. PROFESSIONALISM
Initiative and Responsibility142
Positive Image of the Medical Practice143
Professional Attributes143
Obstructions to Professionalism146
The most important fact to remember as a medical assistant (MA) is that you are a professional. Being a professional means you have a number of responsibilities. You are responsible to your patients, the people you work for, and the people you work with.
Professionalism is as much an attitude as it is a matter of training or a set of competencies and skills. As an MA, you are a representative to patients of the physicians and other licensed professionals with whom you work. Patients need to have the same kind of trust in you as they have in the physician, nurse practitioner, or physician’s assistant.
When working in the medical office, it is imperative that you demonstrate the following:
1. Professional manner and appearance
2. Initiative and responsibility
3. Positive image of the medical practice
4. Professional attributes
PROFESSIONAL MANNER AND APPEARANCE
Conducting yourself in a professional manner at all times is essential. The way you look and how you behave creates an impression not only of you but also of the organization in which you work. A professional manner includes the attributes listed on the next page.
• Courtesy to patients and other staff members
• Maturity and a positive attitude
Setting a patient at ease through conversation is important. Showing compassion and understanding— or empathy— is important. Performing the tasks you are assigned in an efficient and effective manner is important in fostering the trust that patients should have in their health care providers.
INITIATIVE AND RESPONSIBILITY
Initiative is the ability to begin or follow through on a task without having to be closely supervised. Performing the tasks you know need to be done without being told to do them is important, especially if you are a new employee or in an externship program. Completing tasks such as changing the table paper roll on an examination table or ensuring that adequate supplies are in an examination room without having to be told are important.
Along with initiative comes responsibility. Responsibility means arriving at work on time and being ready to work. Being dependable and able to carry out a task that is assigned to you will demonstrate to others that you are responsible. In addition, responsibility means being a team player and doing your part to ensure that the office functions smoothly.
Responsibility means knowing what is appropriate conversation in a medical office setting and what is not. You must understand the concept of patient confidentiality; talking about patients with others, either at work or away from the office, is irresponsible, as well as a violation of their rights to privacy.
The way you perform your own responsibilities and the way you work within the office health care team all help promote a positive image of the practice for which you work. If you get to know your co-workers and allow them get to know you, your ability to work together will be enhanced. Co-workers should try to compliment one another.
Patients notice when the team functions well. When patients have a positive opinion about the medical practice where they are treated, they tell their friends about it. This, in turn, generates more business for the practice. Patients also tell their friends about negative experiences at a physician’s office, which can hurt a practice’s public image.
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