Diya B's Senior Project Blog
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Project Title: Behind the White Coat: The Relevance and Importance of Modern Medical Assistants BASIS Advisor: Mark Pincus Internship Location: Desert Sky Spine and Pain Clinic Onsite Mentor: Kristina Encinas |
Project Abstract
“What symptoms have brought you in today?” Most patients in the United States would assume a nurse or their physician initially asks this question. But before you meet them, you meet your medical assistant. Medical assistants (MAs) encompass a wide range of responsibilities, including taking patient vitals, administering injections, and more. They are often the first and last person a patient interacts with and take on roles traditionally assumed for physicians and nurses. Despite their crucial role in patient care and growing demand, medical assistants often remain underappreciated and overlooked in healthcare. With the rise of modern technologies and evolving healthcare practices, medical assistants have become increasingly sought after for their expansive skill set. Due to the minimal attention the role of medical assistants has received conventionally, this project will explore the narratives of current student medical assistants working in clinical internships. The medical workplace environment and experiences medical assistants experience at this age will be revealed through anonymous surveys and select interviews with student MAs. By covering various specialties such as cardiovascular and family practice, this project aims to highlight the important role medical assistants play in specialty healthcare settings located in Arizona, along with providing insight into the application and process of their education.
Week 10: Beyond the Scrubs: A Year of Growth, Grit, and Gratitude in Medical Assisting
Hey everyone! It's difficult to believe that 10 weeks have passed, and even more unimaginable that my year of medical assisting is wrapping up! This past year, I’ve expanded my technical and professional skills more than I could’ve ever hoped, and I have gained invaluable clinical experience as I step forward in my journey to... Read More
Week 09: From Classmates to Colleagues: A Journey Through Clinical Mastery and Meaningful Connections
Good evening, everybody! I hope you all have had an amazing week and are enjoying the warmer weather of spring! As promised, I will follow up this week with more insights about our clinical experiences and share classroom preparation as we gear up for our certified clinical medical assistant (CCMA) and technical skills assessment (TSA)... Read More
Week 08: Unseen and Underrated: Medical Assistants in the Modern Healthcare World
Happy April, everyone! After four weeks working at Desert Sky Spine and Pain Clinic, I’ve become more comfortable rooming patients, assessing vitals, and drawing up medications for my providers. Rather than theorizing the skills we learned in class, I have finally grown comfortable applying my skill set in a real-life clinical setting. This past month,... Read More
Week 07: Exploring Specialties: Lessons Learned and Growth as a Future Medical Assistant
Welcome back, everyone! As March draws to a close, the first couple of weeks of clinical externs have begun for almost all my classmates. We are simultaneously preparing for our certified clinical medical assistant (CCMA) certification exam and working in our clinics. Currently, JTED students are conducting their clinical rotations at a variety of clinics... Read More
Week 06: From Classroom to Clinic: A Week at Desert Sky Spine and Pain
Welcome back after Spring Break, everyone! After months of classes, laboratory practice, and pretending to be patients in a mock clinic, our clinical externships have begun! At the start of the week, I walked through the unfamiliar doors of Desert Sky Spine and Pain Clinic, where I was met by rows of procedure rooms and... Read More
Week 04: Simulating Success: A Week of Mock Clinic Madness
Happy March, everyone! As clinical externships draw near, our class has transformed its rigid structure into an organized chaos, where every day is a chance for us to enhance our skills before going into the clinic. This week, our classroom became Pima JTED Masterpieces Clinic, where four students are randomly chosen daily to act as... Read More
Week 03: Strengthening Women’s Health: From Exams to Empowerment
Welcome back, everyone! This week, our class is moving away from the respiratory and cardiac systems and focusing on an often neglected but vital field of medical study: obstetrics and gynecology. It is no secret that women’s health in the United States has become a fiery matter of debate, with medical professionals scrambling to provide... Read More
Week 02: Pulsing with Purpose: A Week of Respiratory and Cardiac Care
Even though this is a short week due to Rodeo Break, the medical assisting world remains bustling with energy to aid patients with heart problems, respiratory disorders, and more. At the start of the week, we scrambled to learn how to administer various treatment methods for patients with respiratory diseases such as asthma and chronic... Read More
Week 01: Blood, Sweat, and Syringes: The Art and Adrenaline of Phlebotomy
Instead of bringing you red roses this Valentine's Day, I gift you the complex knowledge of phlebotomy, the act of drawing blood from the circulatory system to obtain a sample for diagnosis and analysis. For the past 5 months, I have poked (and been poked) by 23-gauge straight-edge needles, part of the once seemingly complex... Read More
The Hidden Heroes of Healthcare: An Introduction to the World of Medical Assistants
Hello! My name is Diya Bhattacharya. Alongside being a senior at BASIS Tucson North, I am a student medical assistant at Pima Joint Technical Education District (JTED) and a certified phlebotomy technician. If you’re wondering, “Who exactly is a medical assistant?" or “What even is phlebotomy?”—you're not alone. My research’s purpose lies in these questions:... Read More