Recommended Medical Assistant Student Study Habits

Learning good study habits in school assists students well into their professional careers and beyond. By understanding how to manage time, information, and materials, students gain the skills they need to be organized, efficient learners who have a toolkit of strategies for completing their homework on a nightly basis. This leads to them being better equipped to tackle assessments in the classroom and can reduce test anxiety while increasing confidence and competence.

Key Study Habits:

• Master time management – Outside of school, students are often busy with extracurricular activities, jobs, and family responsibilities in addition to completing homework and studying. Students spend an average of 30 hours per week in class, but it is critical that they use their time outside of school just as wisely. Learning how to use time in an effective manner and avoid distractions are skills that take practice, but are great assets to being a successful student when mastered.

• Use a planner – Students are encouraged to use a planner to record their nightly homework, long-term projects, and upcoming tests and quizzes. Planners, calendars, and dry erase boards assist students in tracking assignments and thus lead to improved time management.

• Organize materials – Having an organized backpack, locker, and study space at home assist students in forming successful study habits. Students may benefit from color-coded folders, notebooks, or bins at home dedicated to completed homework. Becoming organized can save valuable time.

• Practice good note taking – When students work diligently in the classroom, they are better able to know what to study and how to study at home. Effective listening strategies, practical note taking skills, and following directions closely all aid students in managing critical information. If students are visual learners, they may benefit from writing their notes in different colored pens or on colored index cards. Also, it may be helpful to rewrite notes taken in class every night as a form of review.

• Review notes daily – Instead of cramming the night before a test, students should get into the habit of reviewing their notes for each class nightly. This study habit is especially helpful with classes that require students to show competencies in their required health care program, as it allows students to study terms in manageable chunks. This reinforces students’ learning and builds toward mastery of the subject.

• Create study guides and flash cards – By going through class notes, handouts, and textbooks and writing down the pertinent information in the form of a study guide, students will be better prepared for tests. They can then use these study guides to quiz themselves and to gauge how well they know the information. Reading and re-writing the most important definitions, concepts, and themes helps imprint this information in students’ brains. Similarly, writing flashcards and reviewing them either on their own or with a peer or parent is an excellent study strategy.

• Study with a partner – Enlisting the help of a friend or partner to study not only makes reviewing more fun, but it enhances what students have learned while studying on their own. It can be especially beneficial for a student to act as the teacher and to teach their friends and family what they learned in class that day.

• Take breaks – Taking scheduled, short breaks while studying not only helps prevent fatigue, but it better allows the brain to retain information a student has been studying. It may be helpful to set a timer so that breaks don’t extend beyond five to ten minutes. When returning from a break, students should review the information they previously studied before moving onto something new.

Honing these study skills can prevent students from becoming discouraged and overwhelmed. It is never too late to learn these skills, as they often become second nature when students are persistent and practice them daily. Developing good study habits not only improves schoolwork, but it equips students for the rigors of college work and beyond.

Ready to start working towards a career you can love? Contact the Allen School today! We are enrolling now for our spring classes and cannot wait for you to become part of the Allen School family. Visit www.allenschool.edu to learn more.

-Allen School

If you want to make a difference and help others, a career in healthcare could be the right path for you. Going back to school is never an easy decision, however, even if a healthcare career has always been your calling, there are a lot of factors to consider. Finding the right program will get you the help you need during your time in school, striking a balance between work, school, and your personal life. Here are a few tips to help you navigate through your decision to go back to school.

1. Find a program that works for you

It is important to find a school and program that can meet your individual needs as a student. Flexible schedules and online course offerings can make it easier for you to earn your certification while working or raising your family. Choosing a blended program can give you the best of both worlds. Interactive online experience provides both at-home learning and hands-on classroom training. If going to school with kids and a full-time job seems impossible, fear not because there are options! Choosing a blended program will help you balance your work and family life thereby allowing you to be successful in school.

2. Ask for help if you need it

Everyone needs a little help from time to time. Your instructors want to see you succeed, and they will be there for you whenever you need extra help or support. It’s important to put your best foot forward and talk about any challenges you are facing with faculty and staff. At the Allen School of Health Sciences, communication is key. We are here to support you every step of the way. Let us guide you to the correct resources for your situation. We are in this together and your success is our success.

3. Take advantage of other academic resources

There are a variety of resources to support you in your learning and career development. Be proactive about getting the support you need – whether it’s contacting the Career Services department, meeting with your academic director, or setting up make-up hours with your instructor, you will find all of the resources you need for success at the Allen School of Health Sciences.

4. Believe in yourself

Maybe you always knew you wanted to help others, and a career in healthcare seemed like the perfect fit. It will not always be an easy journey but do not give up. For nearly sixty years, the Allen School of Health Sciences has trained thousands of people for their new careers in healthcare. Why not you?

5. Do not lose sight of your goals

No matter what challenges you face along the way, keep your eye on the prize and continue working to achieve your goals.  Your dedication and hard work will all be worth it in the end. At the Allen School of Health Sciences, we are devoted to fostering the necessary positivity, empathy, professionalism, and integrity in future Medical Assistants.

The Allen School of Health Sciences is offering virtual campus tours for enrollment for our classes starting soon. Contact the Allen School today! We cannot wait for you to become part of the Allen School family. Visit www.allenschool.edu to learn more.

You can learn a lot in a classroom, but you can’t learn everything, especially if you are studying to be a Medical Assistant. It’s a job that requires extensive medical knowledge as well as skills and professional attributes that can only be gained through hands-on experience. At the Allen School of Health Sciences, as it is in most medical assistant programs, that comes in the form of an externship. At Allen, our externships are made up of 275 hours in a health care facility. We want to prepare our students for all aspects of the work, as such, we have developed an outline of what to expect from your Medical Assistant externship.

Working under Supervision

The greatest benefit of a Medical Assistant externship is the opportunity it provides to practice skills and duties while being supervised. In your classes, you’ll learn what and why Medical Assistants do what they do. The moment you apply, however, that knowledge in the real world with real patients, even the simplest tasks like taking blood pressure can be daunting. The good news is that you are not alone.

Your supervisor will work with you closely, especially at the beginning, to ensure you remember everything you’ve learned in class.  This will enable you to feel comfortable administering your duties and in addition to acting as a guide, your supervisor may also serve as your safety net to ensure you don’t miss a thing. This aspect of supervision can and should relieve a lot of pressure. It is common to feel nervous before you’ve gained your skills, practice, and habits, but a supervisor’s presence should assuage your fears.

You will also be able to observe them and others perform procedures that you will eventually do yourself. It’s one thing to read about medical assisting in a textbook and quite another to witness it in a working environment. The example your supervisor and others set will give you more opportunities to learn before you perform a task yourself.

Asking a Thousand Questions

Your Medical Assistant externship should be a time to unleash your curiosity. These 275 hours may be training hours, but they are also an opportunity to learn all aspects of a job from the professionals who know them firsthand. In class, you will learn about best practices and may have already asked why different medical procedures are done a certain way. In your externship, you can ask the less technical questions such as “How do you help a nervous patient calm down?” and “Why do we organize files this way?”

Asking questions that interest you will make all aspects of the work more personalized and will help the answers stick.

Learning the Role

A major part of the job is all about communication. The authority with which you carry yourself and the empathy you bring to patient interactions can’t be taught in a lecture. They are skills, critical to the position, that you can only learn in your Medical Assistant externship. As you practice and watch the professionals around you, you’ll understand the interpersonal aspects of the work and you will excel at them. When you begin your externship, you may feel like a student but ideally; by the time you leave, you can expect to feel like you fit the role of Medical Assistant.

Gaining Confidence

At the end of your externship, you can expect to feel confident in your abilities to be a Medical Assistant. Self-confidence is a huge part of any healthcare job.  This can be challenging for educators as it cannot be learned in a textbook or seminar. Gaining confidence in your ability to perform administrative and clinical duties requires practice, real life experience, and supportive supervision. It requires, in other words, an externship. You won’t just learn how to be a Medical Assistant: You will become one.

At the Allen School of Health Sciences, we are committed to preparing our Medical Assistant students for employment as soon as they graduate.  This is the reason why externships are such a critical component of our curriculum. If you are interested in our accelerated program, we are enrolling now for our upcoming classes.  As always, we would love to hear from you! Visit www.allenschool.edu to learn more about an exciting career as a Medical Assistant.

-Allen School