If you are passionate about caring for and helping others, consider volunteering as a medical assistant while you work your way towards a medical assisting career. Becoming a medical assistant volunteer has a plethora of benefits, including gaining knowledge in the medical field, obtaining hands-on learning experience, and allowing you to socially interact with patients. While both of our campuses in New Jersey require an externship for graduation, there are some valuable experiences you can gain while volunteering throughout the rest of your education.
Build a Pathway to a Successful Medical Career
To successfully integrate into the medical field, you need experience in both clinical and administrative duties. By volunteering as a medical assistant, it allows you to gain knowledge in both of those areas. Volunteering also allows you to adjust to working in a medical-based setting, so you can be prepared for irregular work hours and a busy, high-paced environment.
Becoming a medical assistant volunteer not only provides hands-on experience but also presents you with the opportunity to network with professionals. Building relationships with managers, supervisors, and others is essential to making the job hunting process even easier after you graduate.
Experience in the Medical Field
Gaining hands-on experience in the medical field is one of the largest benefits of volunteering as a medical assistant. Not only does it give you access to networking with professionals, but it also gives you social interaction experience with patients. This might include learning how to adjust your manner to maintain a positive experience with patients, exercising empathy and communication skills, and learning about diverse cultures and backgrounds.
Becoming a medical assistant volunteer will also give you knowledge on the more administrative side of a medical career. For example, you’ll have the opportunity to gain experience learning data entry skills and respecting HIPAA laws. As a medical assistant volunteer, you’ll also be responsible for charting medical records, as well as keeping documents neat and organized. This is an essential skill to have in order to keep things running smoothly and efficiently in a medical setting.
How to Become a Medical Assistant Volunteer
There are many ways that you can volunteer as a medical assistant. Whether you’re looking for the fast-paced environment of a hospital or the more relaxed atmosphere of a clinic, there are endless opportunities available to you. For example, cancer units are always open to taking on medical assistant volunteers to fulfill various duties, such as driving patients to and from appointments or just simply talking to patients to keep them company. Pre- and post-operative units are another outlet for medical assistant volunteering, allowing you to gain experience in surgery prep as well as rehabilitation.
Networking, researching, and visiting hospitals in the Pennsylvania or New Jersey areas are another great way to secure a spot as a medical assistant volunteer. However, some positions do require additional certifications, so make sure you do your research before applying to any volunteer opportunities. To learn more about becoming a medical assistant, contact Prism Career Institute’s West Atlantic City or Cherry Hill, NJ campuses.