Uncertified medical assistant as HCE

[DennisG]

Hey everyone, been reading a lot of your posts throughout these past months and you've been a big help.

 

A question I had is regarding my HCE. I've been working at an orthopedic doctor's/physical therapy office for 3 years now, and while I've been doing a lot of clerical work, I've also been in direct care with patients, especially after the first year. This totals to around ~5000 hours so far, unless I'm really bad at math. This consists of things like prepping injections for the doctor, taking measurements on patients for braces, and I might be able to start doing some NCVs soon to assist with their EMGs.  I also help with physical therapy and the chiropractor that works for us, by prepping stim units for the patient and just helping around in general.

 

I'm getting a little paranoid since I'm a junior and my GPA isn't as high as I want it to be (3.4) and if all this time at that office doesn't count for something then I'd want to know what I can pursue next.

 

Would you guys recommend anything else for me to do? EMT? CNA? Maybe some kind of volunteering, cause I haven't really done any of that.

[cinntsp]

It should count for most programs but it's best to check with each that you're interested in.  When you fill out your app on CASPA, the time spent doing clerical work will count as "other healthcare experience."  You will need to divide your time up accordingly.

[ToppDog]

Possibly disagree with the above.  It depends on your title.  Are you considered a receptionist, or a medical assistant?  You don't have to be certified as a medical assistant in many states.  An MA that does not have national certification is referred to as an MA (medical assistant).  Only MA's that have passed a national certification exam can call themselves certified (some examples are CMA or RMA, for Certified Medical Assistant or Registered Medical Assistant).  These can be MA's that went through an official school (CMA or RMA), or ones that have been trained on the job & challenge an exam (RMA).

 

if you are working as a receptionist, or some other non-patient care title, then you do need to break down the hours & only include the time actually spent doing back office duties in that section.  However, if you are working as an MA (certified or not), then you should not be dividing up your hours.  Some clerical work is expected if you are working as a MA, or a nurse, etc., so you do not have to break it down.  You just need to include the skills in the duties performed section of your CASPA app.

 

The only time you should be breaking down hours as an MA is if you have set times where you clearly are either doing one or the other, such as working the front desk from 8 -12, & then in the back from 1-5, etc.  Otherwise, it is expected that MA's know how to run both the front & back office (that's where the profession came from) so if you are constantly doing both in a small office situation, then do not break down the hours.  Hope that helps.  Good Luck !!!

[Z PA-C]

I disagree with ToppDog on this one. Your title is not as important as your job duties. CASPA is pretty clear about this. Counting all of the hours for being a receptionist 50% of the time is dishonest. I was conservative as possible when entering hours into CASPA and let the adcoms decide if they wanted to count more hours than I put in.
 

PATIENT CARE EXPERIENCE defined as experiences in which the applicant is directly responsible for a patient's care; for example: prescribing medication, performing procedures, directing a course of treatment, working on patients as an active EMT, etc.
OTHER HEALTH CARE EXPERIENCE defined as roles in which the applicant is working in the health or a health-related field but is not directly responsible for a patient's care; for example, filling prescriptions, performing clerical work, delivering patient food, cleaning patient rooms, working as “candy-striper,” etc  

If the position duties encompass more than one section, enter the position in both sections and divide the hours and duties accordingly. (Example: a 40 hr/wk position with 10 hrs/wk of research and 30 hrs/wk of direct patient care would be entered under both research and patient care sections with the appropriate hours and duties listed within each section.)

[DennisG]

I have no set times usually. Everything is mixed in within a day. So just put everything under direct patient care?

[DennisG]

Just saw aiviphung's post. Makes sense.

[DennisG]

Would becoming a EMT be a waste of time at this point?

[Z PA-C]

To answer your question, it never hurts to get a certification and work in that particular field. It tends to look "stronger" when you do that. However, my work history is a lot like yours. I was a medical assistant for several years doing both front and back office duties, I never got certified because I got on the job training and my experience over time was more important to the doctors I worked for than a piece of paper. I just split my hours according to what % of my time was spent doing what for each job I held. I was able to get accepted to programs, although my GPA is a 3.8 and I had 4000 hours of -just- direct patient care...ie not including front desk stuff.

Hope that helps.

[EMEDPA]

glad I didn't have to deal with caspa back in the day. I worked as an er tech and paramedic and like any healthcare job those are not 100% pt care intensive.

do nurses today break their hours down and say 2000 hrs/yr, 200 of which was stocking rooms, 200 of which was making beds, etc?

sounds like a drag.

[ToppDog]

When you look closely at CASPA's definitions it is clear that you should be including all your hours in one place in this particular case:

 

Patient Care Experience

 

Experiences in which you are directly responsible for a patient’s care; for example: prescribing medication, performing procedures, directing a course of treatment, working on patients as an active EMT, etc.  (implies holding a position where you perform direct pt. care such as CNA, MA, RN, etc.)

 

Other Health Care Experience

 

You are working in the health or a health-related field but are not directly responsible for a patient’s care; for example, filling prescriptions, performing clerical work, delivering patient food, cleaning patient rooms, working as “candy-striper” or hospital volunteer, etc.  (implies holding positions such as pharmacy tech, receptionist/unit secretary, hospital nutrition assistant, or volunteer, etc.)

 

The difference lies in the positions held, or the titles.  If you are working in a position that is considered to be a pt. care position, then you simply need to calculate the total hours worked & report in in the pt. care section of the CASPA App.  The only time you should break down the hours is if there is a clear deliniation in duties that are easily calculable, such as an MA that works the front desk exclusively two days a week, & in the back office the other three; or an RN that is the clinic manager & works on business admin stuff every day until lunchtime, then sees pt's in the afternoons.

 

If you hold what is considered a pt. care position, yet along with your direct pt. interaction you are constantly running around calling in RX's, performing U/A's & strep tests, taking foot x-rays, scheduling appointments & surgeries, cleaning up puke or blood, drawing up or preparing medications, & charting, etc., then this is still considered part of your duties, even though every single one of these examples can be performed by people who have jobs where they are not directly responsible for a patient's care.  It would be nearly impossible to accurately calculate what minutes go where for someone working like this.  And, if every applicant broke this down & actually moved every minute not doing something directly with a patient to the other category, hardly anyone would qualify for PA school.

 

CASPA also says: "Given these definitions, we ask the applicant to consider the duties which they performed during their experience and use their best judgment to determine which category (singular, as in choose one) their experience falls into."

[EMEDPA]

that makes sense topp.

I never understand programs that ask you to break it down by activity within a job which is clearly pt care oriented like paramedic but not for others like rn.

well on thursday we had 12 calls in 24 hrs averaging 90 min each and on fri we had 20 calls in 24 hrs averaging 60 min each....no thanks....

I reported (x hrs/yr x years as an er tech) + (x hrs/yr x years as a paramedic) + some hrs as a phlebotomist while in medic school.