The job shadow that had the greatest impact on me was when I job shadowed a Medical Assistant at the Hartford Healthcare Neuroscience Center. When I first scheduled this job shadow, I was anxious because I was scared that this job shadow would corrupt my dream of working in the medical field and I did not know what to expect. I was also excited because ever since I was young, I had wanted to work in the medical field, so this could have also sealed the deal.
When I first got to the Neuroscience Center, we ate breakfast for about half an hour and then we got busy. At the beginning of the work day, which is 8 am, they do a huddle where they explain to all the workers what happened the previous day and who was on what service for the day. The medical assistant I was with explained to me that they do rotations, which means that all the medical assistants switch the tasks they’re doing every day. For example, one day they could be doing check-in and the next day, they could be doing scheduling. Check-in means that they are at the front desk on a computer, checking people’s insurance, ID’s, referrals, and copay. When they are at check-out, they help people getting out of MRI’s and CT’s, and making sure their insurance covered their visit, while also sending out referrals. When they are put on scheduling, they answer the phone calls, make and reschedule appointments, and putting the referrals in the system. What we did that day was rooming, which to me seemed like the most exciting one because you are on your feet and interacting with the patients the most. During the day, we updated the patient’s charts, and then roomed them. She called them in, asked their date of birth, their name, she weighed them on the scale and then asked them for their approximate height. After that, she asked if they had traveled outside of the country, what hand they write with, any medication allergies, their pharmacy, their medical history, and whether they smoke, drink, and are sexually active. Then, she took their blood pressure on a machine, wrote it down on their chart, took them to the room, and then told the doctor that the patient was ready.
While job shadowing throughout the day, I knew their job included things like asking questions and prepping the patients for their appointments, but I learned new things like their salaries and education requirements. The woman I job shadowed only had to get a certificate in order to be a medical assistant and has a salary of about $30,000 a year. I also learned that knowing medical terms is a requirement so you know what you’re reading off the patient’s chart. Reading and writing skills are also very important to keep up with the patient’s charts. Doing this job shadow opened my eyes and made my passion for nursing grow stronger. Seeing the medical assistant interact with patients made me imagine myself doing that, just in a nursing environment. This solidified my want to go to college for four years, striving to get a nursing degree in order to perform my career that I will have worked so hard for.