What Is Voc Ed's Role in Training Medical Assistants for the Job?

When asked to describe the role of vocational education in the schooling of this nation's workforce, most people would say it is to prepare students for work in a specific trade. The question, however, when it comes to vocational training for medical assistants should also be, whether their education should concentrate on preparing medical assistant students only for their specific job, or whether it should focus on teaching broader career and personal development skills.

As the labor market becomes more specialized and economies demand higher levels of skill, governments and businesses are increasingly investing in the future of vocational education through publicly funded training organizations and subsidized apprenticeship or traineeship initiatives for businesses. At the post-secondary level vocational education is typically provided by an institute of technology, or by a local community college. 

Vocational Education for Future Medical Assistants?

Many medical assistant instructors and other vocational educators believe that the new and emerging workplace eliminates the viability of vocational education programs that concentrate solely on the acquisition of specific job skills; rather, they contend that vocational training should concentrate broadly on all aspects of their students' career development and should expand its focus by initiating programs that prepare students with skills that permit them to rapidly adapt to changes in the workforce and performance on the fas labor market.

In an effort to document the learning gains for students in secondary and adult full-time vocational programs, some states are now developing skill standards for certain healthcare occupations upon which their vocational curricula are based. These standards form the basis for assessing student's entry-level occupational skills, plus their employability skills that are generic to all occupations. Medical assistants who have earned a medical assistant diploma will be able to move successfully from one job to another as demanded by the changing competitive market.

What Should Medical Assistant Students Learn?

Medical assistant students should learn more than just specific skills that prepare them for the job only. They should be trained in a wide range of interpersonal communication, administrative, clinical and technical skills so they have the ability and versatility needed to establish careers in a number of related disciplines. Medical assistant instructors should aim to create well rounded professionals who can maintain competitiveness on today's highly demanding job market:

1. Administrative, clinical and technical skills
2. Reading and writing medical terminology
3. Interpersonal communication skills
4. Carefully listen and following direction
5. Creative thinking and problem solving
6. Personal management (self-esteem, goal setting)
7. Group effectiveness (interpersonal skills, negotiation, teamwork)
8. Being meticulous, vesatile and focused to finish work on time
9. Organizational effectiveness and leadership