About Carol Whittington Expertise Ask me questions about creating training for adults. As an Instructional Designer, I have experience in eLearning, instructional systems design, instructor-led training, adult learning theory, instructional design, using new technologies, such as web 2.0 technology, for training, and synchronous online training, such as webinars.
Experience Over 11 years expertise in instructional design including not only formal instructor-led training and eLearning, but also applying Web 2.0 technologies to informal, social, and mobile learning programs. This includes developing community management best practices, blogging, and including social features such as ratings and comments within courses. I have designed instructor-led training and eLearning for both biotech and high tech corporations. I have also designed and developed online tutorials and led online webinars on various topics and currently run my own business designing and developing learning solutions.
Organizations ASTD, eLearning Guild, Women in Consulting, Phi Kappa Phi
Education/Credentials MA Education, Instructional Technology
BA Biology
Past/Present Clients Partial list includes Cisco and Google as well as several biotech firms.
Question hi, In 1989 I went to a business college for a medical assistant and completed
the class and received my certificate for medical assistant. I got me a job in
that field at a fast paced emergency medical for about a year. I got pregnant
and unfortunately had a husband that basically wanted to keep me barefoot
and pregnant and me being 19 years old and dumb, I listened and put my
career on hold and had three kids. Now my kids are grown and I am divorced
and I would like to do something with this certificate that I have. my worry is
the lack of field on my resume. what would be the best avenue to take to get
back in that area ??????
Answer Hi Tammy,
I'm not a career counselor, but I know other people in your situation. I will try to get you started on the right track, but I also recommend that you see if there are some services you can work with in your state to help you get back into the workforce.
First, since you have a medical assistant certificate, you have some valuable knowledge, but it's out of date. I'm guessing that quite a bit has changed since you got that certificate as far as office/hospital work, such as the kinds of paperwork involved, new techniques and tools you might use. The one thing that didn't change was how to take care of patients. You also got lots of experience during the time you were raising your children as a caretaker, so you should use that to your advantage. You have extensive experience caring for others.
For your medical office/hospital skills, you will need to find out is if there is some sort of "refresher course" or some way to get more current on your other skills. Maybe there is some volunteer work you can do to help build up those skills until you can switch jobs into a medical assistant position again. This would give you much-needed experience. It doesn't matter if your experience is paid or not, you still get experience.
Other things you might want to try are working with a career counselor who can get you access to other programs that your state may offer and resume-writing skills and techniques to help you make the most of the experiences you do have. You might also see if the college you went to originally can help you out. Maybe they have a program for people who graduated from the program, or they may be able to help find a program that will bring your skills back up to date. You may need to finance some education, but it would be an investment in yourself and your future, so don't automatically reject that option. There may also be a trade group or organization specifically for certified medical assistants that may also be able to help you locate resources and training.
I hope this gets you started in the right direction. You have some options to look into now and you have chosen a field that is always in need of additional help, so I'm sure you will be able to re-enter that area.
