Update

It is already the end of November.Thanksgiving has come and gone.Our senior students are now out at clinical and extern sites.Our juniors have completed four OCPs already, Health Core, Medical Office receptionist, EKG Aide and Phlebotomy.We all enjoyed wonderful food and each others' company before Thanksgiving and hopefully will be doing it again soon.
Graduation is fast approaching,January the 20th to be exact.That is an exciting part of being an instructor and the students all look forward to "walking" tall across the stage to recieve their certificates.All students and families are encouraged to attend.

Senior bandaging

NATIONAL AAMA CONFERENCE ORLANDO FLORIDA SEPTEMBER 2010

It was fun, it was educational, inspiring and motivating...Ms. Bowyer and Ms. Edwards spent 4 days in Orlando Buena Vista, attending daily in-services,meetings,fun activities and meeting with other AAMA members, educators and MAs working in various areas.AAMA has an annual conference choosing different state every year.We were lucky to have it so close to home this year
In-services included subjects like CBC,The Other End of the Stethoscope, Humor, Pet therapy, Music therapy, Coding, Preparing for the Pandemic and many, many more.We met MA educators who were willing to share information about their programs,and very much interested in ours.Some of the educators we talked to already have hybrid MA programs on line.Everyone agrees that there is no way MA should be taught 100% on line.Personal and professional skills are a huge part of being a Medical Assistant and the only way to ensure excellent skills is by personal instruction

Our senior students are fired up and just as excited as we are, wanting to start an AAMA chapter here in St Augustine.The chapter will actually be for the Northeast section of Florida,area will include the panhandle and our surrounding counties.We invite any interested MA student or CMA to contact our school,email dora.edwards@fctc.edu for more information.

Mrs Joanne Robinson

Our lab insrtuctor mrs Joanne Robinson, was born in Cheshire England and came to this country in 1970 by way of London and Los Angeles.She has been a Florida resident for 30 years and a FCTC employee since 1994.She is married, has 2 grown daughters and 2 cats.She has been teaching Medical Terminology for the past 13 years.She is a valuable member of our Medical Assisting team during the day and teaches 2 nights week at the school.
Our students and staff enjoy her British accent and British humor every day.
Welcome back Mrs Robinson..

Clinicals and Externs

Often students ask "What is the difference between clinicals and externs?"
We as instructors refer to clinicals as the time spent in the professional areas outside the school where students get to practice their skills learned and observe professionals perform duties discussed during theory.These include but not limited to phlebotomy,cardiopulmonary, cardiac rehabilitation,physical therapy,health department and others.Our students spend approximately 120 hours in these areas

Externship, now called practicum, is the period spent at a physician's office, approximately 200 hours,doing exactly what a Medical Assistant does.They  are supervised by office/clinic personnel that provide guidance through daily duties and responsibilities.This is a valuable experience for students that are just starting out in the field.This is also a great employment opportunity.Many of our students get hired at their extern sites

Projected Medical Assistant increase in jobs is 60%