Clinical Experience - Tips and pointers from clinical experience.

If you are running clinic for the first time here are a few things you need to do to get you through the day. 

• Complete chart prep- reschedule patients who did not complete testing ordered. Call New Patients to bring imaging and records- Prep exam rooms- make sterile trays for any procedures listed on the printed schedule. 
• Be sure all injections have been pre-certed for injections
• As you discharge your patients, go over doctor's order and why .it is ordered. 
• All prescriptions are sent via escribe very few exceptions. Be sure to confirm pharmacy information in the demographics.
• Send imaging and lab ordered blood tests ordered by dr electronically.
• Remember to always have patient say name and dob once they are brought back, also have them repeat. 
• Right person, Right route, Right medication, right documentation, Right time, Right dose

Career Guidance     

Once you are certified you will need an adequate resume to get interviews. If you do not have very many work skills to list, think about the unmentioned skills you have.  Are you a good listener? Can you tell how a customer or any person feels when speaking with them? You can list Active Listening and Emotional Intelligence as skills. These are considered valuable skills by employers, especially if you have direct contact with customers. These are skills now considered to be of the most important when you are trying to keep and draw business. Use any prior experiences to enhance your resume. You can even use your externship as experience.  Your intro should be a summary of you and what you can do for their company, why you are a good fit. This summary should be a seller, captivating, with skills that match the job description. Use good references, best to use colleagues in the same field. You can ask your instructor's if you could use them as a reference, perhaps your extern supervisor. Once you secure the interview, be sure to arrive early, at least 10 minutes, with a copy of your resume and references. Also, dress business casual, it shows you want the job enough to take time to care about your appearance. In the view from where the manager sits, it appears you also have some etiquette and sense of professionalism. Scrubs are usually acceptable. I personally prefer to save the scrubs for an actual work day.  As a back-office lead, I was charged with conducting interviews as well.  The amount of candidates that would wear basically pajama's to an interview was staggering to me. I was left feeling like they didn't really want the job. When you dress right for an interview, you become more confident in yourself.  Please don't wear any type of pajama clothing!! Practice your interview, think of the answers you want to give. Availability is always a concern, make sure you let them know you are available during the office hours. Most offices are loaded down with patients, so you will most likely be staying past 5:00 pm daily. This is common for Medical Assistants.  Be friendly, smile often, show them your best self! Good Luck!