Why I Want To Be A Medical Assistant Essay

“Medical Assistants are the ones that the patient sees first; they are the face of the clinic.” I saw this quote on wiki.answers.com and it really struck me as inspirational and also something to go by when I think about the top qualities that I should possess to become the best medical assistant I can be. This essay will cover the five topics that I feel are the best qualities that a medical assistant should have. Some will be personal qualities while others will be professional qualities as well. Integrity. What is integrity and do I have it? I have heard that a lot of times whether it was on a TV show or in real life. Integrity basically means strong moral principle. I feel to be the best medical assistant that I could be then I need to have integrity. I was brought up on having good morals. Working as a medical assistant you are dealing with people on a regular basis and these are people that you just met. They are handing you paperwork that has important information on it and personal family history on
it. There are strangers that are depending on you to keep their information safe. Integrity is a quality that should be around not only in a professional environment but also your personal environment. If you can’t be honest with yourself in your own life choices then you can’t be honest in your job either where honestly and strong moral principle is what is relied on when keeping your patients information safe. Having integrity is a great quality to possess in this field as well as empathy. You deal with people on a basis where they are coming in for the flu or cancer. There are so many different scenarios you could have dealing with patients where you need to understand where they are coming from and feel for them and what they are going through. These people come to you to make them feel better and make the problem they are having go away. Medical assistants have to show their patients on a daily basis that they sincerely care about their patient’s wellbeing and will always put their patient’s needs first. The quote that I stated in the beginning of this essay goes along with this next topic I have, personal hygiene. Everyone has personal hygiene but there are a few people that don’t care about how they look or even smell for that matter. I had a coworker at a past job that didn’t have that great of personal hygiene. She smelled really bad; it was like she didn’t use deodorant or even brush her teeth. When you are working in a job where you are working with the general public on a daily basis like that previous job and in this field then you really do have to care about your appearance. No patient is going to want to be seen by a medical assistant whose hair is a mess; they smell or don’t even brush their teeth. Hygiene is everything in any kind of job working with people and it’s something that everyone should consider an important quality to have. A positive attitude is another quality that a medical assistant should always have.
No one likes to work around someone who is always negative or gives off the vibes that they don’t want to be at their work. At my son’s pediatric office, there is a receptionist that we have to see every time we go in there and she never has a smile on her face. Her tone is always so unpleasant and it makes me feel like we are a bother to her and that she doesn’t like her job. When you are dealing with people, regardless if they are rude to you or not you always have to keep a positive attitude. You need to leave your personal life at the door when you come into work. You need to keep a smile on your face and deal with every single patient with warmth in your voice. If you aren’t nice to those patients they could possibly leave that office and see another doctor. People generally don’t like to deal with rude receptionists or someone that is supposed to make them feel
better. Along with a positive attitude, your boss, coworkers and patients need to know that they can depend on you. Dependability is one of the biggest concerns for employers. If you are late all the time or call out you are making everyone of your patients run late. When you call out, the office has to find a replacement to cover your patients and that could take a lot of time so that will make your patients day run late as well. Your actions affect everyone in that office. If you were the reason why they were seen late then the patients will feel like they aren’t as important to you as they should be. “Medical Assistants are the ones that the patient sees first; they are the face of the clinic.” Medical assistants should always have that quote in mind, and remember what it actually entails. I, for one will always remember this along with the top five qualities that I should possess to become the best medical assistant that I can be. My patients will walk into that office and see me with a positive attitude, clean and professional work attire and always with a smile on my face and a pleasant tone in my voice. I will always remember that I am the face of that office and will leave my personal life outside of my work environment. I will continue to use these qualities not only in my professional life but my personal life as well.