Introduction
Career planning is just like any other planning because it requires a person to define his or her goals as well as setting objectives in the right manner. The goals developed must make the plan a reality and the dream must be well-identified. In career planning, self-assessment is very crucial because it helps one in knowing whether the dreams suit his or her nature as well as ambitions. For a medical administrative assistant, professional planning is also important. As such, there is a need to examine the responsibilities, tasks, growth trends, salaries, and lifelong learning opportunities in the medical administrative assistant career field.
Professional Plan
The medical administrative assistant is one of the careers in the medical field. This is the person with whom the patients first interact with first when they get to the hospital. They are very important because they give the first impression to the patients thus determining the relationship between the patients and the medical hospital. The duties of the medical administrative assistant depend on the size of the facility.
The main duties of a medical administrative assistant are to answer the phone calls and connect calls to the appropriate people. Besides, the medical administrative assistants always schedule appointments for sick people, which is a very important task, especially to the patients. They also involve themselves in canceling appointments, filing, and scanning of documents. Furthermore, they keep medical records and in some cases, they assist the doctors in treating patients by checking the blood pressure or temperature (AAMA, 2007).
A medical administrative assistant must grow towards having a very articulate voice to facilitate answering phone calls. He or she should be able to multi-task due to the many incoming calls as well as attending to the many patients who come for appointments. The medical administrative assistant must also grow towards being accurate because he or she will always be involved in entering data using the computer. Computer skills are necessary and basic knowledge in mathematics is an added advantage. Lastly, the medical administrative assistant must observe punctuality and be reliable to avoid inconveniences in the health facility (BLS, 2009).
The position of a medical administrative assistant is a good career since one has life long learning opportunities to perfect in the major areas or even climb up the ladder in the medical field. Overtime is little, especially where the responsibilities are well defined thus enough time to do further studies. From the pay scale survey, a medical administrative assistant earns around twelve dollars per hour.
Another career in the medical field in dentistry. A dentist is a person who is involved in treating and preventing diseases of the teeth and gums. Dentists may assist the patients in taking care of their teeth. They perform duties such as filling of the teeth cavities and removing decayed teeth. It is their responsibility to assist people on how to take care of their teeth so that they can maintain good health. A dentist should be dedicated to assisting the patients in taking care of their teeth, thereby preventing oral diseases, in effect improving oral health. They should be in a position to diagnose and treat the patients in the correct manner.
They have long learning opportunities that can help them specialize in particular areas such as oral and maxillofacial pathology, endodontics, or prosthodontics. They can also undertake further studies and obtain a DDS (Doctor of Dental Surgery) or DMD (Doctor of Dental Medicine). A survey conducted recently showed that a dentist earns $110,000 to $150,000 (BLS, 2009). Continued education is very essential for the dentists since most of their certificates are usually invalid in multiple states.
Surgery is another career in the medical field that involves treating patients through various methods of operation. Surgeons diagnose illnesses and give treatment to the patients. They examine the patients by performing various tests. They are also responsible for releasing the patients’ results following surgery. Surgeons must grow towards having excellent dexterity and carrying out high-risk tasks like managing death situations.
They should also grow towards being attentive because mistakes can be dangerous during operations and they should be ready to work under pressure. Life-long learning opportunities are available and very essential especially for surgeons who would like to specialize in particular areas. Additional skills and procedures obtained through these learning opportunities are very important and necessary in this career. Surgeons’ salary ranges from $300,000 to $400,000 depending on the area of specification (BLS, 2009).
I got interested in a medical career because I like helping patients and mind about their health. I admire the doctors because they save patients’ lives and chose the career of a medical administrative assistant because it will enable me to give hope to the patients. Working as an administrative assistant in a health facility will give me the chance to assist patients by way of assisting those who may not know how to read the doctor’s prescription.
I also intend to further my studies to perfect my skills. Moreover, once a person becomes able to do the job, he or she is qualified for promotion. One professional medical assistant stated that “it is a rewarding job that gives room for growth. If you decide to move up, you can go to school to become a nurse or a physician. Besides, you can move to the management or supervisory role” (Johnson &Takaheshi, 2004).
I will use graphical representations to depict salaries and life long learning opportunities for the medical administrative assistant, dentist, and a surgeon.
The expertise required for success in the medical administrative assistant career is a diploma in medical assistance as well as a certificate that will enable one to have good opportunities. Since a medical assistant is so much involved in administrative duties, he or she needs clerical skills. Medical terminologies should also be well understood by the assistant because they are confusing to many patients. Training for one year in the vocational schools may also be necessary to get a certificate.
Students should also be familiar with anatomy and biological terms. Techniques used in the laboratory are also necessary as well as clinical and first aid techniques. Practical training in computers, accounts, and insurance is also required for this career (AMT, 2007).
From an interview done with a professional medical administrative assistant he said that “for you to become a good medical administrative assistant, you must go to an accredited school and be careful that you have transferable credits. It’s important to become a certified medical assistant” (AMT, 2007). The medical assistant further notes that “being highly organized is very important as well as a good multi-tasker because it is crucial to the job. You must be a good listener, caring and empathetic” (AMT, 2007)
Conclusion
In case a student asks me how to approach a professional plan I would start by telling him or her to identify his dream as well as his career first. This is usually done through self-analysis. He should also be able to write things that he wants to achieve in his career and how to achieve them. I would help the student in writing clear-cut objectives, steps, and the strategies for developing a professional plan.
Medical administrative assistants undertake front office tasks and under certain circumstances, they are known as medical secretaries. Those who are very close to the patients must get a certificate in (BLS), that is, Basic Cardiac Life Support.
Reference List
AAMA (2007).The history of the AAMA. American association of Medical Assistantship. Web.
AMT (2007) Certification Requirements and Qualifications. American Medical Technologists. Web.
BLS (2009). Medical assistants. Bureau of Labor statistics. US department of labor. Web.
Johnson, J., & Takaheshi, M. (2004). Administrative medical assisting: Thomson/Delmar learning. New York.