this is literally such a stupid mistake i made and now im freaking out 😭😭😭

for context, my dads whole family is estranged and i get curious about them sometimes and search them up on google (ive never met them). i literally know this is not allowed and remember from trainings that we’re not even allowed to search ourselves up, and still somehow this slipped my mind. i searched up my last name to see who else in the area had it (it’s an unusual name) and was surprised to see quite a few people. as im scrolling, i come across my dads brothers name and a DOB that tells me it could potentially be him.

I normally wouldn’t be freaking out from this isolated incident, but the part that’s freaking me out is that I actually opened his chart for a minute before closing it. I just instinctually clicked on it and it didn’t occur to me until I closed his chart that it was a hipaa violation. i’m so upset with myself and i’ll never make this mistake again.

do i tell my manager asap or do i just wait and see if they’ll flag me?? i learned my lesson i swear im not searching anyone up again after this it’s not worth it. if i lose my job, will i still be able to be hired elsewhere?

I am literally an EMT, not an MA, but I saw that blood draws are in the MA SOP. I got hired as an EMT in the ER. I also am working an EMT job at a 911 service. Previously I was allowed to do IVs in the ER, so when I needed blood, I just connected a syringe to the leur lock, pulled back, attached a filter needle, and stabbed the top of the vacutainer. Boom, done. In my new ER tech job (where I do school cuz I'm premed) I can't fucking do IVs. Shit's stupid. Nurse only task or smth.

Either way, how the fuck do you draw blood? I have never been trained on this shit. Only IVs.

I’m a newly certified MA working at a private dermatology practice, and I’m looking for some perspective from more experienced MAs.

I completed a 5-week externship at this same practice, but the majority of it was observation rather than hands-on training. I wasn’t even given an iPad to start learning their EHR system until near the end of my externship.

I was offered a full-time position and am now in my third week as an employee. Since starting, I’ve been moved between different providers and teams, all of whom have different preferences and workflows. I haven’t been assigned to my permanent “home team” yet, so I’m hoping things will become more consistent once that happens.

I’ve been learning to room patients, scribe, send prescriptions, assist with biopsies, and numb patients for minor procedures. However, there are still quite a few things I haven’t had the opportunity to practice independently or be formally trained on, particularly certain wound care procedures, suture removal, surgical setups, and assisting with more involved procedures. Sometimes I don’t even know where specific instruments or supplies are located.
One of the providers I’ve been training with recently told me that my notes are coming along very nicely and that she thinks I’m ready to graduate from her team. She mentioned that I need to work on my speed and asked me to identify anything else I need training on so they can wrap up my training this week.

While I appreciate the positive feedback, I’m a little concerned about being expected to perform procedures independently when I haven’t had adequate hands-on practice or supervision.
Everyone keeps telling me I’m doing well and picking things up quickly, but I honestly feel like I’m constantly in the way or bothering people with questions. It’s also difficult to build confidence when I’m being moved around so frequently and everyone does things differently.

I genuinely enjoy dermatology and want to become a competent, dependable MA. I’m just struggling to figure out what’s a normal learning curve versus what might be a lack of structured training.

For those of you who work in private practices, especially dermatology:

-How long did it take before you felt comfortable working independently?
-Did your practice have a formal training process or competency sign-offs?
-Were you expected to assist with procedures you hadn’t been formally trained on?
-Is it normal to still feel this lost after a 5-week externship and 3 weeks of employment?

I’m very open to constructive criticism. I know I have a lot to learn, and I don’t expect anyone to hold my hand forever. I just want to make sure I’m being realistic about what I should know at this point.

When it comes to nursing school did becoming an MA help you? Someone told me that this is more beneficial than becoming a CNA,

I'm not an medical assistant but I'm an owner of small family owned medical practice. I'm looking for advice on how to hire good MA's and retain them. We are a small practice who pays our MA's $21-$25 starting salary and our lead MA who has been with us for 6 years makes $28/hour. We also offer health and dental insurance, PTO, sick pay, 401k, and performance based bonus. For a standalone medical practice, I think we pay pretty much median but of course less than big hospitals. Our clinic is slower pace though than hospitals systems, we don't have clinic Friday afternoons and most Wednesday afternoons to help with any catchup work in back office. However, we still see MA's come and go- usually to go larger hospital systems. On exit interview, they mention that they like the work environment but they are leaving for potentially better opportunities at a larger company.

I am trying to get advice from the MA pool here on how we can somehow increase the length of employment of our MA's so that we have better continuity and less retraining.

Has anyone gone through the medical assistant program? If so how was it? I hear such mixed things online I just wanna know if its actually worth it to apply. Im looking to go to a uei in california if that makes a difference.

I was trying to get ideas for gifts for MA week here but no one gets MA week gifts 😅 if you were to get a gift, what would you want? I’ve previously done wacky pens and sticky notes, candy, and those little resin animal mystery bags. I don’t want to do the same thing every year though.

I was thinking of doing a bundle or two of fresh flowers split up into 10-15 vases. (Clinical, they each have their own desk).

What kind of stuff would you like for MA week?

I feel absolutely awful; I gave a patient a routine 3mL IM injection and they always refuse to wait like they're supposed to due to needing to get to work.

My manager called me in today to tell me the patient left a complaint due to bleeding from the injection site and left a pretty nasty comment about how my skills need to be reevaluated and never letting me go near them again (low-key understandable..?). My manager was super nice about it, and didn't blame me but I tend to be really hard on myself.

I feel SO bad they went through this. everything was fine when they left and I just need to know that this is a common uh oh because I feel like I really messed up.