SO much pee. and blood. and swabbing and then more pee.
DUDE sorry not sorry but MAs are the unsung heroes of healthcare (besides nurses but y’all are amazing and there are many articles about you already I checked).
Medical assistant is such a broad term. Like whenever someone asks me what I do I literally say “everything.”
When you think medical assistant..what do you think about? Usually its the weird scrubs we wear or that one bad blood draw experience you had.
Medical= relating to the science of medicine, or to the treatment of illness and injuries.
Assistant = a person who ranks below a senior person.
SO WTF does this mean? Pretty much that anything goes.
Need the pee cleaned off the floor from the patient who didn’t screw the cap on the urine sample cup tight enough? Tell your MA.
Need to call 911 for a screaming crackhead who’s thumb was so swollen from a needle that it turned black? Tell your MA.
Need to pop that cyst on your patient’s buttcrack? Tell your MA.
Need to wake up a patient who fainted from a missed blood draw? Tell the MA who f*cked up to get the other MA.
Need to run the insurance ASAP for STD labs so the patient will actually pay instead of cuss you out? TELL YOUR MA.
THE. LIST. GOES. ON.
The best thing about this job (in my opinion), is the variety. Sure, someone comes in for a covid swab but ends up at the ER because their face is drooping or they lose vision in one eye or some shit. YOU JUST NEVER KNOW. I also love the patients who think they know their stuff. Because yes, having gash over your eye that reveals the WHITE OF YOUR SKULL is no reason to go to the ER (this person walked out due to cost and went to Mexico the next day with some gauze & medical tape).
Teaching someone how to poop in a cup, not take out their own stitches, or explain that you don’t set the prices for procedures like wart removals (got REEMED by a patient for this once), is a skill set that simply comes with TIME and, I hate the word, but ~~e x p e r i e n c e~~.
Theres no such thing as simple in the MA world but here is such thing as BORING AF. We also have complicated AF where one patients’ ailment becomes our soul mission to treat, depending on the day.
I have to mention the voice. The MA voice. We ALLLLL have one. “Cary? Hi Cary welcome in! How are you feeling today? No worries, we’ll getcha some help and get you on home!!”
Followed by: Height, weight, allergies to non-medicine things, allergies to medicine things, blood pressure, oxygen saturation, medication list (I’ve seen 4 pages NOT double spaced front and back—this was an elderly person), favorite color, have you had your pap this year, are you suffering from SARSCOV2, your childhood pet, what you ate for breakfast, is your cough wet or dry etc. ALL of which is usually on a sticky note novel ready to be input into the 400 year old computer system after you’ve compiled 10 of these notes just in time for lunch!
IN ALL SERIOUSNESS: MAs keep the train moving. The calling, reassuring, sending in medications, taking out the trash (and pee cups), talking, button pushing, fixing and caring that we need to provide in order to keep the peace is admirable. We often aren’t credited or talked about. Especially during covid.
MAs in clinics were there throughout the shut downs. Some clinics never closed. Where did people go when they were way too constipated for at home treatments? What about an allergic reaction? or for a cut on their foot? Or other realms of medicine with other types of MAs. ENT (Ear, Nose, Throat), Fertility, Womens Health etc… My work is in Urgent Care and we were getting positive covid tests alongside everyone else cuts and bruises.
MY POINT: S/o all my MAs. We work hard, and sometimes hate it. But often feel proud of our small wins! (when we’re not starving or sweating bullets).
CoffeeShopVibes 