4 answers
Garlyna
Student
Sedro-Woolley, Washington
1
Question
Asked
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What some challenges I might face in the medical field ?
I am currently at Cascade Job Corps Training Center trying to get my master's degree of being a CMA and was wondering what are some challenges that I might face?
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4 answers
Chinyere Okafor
Educationist and Counseling Psychologist
401
Answers
Port Harcourt, Rivers, Nigeria
Updated
Chinyere’s Answer
Hello Garlyna,
Good question! As a Certified Medical Assistant (CMA), you'll likely encounter various challenges in the medical field. Here are some common ones:
1. Workload and Stress:
Heavy workload: CMAs often juggle multiple tasks, including patient appointments, administrative duties, and clinical procedures.
Stressful environments: Emergency rooms, intensive care units, and other high-pressure departments can contribute to stress.
2. Ethical Dilemmas:
Confidentiality breaches: Ensuring patient privacy and confidentiality can be challenging, especially in digital age.
Moral conflicts: You may face situations where personal beliefs clash with medical practices or patient decisions.
3. Physical Demands:
Standing and walking: CMAs often spend long hours on their feet.
Lifting and moving patients: Assisting patients, especially those who are immobile or overweight, can be physically demanding.
4. Exposure to Hazards:
Infectious diseases: CMAs are exposed to various infectious diseases and must follow strict safety protocols.
Hazardous materials: Handling medications, chemicals, and other substances can pose risks.
5. Emotional Toll:
Dealing with patient suffering: Witnessing patients' pain, illness, and sometimes death can be emotionally taxing.
Compassion fatigue: Chronic exposure to stress and trauma can lead to emotional burnout.
6. Technological Challenges:
Evolving technology: Keeping up with advancements in medical technology and software can be challenging.
Technical difficulties: Issues with electronic health records (EHRs) or other equipment can disrupt workflow.
7. Career Advancement:
Limited upward mobility: While CMAs play a crucial role in healthcare, they may face limitations in terms of career advancement compared to other medical professionals.
Salary expectations: Salaries for CMAs can vary depending on location, experience, and specialty, but may not be as high as those for some other healthcare roles.
By understanding these potential challenges, you can better prepare yourself for your career as a CMA and develop strategies to overcome them.
Best wishes!
Good question! As a Certified Medical Assistant (CMA), you'll likely encounter various challenges in the medical field. Here are some common ones:
1. Workload and Stress:
Heavy workload: CMAs often juggle multiple tasks, including patient appointments, administrative duties, and clinical procedures.
Stressful environments: Emergency rooms, intensive care units, and other high-pressure departments can contribute to stress.
2. Ethical Dilemmas:
Confidentiality breaches: Ensuring patient privacy and confidentiality can be challenging, especially in digital age.
Moral conflicts: You may face situations where personal beliefs clash with medical practices or patient decisions.
3. Physical Demands:
Standing and walking: CMAs often spend long hours on their feet.
Lifting and moving patients: Assisting patients, especially those who are immobile or overweight, can be physically demanding.
4. Exposure to Hazards:
Infectious diseases: CMAs are exposed to various infectious diseases and must follow strict safety protocols.
Hazardous materials: Handling medications, chemicals, and other substances can pose risks.
5. Emotional Toll:
Dealing with patient suffering: Witnessing patients' pain, illness, and sometimes death can be emotionally taxing.
Compassion fatigue: Chronic exposure to stress and trauma can lead to emotional burnout.
6. Technological Challenges:
Evolving technology: Keeping up with advancements in medical technology and software can be challenging.
Technical difficulties: Issues with electronic health records (EHRs) or other equipment can disrupt workflow.
7. Career Advancement:
Limited upward mobility: While CMAs play a crucial role in healthcare, they may face limitations in terms of career advancement compared to other medical professionals.
Salary expectations: Salaries for CMAs can vary depending on location, experience, and specialty, but may not be as high as those for some other healthcare roles.
By understanding these potential challenges, you can better prepare yourself for your career as a CMA and develop strategies to overcome them.
Best wishes!
ERIC EASTON
Companion
4
Answers
Sandpoint, Idaho
Updated
ERIC’s Answer
There are definitely real challenges to be faced in the medical field. You might be pressured to work long hours. You might face challenging ethical questions when you deal with situations where it's difficult to determine the right moral decision. (Trying to decide what's the right or wrong choice.) In other words the politics of the job might be stressful at times. You might not always agree with the decisions your boss makes or the orders you receive from your managers. You might not always agree with your coworkers. You might deal with patients or their family members who are angry and/or unreasonable.
Virginia Ferrari
Allied Health Content Strategist
3
Answers
Rio Vista, California
Updated
Virginia’s Answer
Congratulations on choosing a career in health care! Job Corps is a great place to obtain this type of training which will prepare you to take a national certification exam. The National Healthcareer Association is the largest certification agency for allied health workers. They offer certification, and training products, in Clinical Medical Assisting, Medical Administrative Assistant, Electronic Health Records, Billing & Coding, Pharm Tech and more.
I encourage you to obtain certification in your field of choice, as many employers require certification, and certification demonstrates your committment, knowledge, and skills in the field.
There are always challenges to career growth, but you have made the first step. Keep up the great work!
I encourage you to obtain certification in your field of choice, as many employers require certification, and certification demonstrates your committment, knowledge, and skills in the field.
There are always challenges to career growth, but you have made the first step. Keep up the great work!
Carol Michot
Occupational Therapist
1
Answer
San Antonio, Texas
Updated
Carol’s Answer
There are already some great answers here, so I won’t repeat the excellent responses.
Writing paperwork for insurance companies is always a challenge as the goal posts constantly shift. My experiences have been that they quietly shift such that you won’t know until services are denied. It doesn’t seem fair to the insured or healthcare professionals, but it happens all the time.
Healthcare worker safety has evolved as a challenge in an ever increasingly violent society. I’ve had to write several incident reports because of this.
I’ve loved being in healthcare even with the challenges, and I cannot imagine having taken a different career path.
Writing paperwork for insurance companies is always a challenge as the goal posts constantly shift. My experiences have been that they quietly shift such that you won’t know until services are denied. It doesn’t seem fair to the insured or healthcare professionals, but it happens all the time.
Healthcare worker safety has evolved as a challenge in an ever increasingly violent society. I’ve had to write several incident reports because of this.
I’ve loved being in healthcare even with the challenges, and I cannot imagine having taken a different career path.