subject: Choosing Medical Assistant Schools [print this page] Medical assistants are health care workers in which job descriptions include administrative and clinical tasks. They usually help doctors with duties that may not be able to be done or completed by the doctor themselves, thus, playing a crucial role in making the health care system a better one. If you are interested in becoming a medical assistant, you will need to attend a medical assistant school
You can start out by looking for medical assistant schools that are accredited by either the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Programs (CAAHP) or Accrediting Bureau of Health Education Schools (ABHES) as such accreditations indicate that the programs offered meets the standards of quality education and sufficient classroom and laboratory time. Prospective employers would look for graduates from schools with these accreditations as they would have received training and supervision from experienced medical professionals.
Once you have your list of prospective schools, you can survey each school to see which might suit you better. Some factors that may affect your considerations are like the learning environment, available facilities, internship opportunities, location, and cost of program, travel and living. You can pay the schools a visit to see which might suit you better as well as consult their program counselors. Otherwise, you can always look at online reviews of the schools. You could also check out the available scholarships in case you might need financial assistance.
The programs from medical assistant schools would last between one to two years, whereby a one year program will be followed by a career diploma, while a two year program allows you to attain an associate degree. The courses in either program will prepare you for both administrative and clinical duties, but nevertheless, do decide on which will be more suitable for you. Deciding on a suitable one for yourself will help you throughout your course of study.
