What’s in a Medical Assistant Externship?
Date: January 27, 2023
Eva Lopez, MA Program Supervisor for the Van Nuys Campus, recently visited the Valley Family Medicine Urgent Care Center in Reseda, Calif., and surprised the staff with some donuts celebrating Medical Assistant Week. While there, she met with Yesni Rivera,* a student from the Van Nuys Campus who is currently finishing her clinical externship. 
Rivera was recently offered a position at Dr. Eli Gluzman’s Office. Here is what she had to say about her experience and training at our school. “Gurnick Academy has taught me skills that prepared me for my position as a medical assistant, and thanks to Gurnick staff and faculty, I was able to accomplish my goals. The Academy was such a great experience! Students and staff are amazing and welcoming.”
During the same visit, Lopez met with Dr. Gluzman, owner of Valley Family Medicine Urgent Care Center, and thanked him for all he does for Gurnick students. Through the years, Dr. Gluzman has not only opened his facility as a clinical externship site, but he has also hired numerous Gurnick Academy MA grads. Ultimately, “he has been so content and satisfied with our graduates that he continues to encourage his staff and others to pursue the MA program at our school,” says Lopez.
*Rivera graduated on Friday, November 17, 2022, at the Envision Center in Van Nuys, CALIF.
Benefits of Our MA Program
Overall, our Medical Assistant program goals and objectives encourage student success in the classroom, laboratory, and externship sites. Beyond didactic and laboratory instruction, students undergo one hundred eighty (180) hours of clinical externship. One hundred ninety-two-and-a-half (192.5) hours is student outside work time. The experience allows students to apply the lecture topics and hands-on lab skills in practical uses when placed in a healthcare facility later.~
FAQ with the Program Director
Lisa Dianda, Executive Director of Gurnick Academy’s Medical Assistant Program, answers the following questions about the MA course.
FAQ: What do MA tasks generally look like in clinical externships such as this?
MA duties usually progress throughout the externship process. In the first week, students often shadow an MA to watch how the office processes and treats patients. Usually, by the second week, students begin to operate more independently, taking on the rooming of patients.
Depending on the practice and a patient’s diagnosis, an MA might complete the following tasks:
- Obtain Vitals Signs;
- Conduct EKGs: The MA uses a 12-lead EKG to place leads on a patient’s body to obtain an Electrocardiogram. The doctor uses this to diagnose and monitor the heart’s electrical signals. (EKGs are fundamental in identifying multiple heart function issues.)
- Give Injections;
- Complete Blood Draws;
- Perform Diagnostic Tests: Urinalysis, Blood Glucose, Hemoglobin, Fecal Occult, Microhematocrit, and Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate.
Other times students might work by a doctor’s side in OBGYN or pediatrics. They might assist in minor surgeries or other treatment applications.
Some practices involve students in front-office tasks. These duties include reception and appointment reminders. Or they may be obtaining records and performing billing management duties. Front-office externs may also conduct document processing, filing, and benefits verification.
FAQ: The Gurnick Academy program page states students spend approximately (180) hours at their clinical externships. What does this look like for most schedules?
Generally, our MA externship sites operate standard office times, Monday through Friday, 8 AM–5 PM.
FAQ: Can you speak to the strengths developed during externships such as this?
Students observe and participate in the flow of the office, from appointment through the first office visit, procedures completed, and the billing and rescheduling processes. As they absorb the patient load and understand the importance of each step in the patient encounter, they see the ‘big picture.’ Here they begin to anticipate needs and jump in assertively to assist in the business of that office.
FAQ: How do you see students change and improve during an externship?
As thorough as any classroom experience is, nothing matches the “jump-in” learning that occurs once a student is in an actual office. Most offices see a high number of patients. They are fast-paced, and managers cannot adjust the pace to suit the student. Therefore a student has to adapt to meet the expectations of the office. Because of this, students grow in their confidence and belief in their ability to adjust and learn.
FAQ: When is the externship taken? First year? Second year? At the end of one’s schooling?
The externship is taken in the final 180 hours (one month, full time) at the end of their six months of lecture and laboratory curriculum.
FAQ: Does the student pick their externship, or is there some selection process?
No, the student does not pick the externship. The externship coordinator works with an instructor to find the best site match for each student to optimize learning and completion. The coordinator may ask about the student’s preferences when there are multiple site openings. A student may find a site themselves. However, a contract with our school is necessary. Since we have so many MA sites hungry for MA externs, finding a place in a convenient location for the student is usually possible.
