Useful Tips for Successful Medical Assistant Externship

The medical assistance externship is premeditated for more than a few purposes. As an externship trainee, you are anticipated to carry out the exact duties of a medical assistant that you have learned in your training program. In addition, you will learn and improve some innovative skills that will be educated by a health care staff or a medical professional during your externship program. The capability to execute your learning potential is certainly important. However, by the same token of value,  you need to reveal your ability as an excellent team player also. Make sure to utilize proper interpersonal skills. Maintain a professional look and exhibit a superior attitude at the externship place for rewarding success.

Concentrate on your appearance

Dress up professionally. You should wear proper work outfit, for instance, you will be provided with a uniform and a student ID badge that categorizes you as an externship trainee or student. Generally, all medical assistants are much expected to maintain a clean, tidy and professional look.

Understand the rules and guiding principles

Commit to memory that when you step into an externship program in a medical facility, you are considered as a ‘visitor’ at that medical facility. Hence, you will be expected to follow the exact policies of that administrative center that the other staff follows. It is always better to read and understand the workplace’s policy instruction manual thoroughly for the first few days of your training. Make sure to take notes on any memorandum’s on the announcement boards of the medical administrative center. In addition, make sure that you learn the procedures to map out emergency tools, contact numbers, emergency way out and usage of fire extinguishers.

Be reliable and punctual

A medical assistance externship provides you with the great opportunity to establish your reliability, loyalty and constancy. Promptness and timely presence are the best indicators that establish your dependability and constancy. So, try to be very punctual. As an externship trainee, you should always be enthusiastic and prepared to help out with the minor front office duties, such as, record and fill up patients’ health register’s. At times you will be expected to answer the phone call’s, do some administrative tasks and so on. Especially, some of the most decisive duties may include – helping out patient’s with their food intake and performing other fundamental and essential medical and managerial procedures.

Follow the instructions carefully

During the first few days of your externship, you will be treated in the same way as a new employee. You will be provided with some simple or uncomplicated duties on the first few days. This is to make an assessment of your ability to follow straightforward directions and perform proficiently. On the other hand, your day to day responsibilities, tasks and duties will definitely increase both in significance and meaning as the externship program moves forward. If you are still not provided with additional responsibilities after a few days, don’t hesitate to have a discussion with your administrator to find out the reason for not offering additional responsibilities.

Admit positive criticism

Make up your mind and act professionally. It is very important that you are proficient enough to acknowledge positive criticism and be ready to revolutionize any of your behaviors that might be unacceptable at your externship workplace. Once your supervisor or administrator is completely convinced about your capabilities in carrying out major tasks, he/she will allow you to perform those tasks without any uncertainties. Hence, make it a personal goal to watch and learn each and every single detail about the untried medical procedures in order to carry out major tasks in due course (without being inquired).

Avoid unnecessary criticism

Never entertain or avoid any gossip, criticism, disrupt, or persistence in the workplace. Never criticize things such as, the workplace executes a dexterity in a different way than you have been taught in your training school. You must not entertain or attend any unnecessary private telephone calls on your externship workplace.

Resolve issues in a professional approach

If you come across a difficulty or if you face any issues on the externship site, contact and have a word with the site manager. In case, if you don’t get any resolution, then, your training school’s administrator can be involved in that issue. On the other hand, as an student, you should learn the appropriate ways to converse with all administrators and managers and try hard to resolve each and every single issue with the help of your externship supervisor.

Don’t request for personal treatment facilities

Never request a physician or look forward to provide treatment for you or your family members if any sickness has occurred (to you or your family) at some stage in your externship period. In the same way, do not anticipate or request the medical doctor to hand out any medicines or prescriptions from the medical office where you do your externship .

Maintain confidentiality

Moreover, keep in mind that the privacy guiding principle’s of the medical office are always applicable to an externship trainee or student also. Owing to that reason, you should never discuss any personal or health information about a specific patient with any person outside the medical office for whatever reasons.

Leave few copies of your resume

Commit to memory that, in most cases, your performance in your externship program will be the primary work reference in the health care field. Hence, try to give your best performance. Make sure that you leave one or two copies of your resume with the administrative center of your externship. This is because, if any job opportunities crop up afterward, or if the employees at the externship site come to know about any job opportunities in a different medical facility, they can send your resume to that specific facility. As a consequence, it can lend you a hand in your career hunt process.

Don’t forget to convey your gratitude

You can very well ask for a ‘letter of reference’ from the administrator or medical doctor of the externship site. Make sure that you mail a ‘Thank you’ letter to the office for giving an opportunity to accomplish your externship at their medical facility. This will create a good impression. In addition to that, it will articulate your admiration for the opportunity to educate yourself at the health care facility.

By means of all these professional guiding principle’s and motivating yourself to improve your willingness to learn, you will definitely locate your externship program to be an optimistic and constructive edifying experience. Stick on to these suggestions and soon you will discover your externship program to be an experience of grand value and success!!