Crossing the Finish Line!
On September 28, 2017 twelve students successfully completed Moraine Park Technical College’s Medical Assistant second one year long training cohort at the West Bend Campus.
Funded by the U.S. Department of Labor Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College Career Training (TAACCCT) ACT 4 Healthcare Grant program, the Medical Assistant program at the West Bend Campus is condensing the 35 credit technical diploma program into a one-year cohort model including a set M,W, F schedule with a Friday lab time and intrusive advising for targeted student support.
“Twenty two students completed our grant funded program over the three year grant,” said Bobbi Fields, Program Director, “qualifying them to take the CMA or RMA exam and obtain employment as a Medical Assistant. Employer partners for practicum experiences include: Agnesian Healthcare, Froedtert Healthcare, UW Health, and Aurora Healthcare. Many career opportunities exist for medical assistants. Over 97% of our medical assistant graduates are employed within one year of graduation.”
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics projects occupation growth, at a rate much greater than average. “The growth of the aging baby-boom population will continue to increase demand for preventive medical services, which are often provided by physicians. As their practices expand, physicians will hire more assistants to perform routine administrative and clinical duties, allowing the physicians to see more patients” (US BLS, 2016).
Fields added, “Although many of our students gain employment as clinical medical assistants in physician offices, some will obtain employment in other healthcare settings such as hospitals, rehabilitation centers, and insurance companies. Because the training for this position prepares the student to complete both clinical and administrative tasks, some of our graduates have also become employed in administrative roles as insurance specialists, prior authorization specialists, and administrative medical assistants. For those who wish to advance their education, our medical assistant program ladders into MPTC’s new Medical Office Management associate degree program.”
All 16 Wisconsin Technical Colleges, including Moraine Park, are three-year grant recipients, with each institution developing its own supplemental healthcare programs under the Act 4 Healthcare consortium project. “Moraine Park already offered the regular MA program part time or full time at the Beaver Dam and Fond du Lac Campuses,” said Lemke. “The employer demand is steadily growing. With the grant getting us jump started, we are now able to sustain this cohort model for MA training at the West Bend Campus.”
To discover more, visit www.morainepark.edu/4health or call Moraine Park at 920-924-3329.
MA graduate student speaker Beth Pepprock, shares her story of first obtaining her GED at MPTC, and now graduating from the Medical Assistant Technical Diploma degree program. “I am very thankful l was accepted into this grant program, l worked very hard to get where I’m at today. I am so happy to have this wonderful new Medical Assistant career, I wake up every morning excited to go to work and help the patients.”
MA graduates left to right: Kimberly Ingram, Katie Wagner, Nick Martinez, Beth Pepprock, Jessica Koudelka, Marla Roering, Adam Kahlhamer, Maria Niederwerfer, Julie Mor, Erica Smith, Marnie Winninghoff, and Skyler Moser.
