. Census Bureau emphasizes that the current market trends along with cost control in the health care industry are making the medical assisting and related occupations some of the hottest careers in today's job market. Over 2 million people are employed as allied health professionals in the United States. With vocational training so readily available, salaries climbing (yes, they are!), and working conditions improving the demand for medical assistants is on the rise. It is a good time to enter into this exciting career in all disciplines (clinical and administrative areas).


What Are the Reasons For this High Demand For Medical Assistants?Medical care, therapeutic, and pharmaceutical services play an important role in our nation's economy and welfare. Driven by the ever increasing need for health care services opportunities in health care related disciplines abound wherever there are people.


Are There Opportunities for Men and Women Alike?
There is plenty of room for men and women in health and medical service related careers from major cities to rural areas, as long as they have at least a high school diploma and the drive to achieve their dreams -- and medical office managers and recruiters are ready to hire them. Employment is not limited by location, gender, race, religion, or even disability. Recruiters and employers everywhere are in constant need for more, and better qualified staff to serve patients and clients; this includes medical assistants, whose job it is to make sure that health care providers can fully focus their time on their work directly with patients.


What Do the Statistics Show?Medical assisting is an interesting and rewarding occupation. About 6 out of 10 worked in offices of physicians; about 14 percent worked in public and private hospitals, including inpatient and outpatient facilities; and 11 percent worked in offices of other health practitioners, such as chiropractors, optometrists, and podiatrists. The rest worked mostly in outpatient care centers, public and private educational services, other ambulatory health care services, State and local government agencies, employment services, medical and diagnostic laboratories, and nursing care facilities. Medical assisting is projected to be one of the fastest growing occupations over the 2004-14 period.


What About Late Bloomers?
A vast number of today's medical assistants joining the workforce are older and more career minded than those of even a few years ago. Their average age is between 25-38 years and up. Some medical assistant students are as old as in their late forties and fifties and are doing very well.

These so called late bloomers have very specific career goals and they see job-related training or college as a way to fulfill them no matter what the real and imagined obstacles might be. When it comes to medical assistants their age plays no role at all.

To learn more about educational requirements, and practical tips for handling emergencies, and proper documentation visit Medical Assistant Net on the Web. There is lots of additional "scope of practice for medical assistants" info at that web site.

I Feel Like I Wasted my Time

Most Medical Assistant Program Graduates Get Frustrated When They Do Not Find a Job Right Away...

One frustrated Medical Assistant student let off some steam and posted on our Medical Assistant Web Forum that she is tired of seeing medical assistants being hired right off the street, while she cannot land a job anywhere with her training. She says: "I feel like I wasted my time... how 'bout you?"

------------------ The Project:
With my curiosity sparked, I did go ahead and spent a good amount of time on looking into whether "MAs are getting hired right off the street". Since I found the statement a little bit off, I REALLY wanted to know whether that was indeed so. I know that if I WERE A DOCTOR, I would not want to jeopardize my reputation, and licence, nor quality of services by hiring someone off the street to take care of my patients (and business).

All right, I admit, that a little under three hours of research will NOT EVEN CLOSELY speak for every doctor in the entire United States, however, based on what I have seen I dare to refute the assertion that properly educated and trained medical assistants have a huge disadvantage over their untrained counter parts walking the streets.

My simple research focused on the following three main areas:

1.) Job offers on the Internet (Monster & CareerBuilder)
2.) Job offers in the local newspaper (Last week Saturday & Sunday, and Wednesday)
3.) And a quick trip to FutureWorks Career Center


------------------ The Result:

I have seen thousands of Medical Assistant job offers in all disciplines posted for places in every state.

Rarely did they NOT ask for at least the medical assistant diploma, and experience, but most were looking for certified medical assistant.

One ad that remotely can be understood as mildly indicating that there is a chance to get the job without specific qualification, but offering a chance to may be work your way up eventually as a medical assistant was worded as follows:

Front Desk Staff Person
Company: Ozog Eye Care
Description: Front Desk Staff Person

Front desk person needed for fast paced Ophthalmic practice. Must be dependable, detail oriented, able to multi-task and organized. Patience and compassion in a patient setting required. Answering of multi-phone lines, scheduling, chart preparation, knowledge and entry of patient insurance billing information. F/T, M-F, Benefits available. Salary DOE. Mail resume to:1417 9th St South #100Great Falls, MT 59405Source - Great Falls Tribune - Great Falls, MT


------------------ My Comments:
I was very pleased to find that MANY of the advertised jobs NOW OFFER benefit and bonus packages to the medical assistants! Although the hourly wages still range close to what they were 5-7 years ago, benefits and bonuses were HARDLY EVER offered to medical assistants back then.

So, I was really glad to see what I hope is the beginning of a new trend and employer's realization of the value of their medical assistant staff. If a medical assistant can earn $12 PLUS benefits, that's a big step up.

All in all, I did not find any evidence that recruiters, and employers seek to hire medical assistants off the street to train them themselves. As a matter of fact, I believe the trend is indeed the exact opposite.

The U.S. Department of Labor has predicted year after year and continues to do so:
Employment in health care will continue to grow for several reasons. The number of people in older age groups, with much greater than average health care needs, will grow faster than the total population between 2004 and 2014; as a result, the demand for health care will increase.As the largest industry in 2004, health care provided 13.5 million jobs—13.1 million jobs for wage and salary workers and about 411,000 jobs for the self-employed.

8 out of 20 occupations projected to grow the fastest are in health care.

More new wage and salary jobs—about 19 percent, or 3.6 million—created between 2004 and 2014 will be in health care than in any other industry.


------------------ Sources & References:

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Office of Occupational Statistics
Medical Assistant/Healthcare Jobs

CareerBuilder.com
Medical Assistant/Healthcare Jobs