As anyone who uses public transportation can tell you, career training of all kinds is on the rise all over the U.S., and that includes medical assistant programs in California. People are abandoning the idea of liberal arts education, favoring something that can get them into the job market sooner and, more importantly, get them noticed in the job market. When we founded ACHT, we had other ideas, too – after all, we could offer electrical and plumbing career training programs, and those would get our students jobs, too. But what made us decide to offer healthcare career training was our choice to offer medical assistant programs in California. Here’s how we made that decision.
1. We listened to medical assistants. They surprised us.
Before planning our school, we talked to lots of people who had gone to career training schools to decide which programs we wanted to offer. Among them, we talked to medical assistants, and over and over again, what they had to say blew us away. After graduating from medical assistant programs in California, almost all of them found jobs within two months. Better yet, if they decided to quit those jobs, they found new ones even more quickly.
We also learned from talking to medical assistants that people who work in healthcare are some of the happiest people out there. Many of these professionals had entered medical assistant programs in California with a commitment to healthcare, but after working in the field, it only grew stronger. They really loved their jobs. When we saw that enthusiasm and passion, we knew there was something special about being a medical assistant.
2. We listened to healthcare employers in California.
Next, we went to the employers – doctors with their own practices, hospitals, and nursing homes. We asked them, “If you could have something to make your facility better, what would it be?” Among the answers was, “We need more qualified, competent medical assistants.” That was a dead giveaway that medical assistants were in high demand, and the existing medical assistant programs in California weren’t cutting it. Even though people were graduating with the skills they needed, the learning curve once they got on the job was too steep for them to keep up. It was a problem that was leading to inefficient healthcare.
“Why not offer something better than the existing medical assistant programs in California?” we thought, and that’s the direction we took.
3. We listened to potential students.
Finally, we listened to the potential students out there. We knew people were leaving High School and not entering any college, because B.A. programs were impractical and expensive, and they had doubts about career-training colleges. “I’d like to be a medical assistant,” we heard a young woman say, “but I’m worried that even if I go get the training, I won’t get a job.”
That was the tipping point – we knew what we had to do. So, the first program we started to offer was our medical assistant program, and it became one of the best medical assistant programs in California. Call us today to find out why.