General practice staff upskill with medical assisting studies

Enrolments are now open for the next intake of medical assistants, with studies commencing this month for students throughout Queensland.

Recent graduate of the program, Katrina Pyle from Bundaberg undertook the nationally accredited Certificate IV in Medical Practice Assisting looking to build her clinical skills as a practice manager.

“After five years as a practice manager within general practice, there was a gap in my clinical knowledge. I came across the certificate in Medical Assisting and was excited that I could learn skills that could be useful to improve our practice benchmarking, as well as provide support to the clinical team,” Ms Pyle said.

“With a better understanding of the practice nurse’s individual day-to-day responsibilities, I could contribute more efficiently to the scheduling that I had to do as a practice manager,” she said.

“I was lucky to work with a supportive clinical team that saw the benefits of having a multi skilled medical receptionist who was enthusiastic to improve quality care and be a qualified member of the clinical team.

“Our medical assistants complete our nursing team. The nurses appreciate having an extra person to assist with infection control, ECG, spirometry, handling medical specimens, cold chain management, assisting in surgical procedures and taking clinical measurements.

“This allows our practice nurses to focus more on their higher level skills such as complex patient care, health promotions and chronic disease management,” Ms Pyle said.

For more information on completing a Certificate IV in Medical Practice Assisting call Annette Dunlop on 07 3630 7371 or email medicalassistant@brisbanenorthphn.org.au.