How to Become a Medical Assistant in Connecticut

As a child many of us have thought about a career as a medical assistant or doctor, considering this role that helps others very important and responsible occupations.

During years, many realize the seriousness of this vocation and are not ready to accept it, while others continue to pursue their happiness in the medical field, making their dream a reality.

Because it is an occupation in constant demand, medical assisting offers job opportunities and this demand for medical assistants is expected to increase, so it is the right time to try and become a medical assistant.

Job Description

Since there is the continued exponential growth of the healthcare industry leading to the growing number of facilities and physicians’ offices and technological advances in the medical field, the need for people who will be working side by side with physicians in medical offices and clinics is growing, too.

Medical assistants are performing clinical or administrative tasks and they are the people who help the office functioning smoothly and undisturbed.

Even though some of them work largely with the supervision of a physician and are allowed only to collect data to be used in diagnosis, offer health maintenance education not related to a diagnosis and assist in handling equipment, there are more educated ones who are allowed to administer medications, perform radiography and diagnose and plan patients care.

Becoming a Medical Assistant in Connecticut

When it comes to necessary education, to become a medical assistant in Connecticut, numerous medical assistant programs cover topics of health sciences, patient care, medical law, laboratory procedures, and pharmacology, thus preparing students for the successful performance of all the medical duties that await for them once hired.

Still, this is not all, since medical assistants need to be multi-skilled health professionals who are performing clerical duties either.

That is why education programs deal with the administrative side of education such as computer and software usage, insurance and billing, record keeping, etc.

The program coordinator is a well-educated, experienced and licensed person who works closely with students in vocational-technical high schools, post-secondary vocational schools, colleges, and universities.

Requirements

Because formal education is not required to become a medical assistant, it is good to know that the Connecticut Department of Public Health has certain regulations about what can and cannot be performed by unlicensed medical assistants.

Also, employers become more and more strict about education, experience, and national certification when employing medical assistants and numerous people decide to enroll in a certificate or associate degree program.

It is true that medical assistants who have achieved certification in the profession improve their chances of getting the job.

When choosing the program, it is advisable to check their accreditation since the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP) and the Accrediting Bureau of Health Education Schools (ABHES) do not give a chance to take the exam for a diploma, a degree, or an associate degree to those students who finished unaccredited programs.

In Connecticut, there are two major accreditation bodies for such programs:

• Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP) in:
  • Hartford
  • Branford
  • East Hartford
  • Southington
  • Norwalk
  • Winsted
  • New London
  • Danielson
  • West Haven
  • Bridgeport

• Accrediting Bureau of Health Education Schools (ABHES) in:
  • Southington
  • Windsor
  • East Hartford
  • Rocky Hill
  • Enfield
  • Watertown
  • Stratford
  • Branford
  • Waterbury

To achieve national certification, you need to take and pass the examination administered through either:

• RMA (Registered Medical Assistant) by the American Medical Technologists (AMT)
• CPC (Billing and Coding Certification) by the AAPC (American Academy of Professional Coders)
• MT (Medical Technologist) by the ASCP (American Society for Clinical Pathology)
• CPT (Current Procedural Technology) by the AAPC (American Academy of Professional Coders)

Getting a Job

The reason why all of us get involved in studying and educating and devote a lot of our time to classes is getting a satisfying job that will allow us to earn for living.

The medical assisting career is one that demands a lot of renunciations during the process of education, but at the same time, it is growing very fast thus affecting job growth.

To become more appropriate applicants to potential employers and get the job easily, students opt for certification and then look for a job in physician’s offices or medical and surgical hospitals.

The job opportunities for medical assistants are vast and are developing and increasing even more.

Medical assistants might find work in:

• University of Connecticut Health Center – Farmington
• Yale-New Haven Health – New Haven
• TLC Pediatrics, LLC – Norwalk
• Stamford Hospital – Stamford
• Middlesex Hospital – Madison
• Western Connecticut Medical Group – Danbury
• New Milford Hospital – New Milford
• Saint Francis Care – Hartford
• Bristol Hospital-Bristol
• Vein Clinics of America – Glastonbury

Salary

Being that the Connecticut Department of Labor has ranked the medical assistant profession among the top fastest-growing occupations in the state, it is expected that the job offers rise and that the salary of medical assistants become even more satisfying than they currently are.

This is a stable job that offers solid earnings and when it comes to the average salaries of medical assistants in Connecticut, current statistics show that it is approximately $ 38 261.

This salary cannot be precisely determined since the amount of money earned depends on factors such as the employees’ experience and education, working hours and daily responsibilities.

Salary of medical assistants in Connecticut might also differ due to the varied development of the cities the hospital or office is located in.

The table below shows the salary of a medical assistant in the state of Connecticut annually since it significantly varies from one city to another.

Regional Salary in Connecticut

Duties

A medical assistant can happen to work in larger practices or small private clinics and according to the number of daily requirements they might be asked to specialize in their work in a particular area.

The importance of the medical assistants’ daily activities and responsibilities is determined by the size, location, and practice specialty.

The administrative duties include:

• Answering patients’ questions both at the clinic and over the telephone calls
• Arranging appointments and  lab services
• Keep patient medical records and collect and update the data
• Greeting patients and instruct them when leaving the clinic about the usage of the prescribed medicine

On the other hand, their clinical duties include:

• Assisting doctors and other staff during a patient examination or intervention
• Changing patient clothes and helping them recover after the intervention
• Drawing blood and taking samples to the lab
• Preparing patients for surgeries
• Taking patient vital signs, among many others.

Medical Assisting by City

Medical Assisting by State