As the healthcare industry continues to grow, creating a growing demand for medical assistants, here is a roundup of headlines from the medical industry over the past month.
Medical field needs workers with less training
It’s not just doctors and nurses with expensive degrees that are needed in the medical field.
“Healthcare jobs that require less than a bachelor’s degree have seen some of the strongest growth since 2000 … a new report by the Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program indicates,” reported Owen Covington with the Triad Business Journal. “The report breaks out pay and education data for the nation’s 100 largest metro areas. The Brookings study looked at 10 health-care occupations where workers are likely to have lower education levels, tracking the numbers from 2000 through the 2009-11 range.
It included positions such as registered nurses, personal-care aides, dental and medical assistants, clinical laboratory technologists and technicians, and emergency medical technicians and paramedics.”
The demand for medical field professions also includes medical assistants. Unlike traditional nurses, nursing assistants have less training and can enter the career field quicker. The demand is especially large given the recent growth of the healthcare industry.
“Today’s health care industry is facing significant challenges, including expanded access, an aging population, the need for cost reduction and most importantly, a call for improved health outcomes,” said Martha Ross, a fellow with the program and co-author of the report.
Medical worker shortage goes beyond doctors
A need to hire more doctors has caused some states to fast-track doctor training.
“Some doctors in the state of California will soon be able to practice after three years of medical school instead of the traditional four,” NPR recently reported. “The American Medical Association is providing seed money for the effort in the form of a $1 million, five-year grant to the University of California at Davis.”
The article went on to report that “Student Ngabo Nzigira is in his sixth week of medical school and he’s already interacting with patients during training with a doctor at Kaiser Permanente in Sacramento. In a traditional med school, Nzigira wouldn’t be in a clinic until his third year. In this accelerated course, students can shave up to $60,000 off the cost of their medical education. But Nzigira had hesitations.”
“I thought, ‘Oh man, you want me to put the intensity and stress that is medical school in four years, you want me to condense it down to three years. I’m not sure about that,’ ” Nzigira says. But after learning more, he became convinced it was a good path for him.
In the article, Dr. Tonya Fancher, director of the program, called Accelerated Competency-based Education in Primary Care, says a shortage of doctors is the reason behind the new plan.
Doctors are the only professionals needed in the healthcare industry as there is a growing demand for medical assistants.
Health care growth creates job opportunities
The healthcare field is growing and that’s good news for professionally trained medical assistants.
“Seismic shifts in the technology and health-care sectors highlight why executives are divided or undecided about taking financial and strategic risks,” the Wall Street Journal recently reported. However, “At the opposite end of the spectrum is the health-care industry. The still-evolving Affordable Care Act, has made many companies hire thousands and plow millions into their businesses. The health-care sector is expected to post revenue growth of 12.2 percent, the highest of any sector, and earnings growth of 15.9 percent, second only to the telecommunications industry.” The article goes on to say that “Health-care companies increased spending on buildings and equipment by 15 percent, the greatest surge of any sector and compared with a 24 percent decline in the second quarter last year, according to FactSet.”
Medical field is changing, growing
An article by MedCityNews.com highlighted the fact that a growing population of sick and aging Americans is creating both an increase in demand as well as stress on the system. That trends is changing the way medical offices must perform and that means employers are looking for applicants with relevant medical office assistant training.
Completing the medical assistant training program at A Technical College can put you in the best position to be placed in your ideal job, but it can also help prepare you for advancement opportunities, which often go to those that have the best work skills and prior training. The opportunity to become a medical office manager or various administrative management positions are often given to those that already possess professional medical assistant training. More training may be required to advance, but those that already have medical assistant training will be better positioned to apply for various promotions and receive additional training that may be required.