If you’re a parent ready to return to the workforce or find a better paying job, your next decision is to pick a career that you’re likely to be good at. One of the best positions for moms entering the workforce is the healthcare field. Medical assistants, in particular, need to possess traits that most moms already possess. Here are several reasons why moms are already a good fit for a medical assistant career.
You’re Already over the Ick Factor
While non-parents may flinch or recoil in horror at snotty noses or the mere mention of bodily fluids, moms get over that by the second day they’re home from the hospital. A patient who has a rash or infection needs care, and you’re there to do the initial evaluation or deal with the immediate problem. You put on your gloves and facemask and get to work. You’re already over the “oh, gross” moments that make many would-be medical students recoil.
Compassion
As a parent, you’ve probably already learned that balancing act between understanding their pain and feeling their pain, the difference between compassion and empathy. You need to be able to gauge the degree of pain and actual issue, but not find yourself paralyzed by the sight of suffering.
As a medical assistant, you need to be able to read their body language and be able to elicit information from patients without feeling their pain so intensely you cannot function yourself. Once you’re able to minister to an injured child without breaking out in tears yourself, you can deal with patients of all types and ages.
Requisite Knowledge
Some people say that moms are all educated patients because they respond to a potential set of symptoms by reading pages of information about what it might be while they try to solve the problem themselves. This process may have started when you were pregnant as you began reading medication and food labels in detail or read the warnings and instructions after having a child. As a parent, you already know a lot of the side effects and potential bad interactions that your patients may ask about. All of this previous knowledge will be supplemented by a good medical assistant program. Some programs are more suited for parents and offer flexible schedules. You can check out a site like bestmedicalassistanteducation.com for the best medical assistant programs in your area.
Multitasking
While you’re making dinner, your kids are seeking a referee or expert opinion on a subject. You may be breastfeeding while checking your email or vacuuming while supervising a toddler trying to help. As a parent, you’re always multitasking. And as a medical assistant, you’re going to be asked to do this constantly, even if it starts with taking notes while taking a patient’s blood pressure and temperature.
Conclusion
As a parent, you already have some of the tools necessary to succeed as a medical assistant. All you need to do is get the right formation and see if the field is truly for you.