Over the last month, the Ross Medical Education Center campus in Roosevelt Park, Michigan welcomed several visitors over the last month to speak to students in the Ross Medical Assistant program. They were happy to have the opportunity to host four past graduates as they talked about their own experience at Ross and where they are now. Alison Johnson and Ashley Moore graduated in 2011 at which time they were both hired by their externship site as Lab Assistants and are still there today. They talked to the students about professionalism and how important it is to ask questions, get involved and really become a part of the team. Both of them agreed that Mercy needs good people who really care about the patients and are team players each day. This included externship as well. It was motivating for the students to be able to hear from these women as they talked about how they jumped right in while on externship and never left.
Two other graduates that are also employed at Mercy Health as Medical Assistants were able to share. They are Alyssa White, a 2010 graduate, and Brittany Stork, a 2011 graduate. Alyssa and Brittany talked to the students after they had completed their mock interviews. They were able to provide the students with feedback in terms of what their office expects from employees and from externs. Some of the advice giving by both graduates was to be in class each and every single day to show a good attendance pattern. They also encouraged them to diligently practice their vital signs. They explained how important it is that both employees and externs are proficient in taking vital signs if they want a job as a Medical Assistant with Mercy.
Finally, the campus was honored to welcome Dr. Gabriel Dunn, MD, Family Practitioner to the campus. Dr. Dunn was able to talk to the students and help them understand the scope of what a practice looks like. He explained that there is no typical day at the office as every day brings a new and exciting day full of different challenges. He spoke about the importance of flow in the office and how it is essential for both employees and externs to be on time each day and adhere to the schedule given because the doctors depend on their Medical Assistants and other staff. He opened the floor for questions and engaged with the students on professionalism and expectations of an extern compared with those of an employee. Dr. Dunn stated that he loves to teach and show students new things but to remember that his first priority is to the patient so students may just need to be patient. Campus Director, Lisa Picard, loved having the visitors saying, “it was great to be able to have the graduates and Dr. Dunn come to the classes and reiterate what we have been teaching daily in the classroom.”