Medical Assisting can be a rewarding career path on its own. Medical assistants typically have frequent contact with patients – often acting as the intermediary between patients and providers. Not only that, they are among the most highly cross-trained healthcare workers around…able to perform at least part of most healthcare support positions if not all.
It’s precisely that wide-ranging experience that makes a medical assistant so valuable, and easily adaptable to a number of healthcare jobs. In fact, because a Medical Assisting diploma typically requires such a relatively short training period, it affords candidates a great way to be introduced to a range of medical duties and careers.
Once someone has worked as a medical assistant, they will have decided if the medical field is right for them, and may have a better idea where they ultimately will fit best into healthcare. Their options are plenty.
Other Health Careers Available to Medical Assistants
A medical assistant who is certified and has a good amount of experience might want to become a medical assisting instructor and help others gain the same perspective. Since they handle both clinical and administrative duties as a medical assistant, they could gain on-the-job training in billing and coding and move into that side of healthcare on a full-time basis. Or, they could go back to school to prepare for a career in nursing, physician assisting or as a nurse practitioner.
Already having had some hands-on healthcare experience and being familiar with medical terminology and procedures, many medical assistants find the added classwork less challenging. It really depends on how much time they want to invest in additional schooling.
Even those who don’t wish to go back to school have a number of career-change options. One blog suggests trained medical assistants can creatively apply their talents as medical illustrators, writers, advisors, translators, and interpreters, among other options.
Bottom line: a good medical assistant can pretty much become whatever he or she wants to be.
Becoming a Medical Assistant
Almost every Fortis College and Institute campus (32) offers a Medical Assisting program. It’s a good way to prepare for a rewarding career, assisting both patients and care-givers. It’s also a great learning ground for students and others who wish to see where they ultimately want to work in healthcare.
If either of those options applies to you, check out the programs offered by Fortis. Who knows where it might lead?
