We all know that education is important, but why specifically is it important to graduate from a medical office assistant program? If you are considering a career in medical assisting, here are five good reasons to make that investment in your future.
ONE
While it is possible to get work as a medical office assistant straight out of high-school, it’s very difficult. In fact, you would probably need to know the person offering the job, and if they did hire you, they would be doing you a big favor, since they would have to take the time to train you, and might even feel responsible for you to a certain extent.
TWO
Any on-the-job training you receive will be the bare minimum needed to function in your particular office, and will not qualify you to work elsewhere, since every office does things slightly differently. You’ll be in a very vulnerable position with poor job prospects into the future.
THREE
Without having graduated from an accredited medical assisting program, you are not eligible to apply to take the CMR certifying exam, which is an important standard of competency that many employers rely on to make hiring decisions. That means that even if you accumulate a broad range of skills through practical experience and self-study, you will not be able to prove that you have that skill and knowledge. You’ll have to rely on future employers just taking your word for it.
FOUR
Most medical office assistant programs require less than a year to complete for a full-time student. Having to invest so little time to gain so much makes the decision to enrol that much easier. There are now even programs that can be completed entirely online, so if you don’t have the money to enrol in a medical assistant program now, and you don’t want to go into debt, you can wait until you have enough tuition saved and then work to complete your program online on evenings and weekends without even having to commute to a campus.
FIVE
Without any kind of post-secondary training, you may suffer from a lack of self-confidence. How will you feel when you’re always the person with the fewest credentials in the room? Science has shown that a lack of self-confidence has a tremendous negative impact on a person’s ability to perform. This could create a negative spiral in which you perform less well because you think you’re not qualified, and then you see your lack of performance as proof that you’re not qualified, which causes your performance to suffer even more.
I hope that I’ve given you something to think about, and that you’ll make whatever choices are right for you. Whether or not you decide to pursue a career as a medical office assistant, or enrol in a medical assisting program, you should enjoy a life full of continuous learning. I’ll leave you with this quote: “Knowledge desires always increase; it is like fire which must first be kindled by some external agent, but which will afterwards propagate itself.” – Dr. Samuel Johnson