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I'm a recovering medical office receptionist (spent seven years on the front lines) and was wondering what the general consensus is among other medical "non-professionals" regarding MAs. The reason I ask is primarily to share my experiences with these women, because I have some really pretty hilarious stories from my time having to deal with them.
(Just in case anyone here isn't up on terms, an MA is pretty much the lowest accreditation anyone can get as a medical professional. MAs can take blood pressure readings, medical histories, and in some cases can give shots or take blood samples. Oh, and for the record, I am definitely not saying that all MAs are stupid, because I have met some that were really wonderful at their jobs; however, most of those I have encountered have made me wonder how they survive day to day because I'm pretty sure most of them have to actively remind themselves to breathe.)
My first memorable encounter with an MA was my own annual physical. I was still pretty young, but I had already been working as a medical receptionist for three years, and since my mother had been a surgical nurse in this particular hospital for almost twenty years at that point, I had pretty much grown up there (it was a small town in the Pacific Northwest, so I knew my GP as both my doctor and as the father of a friend of mine growing up).
So, I was at my physical, and the MA came in to take my medical history, which I was fine with. She was reading off a form, and everything was completely standard, as I had no major medical issues at that time, when I heard her ask me, "Have you had a colonoscopy?"
I stared at her for a few seconds and finally said, "Um, I have no history of colorectal problems. Also, I'm only twenty-four years old."
She left the room pretty quickly, so I have to give her credit for realizing she had asked me a stupid question.
*****
My second story comes from my time as the lead receptionist and scheduler in a General Surgery private practice. The biggest part of my job was to do intake from general/family practice offices; mostly people with non-emergent surgical issues. However, we had to take referrals from a very small clinic on one of the outlying islands, and they employed an MA who I'll call "Mary".
Mary was without a doubt the single dumbest person I have ever encountered in my entire life. She was super, super sweet, but at the same time she was so stupid that every time I saw on caller ID that her office was calling ours I would literally cringe away from the phone from worry that I would have to talk to her (I really wish I could remember more examples of things she said: trust me, she was really, really, really dumb).
On this particular day she was calling to schedule a consult with one of our two surgeons, and for once she actually had the information I needed right at her fingertips. When I asked for his demographics, she answered right away. She had a quick and topical answer for every pertinent question I asked her, and I was honestly pleased with her.
Until I asked for his diagnosis, the root cause for his needing to drive forty-five minutes from his small town to our small town in order to see a specialist.
My question verbatim: "What's the diagnosis?"
Her answer verbatim: "He has a thyroid."
The really sad part is, she sounded so proud of herself for knowing his "diagnosis," and then was so crushed when I responded, "Um, okay, but what's wrong with it?"
She had to put me on hold for seven minutes to go ask a nurse to read the chart for her so we could have an actual diagnosis.
(Just in case anyone here isn't up on terms, an MA is pretty much the lowest accreditation anyone can get as a medical professional. MAs can take blood pressure readings, medical histories, and in some cases can give shots or take blood samples. Oh, and for the record, I am definitely not saying that all MAs are stupid, because I have met some that were really wonderful at their jobs; however, most of those I have encountered have made me wonder how they survive day to day because I'm pretty sure most of them have to actively remind themselves to breathe.)
My first memorable encounter with an MA was my own annual physical. I was still pretty young, but I had already been working as a medical receptionist for three years, and since my mother had been a surgical nurse in this particular hospital for almost twenty years at that point, I had pretty much grown up there (it was a small town in the Pacific Northwest, so I knew my GP as both my doctor and as the father of a friend of mine growing up).
So, I was at my physical, and the MA came in to take my medical history, which I was fine with. She was reading off a form, and everything was completely standard, as I had no major medical issues at that time, when I heard her ask me, "Have you had a colonoscopy?"
I stared at her for a few seconds and finally said, "Um, I have no history of colorectal problems. Also, I'm only twenty-four years old."
She left the room pretty quickly, so I have to give her credit for realizing she had asked me a stupid question.
*****
My second story comes from my time as the lead receptionist and scheduler in a General Surgery private practice. The biggest part of my job was to do intake from general/family practice offices; mostly people with non-emergent surgical issues. However, we had to take referrals from a very small clinic on one of the outlying islands, and they employed an MA who I'll call "Mary".
Mary was without a doubt the single dumbest person I have ever encountered in my entire life. She was super, super sweet, but at the same time she was so stupid that every time I saw on caller ID that her office was calling ours I would literally cringe away from the phone from worry that I would have to talk to her (I really wish I could remember more examples of things she said: trust me, she was really, really, really dumb).
On this particular day she was calling to schedule a consult with one of our two surgeons, and for once she actually had the information I needed right at her fingertips. When I asked for his demographics, she answered right away. She had a quick and topical answer for every pertinent question I asked her, and I was honestly pleased with her.
Until I asked for his diagnosis, the root cause for his needing to drive forty-five minutes from his small town to our small town in order to see a specialist.
My question verbatim: "What's the diagnosis?"
Her answer verbatim: "He has a thyroid."
The really sad part is, she sounded so proud of herself for knowing his "diagnosis," and then was so crushed when I responded, "Um, okay, but what's wrong with it?"
She had to put me on hold for seven minutes to go ask a nurse to read the chart for her so we could have an actual diagnosis.
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