Clinical Medical Assisting Students Volunteer at Health Fair and Extern for Local Medical Group

San Joaquin Valley College Clinical Medical Assisting program students on the Hesperia campus recently joined Choice Medical Group and other medical and insurance providers in a twice-a-year event that provides free health care screening and information to the public – mostly older adults.

“Our Clinical Medical Assisting (CMA) students got to participate in taking vitals: blood pressure, heart rate and performed capillary punctures to test glucose levels,” says Laura Gonzales, Career Services Advisor for SJVC’s Hesperia campus. “This event gave our students a lot of practice outside the classroom and they each got to see about 20-‘patients’.”

Those CMA students on track to their new careers have the opportunity to meet and network with doctors and other medical professionals within the Choice Network during the health fair. “They did a really nice job of connecting with doctors,” says Laura. Many of these students would begin their externship (hands-on training in a medical environment) in the coming weeks, so the interaction with both medical providers and patients was informative and a great introduction to the practical aspects of their career choice.

SJVC has enjoyed a long-term working relationship with Choice Medical Group, who accepts their Clinical Medical Assisting and Medical Office Administration students for externships toward the end of students’ program education and training. “Our partnership with Choice is really special in the fact that they provide an exceptional learning environment for our students to be successful in,” says Laura. “How they run their facility, their values and SJVC’s values are very much in alignment.”

The potential outcome for this close relationship between SJVC and Choice Medical Group is to place well-trained medical care providers and medical office administrators in an environment that meets the needs of both newly minted medical service providers and the medical facility. “Choice supports externship-to-hire opportunities and has hired numerous graduates from both programs,” says Laura. “Choice is a leader in appreciation of employees and offers fair compensation and excellent benefits.”

The extern-to-hire potential is mutually beneficial. “It gives the medical facility the opportunity to get to know these students and how they will fit in their office, and students have the benefit of working at a site where there is a definite opportunity to become employed,” says Laura.

Job opportunities stretch across many areas of patient care, information processing and communication responsibilities at Choice Medical.  “It is a wonderful employer for our Clinical Medical Assisting and Medical Office Administration students in numerous positions, including Medical Assisting front and back office, billing and other administrative roles,” says Laura.

“We look forward to working with them for many years to come,” she concludes.