Certified Medical Assistant Germantown TN - Find Medical Assistant Programs Near You

How to Find the Right Medical Assistant Training School near Germantown Tennessee

Germantown TN medical assistant checking pulse Now that you have made a decision to become a part of the rewarding profession of health care and enroll in a medical assistant school near Germantown TN, it’s time to select a college that will provide the right training. But just how do you approach comparing and evaluating schools so that you ultimately enroll in the best one? A number of prospective students start by researching the medical assistant schools that are closest to their homes and then gravitate toward those that have the most affordable tuition. While location and cost are very important, such things as accreditation, job assistance and internship programs are critical issues as well. You may decide to research several online medical assistant programs as an alternative as well (more on that later). The bottom line is that prior to selecting a program you must complete your due diligence and compare all important qualifications of the schools you are assessing. And to help you with that process, we have furnished several questions that you should ask each of the colleges on your “maybe” list. But prior to starting that review, let’s briefly talk about the function of a medical assistant and the type of training and credentials that are available.

The Duties of Medical Assistants

medical assistant with Germantown TN nursing home patient The role of a medical assistant can be diverse as well as challenging. Basically their duty is to make sure that the Germantown TN clinics, hospitals and other healthcare institutions where they work run efficiently. Depending on the type or size of facility, they may be more of an administrative assistant, a clinical assistant, or in smaller practices both. They are responsible for providing direct assistance to the physicians, nurses and other health practitioners but may also be found performing duties in an office or at the front desk. A few of the many responsibilities of a medical assistant include:

Filling out insurance forms and submitting claims
Setting and confirming appointments
Weighing and taking patients vital signs
Collecting blood and other tissue and fluid samples
Preparing instruments and rooms for doctors
Supplying general support during exams and procedures

Although medical assistants can carry out almost any duty they are qualified to under Tennessee law, some prefer to specialize in a specific area and earn certification. Two of the choices offered are for the Certified Clinical Medical Assistant (CCMA) and the Certified Medical Administrative Assistant (CMAA) made available by the National Healthcareer Association (NHA).

Medical Assistant Training

In contrast to many other medical professionals, medical assistants are not required to become licensed, certified, or to earn a college degree. However, many Germantown TN health care employers prefer to hire graduates of an accredited medical assistant training program (more on accreditation later ) that are certified. There are generally 2 options provided for a formal education. The first and shortest way to becoming a medical assistant is to obtain a certificate or diploma. These programs typically take about 1 year to finish, a few as little as 6 to 9 months. They are created to teach the basics of medical assisting and ready graduates for entry level positions. The second alternative is to acquire an Associate Degree, which are typically 2 year programs available at junior and community colleges as well as vocational and technical schools. They are more expansive in design than the certificate or diploma programs, and include general education courses in addition to the medical assistant training. They frequently have a practical element requiring an internship with a local healthcare practice. Associate Degrees are commonly a pre-requisite for and credits can be transferred to a four year Bachelor’s Degree in Medical Assistant Studies or a related field.

Online Medical Assistant Colleges

woman attending medical assistant school online in Germantown TN There are numerous accredited medical assistant programs offered online also. They are an excellent alternative for students who may not have the time to go to classes on campus but could fit them in if attended at home. This is an especially good solution for students who continue working full time while earning their certificate or degree. As an additional benefit, a number of online programs have cheaper tuitions than the more traditional on-campus options. Ancillary costs such as for commuting, textbooks and school supplies can be lessened also. But remember that any requirements for clinical training or internships must still be satisfied, but they can typically be carried out in Germantown TN area medical facilities. If you can learn without the formal structure of going to supervised classes on-campus, then this approach to getting your education may be the best option for you. With the online classes and the practical training, everything needed to attain proficiency to work as a medical assistant is provided.

Certification Options for Medical Assistants

As previously mentioned, certification is not a legal requirement, but is an excellent choice for graduates who wish to boost their careers. It will not only help in securing employment after graduation, but it may also help with preliminary salary negotiations. Many potential Germantown TN medical employers simply will not hire a medical assistant that has not obtained accredited formal training or certification. Among the most popular and possibly the most respected certification is the Certified Medical Assistant (CMA) provided by the American Association of Medical Assistants (AAMA). In order to sit for the CMA examination, an applicant must have graduated or will graduate within 30 days from an accredited medical assistant program. Other certifications are available also, such as the CCMA and the CMAA that we discussed earlier which are provided by the NHA.

Questions to Ask Medical Assistant Schools

Questions to ask Germantown TN medical assistant programs Before you can start evaluating your medical assistant school alternatives, you need to decide which kind of credential you would like to earn, and if you would prefer attending classes on campus or online from home. Once those choices have been made, you can begin the procedure of evaluating medical assistant schools. As we covered at the beginning of this article, many students restrict their searches to the schools that are closest to Germantown TN with the cheapest tuition. Although cost and location are significant qualifications, they are by no means the only ones. There are several additional considerations that you must explore when researching schools. To assist you with that task, below are some questions that you need to ask about all of the programs you are thinking about before making your final choice.

Is the Medical Assistant Program Accredited? There are several good reasons to verify that the school you choose is accredited. To begin with, accreditation helps ensure that the education you receive will be both extensive and of the highest quality. Next, if you plan on becoming certified, you must complete an accredited program. Two of the accepted agencies for accreditation are the Accrediting Bureau of Health Education Schools (ABHES) and the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP). If your school is not accredited by either of these agencies, you will not be qualified to take the CMA examination. Additionally, if you anticipate obtaining a student loan or financial aid, they are normally not offered for non-accredited programs. And last, as mentioned previously, many prospective Germantown TN employers will not hire a medical assistant who has not graduated from an accredited college.

What is the School’s Passage Rate? Most of the accredited medical assistant colleges create their programs to prep students to pass one or more certification exams. To start with, you need to learn which of the certifications the schools you are looking at are preparing their students to take. If you are planning on taking the CMA for example, then obviously you will need to choose a program focused on that certification. Second, find out what the school’s passage rate is for the certification and compare it to the national average. Doing this is one of the methods to help assess the quality of a school’s program. Naturally schools with low rates are ones that you will prefer to eliminate.

Which Credentials are Provided? As we covered earlier, there are generally two routes to getting medical assistant training. You can select a diploma or certificate program and get entry level training in the shortest amount of time, starting at just 6 months, however the average is about 1 year. Or you can decide to earn an Associate Degree and get a more comprehensive education that will require about two years to accomplish in a community college or trade school. Whichever program you decide to enroll in, verify that the colleges you are looking at provide the type of program you have an interest in.

Are Internships Available? A large number of medical assistant schools offer internship programs with Germantown TN area medical care providers. They are an excellent means to receive hands-on clinical experience and training. They can also help students build relationships within the Germantown health care community. And as an added benefit, they are an advantage on resumes and for job interviews as well.

Is Job Placement Assistance Supplied? Landing that first job may be a difficult task for graduating medical assistant students unless they have a little help from a job placement program. Verify that the colleges you are interviewing offer job placement assistance in the Germantown TN area and ask what their placement rate is. If a program has a high job placement rate for its students, it affirms that it has an excellent reputation within the health care community. It also signifies that it has a broad network of contacts to help place students in jobs.

How Big are the Classes? Class size might be an indication of how much personal instruction you will receive during your training. Small classes and classes with a higher teacher to student ratio are more likely to provide greater access to teachers and face to face interaction. If convenient, try to monitor a couple of classes before enrolling in a program to observe what the teaching environment is like and just how much attention the students receive.

Is Class Scheduling Accessible? If you plan on attending a medical assistant school while you continue to work full time, it’s important that the school you enroll in offers classes that accommodate your schedule. If you have to attend classes at night or on weekends near Germantown TN, make sure that those times are offered. You might be able to fit your classes in more easily with an online school, but you will still have to schedule any internships or practical training that may be required. Additionally, find out what the policy is for making up classes that you might have to miss due to work, illness or family emergencies.

Enrolling in a Medical Assistant Program near Germantown Tennessee?

If you are considering attending a medical assistant school in the Germantown TN area, following is some background information that may be both interesting and useful regarding your future campus location.

Germantown, Tennessee

Germantown is a suburb of Memphis, bordering it to the east-southeast. Germantown's economy is dominated by the retail and commercial service sectors; there is no heavy industry in Germantown. In the city center is the "Old Germantown" neighborhood, anchored by a railroad depot (a 1948 reproduction of the 1868 original) and railroad tracks that recall the community's earliest days of development as an outpost along the Memphis and Charleston Railroad.

The city hosts many horse shows and competitions annually, most notably the Germantown Charity Horse Show in June. Other major annual events include the Germantown Festival, an arts and crafts fair, in early September.

Germantown is one of a few cities in the nation possessing a triple-A bond rating from both Moody's and Standard & Poor's.[5] It has the lowest crime rate for any city its size in the State of Tennessee and the police and fire departments have average emergency response time of five minutes.[citation needed] The parks and recreation department is nationally accredited. The Arbor Day Foundation has designated Germantown a "Tree City USA" for 23 consecutive years.[6]

Choose the Ideal Medical Assistant Training Program Germantown TN

Germantown TN medical assistant student It’s imperative to start your new career on the right foot by picking a medical assistant program that will provide the proper training. Whether you’re goal is to launch a career in medical care starting out as a medical assistant or to pursue medical assistance as your life long career, you need to get the appropriate information on available programs before making your selection. There are so many colleges providing training nowadays that you can make a decision based upon your personal preferences and individual circumstances. And as we have addressed in this article, make sure that the program you select is accredited by an acknowledged organization, for example the CAAHEP. This is particularly important if you plan on taking the CMA certification exam. You came to this site initially because you had an interest in Certified Medical Assistant. But irrespective of the type of credential that you plan to earn or if you have made a decision to attend either an on-campus or online school, make sure to ask the questions we have supplied in order to compare programs and make an informed decision. And by choosing the best program you can subsequently start a gratifying career as a medical assistant in Germantown TN.