Medical Assistant 

(Female, Age 47) from North Syracuse, NY

This is a REAL-LIFE job profile written by a Female aged 47 who works as a Medical Assistant in North Syracuse, NY. We have removed all names and personal information in order to protect privacy. This professional kindly spent a bit of their time to complete one of our job profile surveys so that prospective job seekers like you could read their insights. Please excuse any punctuation or grammatical errors in this profile.

At a Glance

Current Job

Basic data on your current job

Job Title Medical Assistant
Salary $26,648
Other Compensation None Set
Hours/Week 32
Company Size (not answered)
Location North Syracuse, NY
Years Experience 13 years

Career Ratings

Opinions on your CAREER overall (i.e. not just your current job)

Years in Career 0
Education (not answered)
Income Rating 0 / 10
Interest Rating 0 / 10
Work-Life Rating 0 / 10
Fulfilment Rating 0 / 10

Current job Q&A

Describe the type of organization you work for.
a female otolaryngologist in private practice

Describe your job role and responsibilities.
Work with the doctor in all aspects of her seeing patients during the day, from getting charts ready in advance, taking vitals and history of patients to assisting doctor in minor in office surgeries. Taking triage calls of patients during day,filling out disability papers for surgery patients. Basically my job is to make the doctors’ job easier.

Please list an additional benefits (beyond compensation) that you receive.
3 personal days, 5 sick days, 12 vacation days, birthday and 1 shopping day off, health insurance, pension profit sharing, 401k

Do you feel you are under/over or well/fairly compensated at your current position?
well

Does your job entail you working with others on a daily basis? Is this something you like/dislike about your job? Please explain.
there are only 4 employees plus the doctor in the office – it is a nice kind of family atmosphere.

Do you work collaboratively with supervisors/managers?
Yes

Do you work collaboratively with your co-workers?
Yes

Describe your work location (e.g., office, home, theatre, in the field) and what you like/dislike about working in it.

Please rate each of the following aspects of your current job on a scale of 1-10 (10 being the highest/best):
Income: 3
Benefits: 4
Hours: 5
Co-Workers: 2
Supervisors: 1
Job Title: 8
Level of Responsibility: 7
The Actual Work: 6

A day in the life of…

Please describe a typical workday for you in your current job:

5am to 6am
6am to 7am
7am to 8am home getting ready for work
8am to 9am start work at 8:30 am, get coffee, check faxes and any overnight on-call patient problems. talk to girls in office. call any patients with overnight problems.
9am to 10am call patients from day before surgeries to see how their recovery is going. write in patient chart what was discussed. review charts for afternoon patients checking to be sure we have all test results and films necessary.if i have time i will check and stock sample drug cupboard
10am to 11am same as above and i would be taking any triage calls from patients with problems, ex: need refills on medications, child having problems after surgery (usually parents just need reassuring it is normal part of recovery), patients having pain or problems with ears, nose and throats, make urgent appointments from urgent care faculities, hospitals, other md offices
11am to 12pm same as above and still answer patient calls. i need to write in each patient chart what was discussed and review these with md. if needed i return patient calls with instructions from the md. i set up and prep each exam room making sure md has all instruments needed. talk to girls in office.
12pm to 1pm lunch from 12 to 12:30 – eat something brought from home while sitting at desk reading medical articles that md has left for me to review. talk to girls in office.
1pm to 2pm start seeing patients at 12:45 ( doctor is usually in surgery every am) call patient into exam room, take vitals, take short history on established patients and lengthy history of new patients.
2pm to 3pm same as above. if patient needs surgery i discuss the different places to have done and discuss date and time pt to have surgery – give patient some surgery paperwork. if patient need in office surgery ex: tube in ear or small lesion removed i will prepare instruments get patient to sogn consent form and assist md during procedure.
3pm to 4pm same as above trying to juggle patients into different exam rooms as to what patient is being seen for. helping parents, children, adults, elderly patients with whatever they need for their visit with doctor.
4pm to 5pm same as above – we end patients anywhere from 4 to 6pm depending on how hectic and how many emergencies where added on that day, also depending on how much time the md spent with each patient. when patients have gone i now clean each exam room and autoclave (sterilize) all instruments used today.
5pm to 6pm say goodbye to all – see them tomarrow to do same all over again
6pm to 7pm
7pm to 8pm
8pm to 9pm
9pm to 10pm
10pm to 11pm
11pm to 12am

Table of Contents

How you got your job

How did you get your current job?
a friend who worked in that office called me

What was the application process?
resume and two interviews

Did you have to interview for your current job? If yes, what did the interview process entail?
i had 2 interviews with the office manager and then met the doctor on the second interview

If you can remember, what questions were you asked during the interview?
it was 13 years ago, i do not remember

Do you feel your employer properly prepared you for your job? Explain.
yes, she was very helpful and taught me as we did each task during day

Was there training for your current position? If yes, what did it entail?
yes, i was trained by the previous medical assistant and the doctor. it is really a learn as you do job with some training in osha

Do you feel your educational background prepared you for your job? Explain.
not at all

If applicable, do you feel your internship experience helped you prepare for your job?

If someone wanted to go about getting a job similar to yours, what would you recommend for him or her to do?
send in resume, call and talk to office manager.

What skills do you think a person should have if they want to pursue a position like yours?
multitasker, telephone skills, organizational skills, following through with details skills, compassion for people, friendly

Do you feel that you need a certain level of education or training to be successful in your job?
yes. it comes with experience and training

What advice would you give to someone who was about to start work in your position/ line of work?
you have to enjoy people, have compassion for people and enjoy taking care of people.

Long-term career plans

Is your current employment part of your overall career plan? Why or why not?
not really, my career plan is to be retired

What are your current career goals?
my career goals are to just do the best job i can while enjoying my work

Is there anything else you would like to share about your career?
no thanks

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