An externship is a common component of the curriculum in medical assistant programs. Students pursuing medical assistant externships work with seasoned professionals in real-world medical settings, receiving hands-on training.
A medical assistant is a multi-talented healthcare professional who takes on a variety of administrative and clinical responsibilities in doctor’s offices, hospitals, clinics, and other medical facilities. These duties can include checking patient vital signs, performing lab tests, transcribing patient information, and scheduling new appointments.
If you want to start a career as a medical assistant, it’s possible to get the training you need from an institution like PCI Health Training Center in as little as 9 months.
Some of the knowledge that medical assistants need can be learned in an on-campus or hybrid setting. This includes topics like pharmacology, electronic health records, and various front office skills.
Other aspects of medical assistant training require hands-on instruction and practice. However, aspiring medical assistants learn to perform parts of the job like phlebotomy, autoclaving, microscopy, and urinalysis in an on-campus lab. To cap off their training, they’ll need to put their new skills to the test in a real-world environment. This is where an externship comes in.
An externship allows medical assisting students to gain practical experience working with actual patients in a real medical facility under the supervision of an experienced staff member.
During an externship, students collaborate with medical professionals and observe how they handle clinical and administrative responsibilities. To get the most out of their externship experience, students should make sure to ask their supervisors questions and make a proactive effort to learn as much as possible.
By putting theory into practice and allowing students to utilize their new skills working with real patients and medical professionals, just the way they will in their future careers. Externships assess what students have learned and allow them to gain confidence before entering the job market.
Medical assisting can be a good career choice for anyone who enjoys science, wants a job that gives them the satisfaction of helping others, and doesn’t want to delay the start of their career with a lengthy education process. The medical assistant program has a low barrier to entry and a strong employment outlook. Working as a medical assistant also has the benefit of allowing you to gain experience for more advanced roles in the health care industry.
PCI Health Training Center offers a hybrid medical assisting program that allows students to help get the skills they need for this career path while still keeping up with existing work or family responsibilities. Students are only required to be on campus to attend twice weekly, while completing the rest of their coursework online. The program wraps up with a 200-hour externship where students utilize their skills working alongside professionals at a local partner medical facility. Enroll today or contact us with questions.
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