Avoiding Hidden Pitfalls:

Where Caution and Awareness Pay Off

Caution and awareness is always good policy when it comes to your education and degrees. If you are an aspiring medical assistant you should always think twice before signing up for any program, whether in a classroom or online! Some are excellent, some are gray area at best.

On 10/10/2008 TSS shared with us:
Contributed by TSS, MA Student
More in our Medical Assistant Forum

 I'm a real go getter and everyone in my class was really hurt when we found out we were not getting certified... I feel like our school might be "black balled" and it's hurting the good students. We did hear some companies say they would not use (our school's) grads any longer because of the way they performed, appearance, lack of knowledge and that was with all the programs, not just the medical ones. 

Learning Theory vs. Practice

 Any course in electrical is bound to contain a good amount of theory and at least some practical sessions, but, the strength of any course in electrical that wants to generate employable candidates has to be on the practical sessions. 

Seek out Quality Medical Assistant Training Only

The exact same principle applies to online medical assistant training. You can easily replace the word "electrical" with "medical" and presto! Bottom line is: there just are no shortcuts to quality vocational training! Just because a program offers education for a fee doesn't always automatically mean it is the best program to learn a vocational skill, or trade. The idea behind learning a trade is to learn the skills involved in theory and then practicing what has been taught under the watchful eye of a qualified instructor.

Read more:
Warning signs that an institution may be offering fraudulent or substandard degrees.

9 Warning Signs of Possible Non-Functional Training:

• Web page advertises that contain bold text, images, seals and profound sounding designations
• High emphasis on announcements that the school is accredited and contains words such as approved, accredited, authorized, qualified, licensed, sponsored, recognized and registered
• A highly visible "Order Now" button, often with an "act now", or "satisfaction guaranteed" decal
• Sells degrees at "discounted price" - act now call to action
• Exists only in "cyber space", no real school campus, as a website and correspondence must be sent by email only
• Is owned and run by only one, or just a handful of people presenting themselves as experts
• Faculty and instructors use false names and credentials
• Sells diplomas or degrees based on life experience, not academic merits
• P.O. box, or Mailboxes etc., no local address
• Run via off-shore company (commonly a BVI - British Virgin Islands)
• Top ranking on Google (anyone can manipulate search engine results). While it looks good to the unsuspecting consumer, that doesn't automatically make them an authority, or legit

If you sign up for an online course that is incorporated in the British Virgin Islands as an international business company you will have to go through great lengths to reach them if you have concerns, or complaints, also, recruiters, hiring managers, and employers may not recognize foreign training provided from outside the USA or from an online program not endorsed, or approved by the Department of education.

Leah, a Medical Assistant Student tells us: Nov 22nd, 2008 1:28 PM

Re: Phlebotomy in MA school?? Phlebotomy is one of our classes in the MA program I am currently in. We are a very "hands on" school as we have been practicing on each other since our 3rd week in school. Once we graduate, we will have the confidence and skill to do it on our own. Not all schools do this, but for me personally, this is one of several reasons why I chose this school. This way, when you are ready to go out there, you have the confidence and skills to do this. Phlebotomy takes practice... the more you do it, the better you get at it, just with almost everything in life. More in our Medical Assistant Forum